Description

assignee = None
closed_at = None
created_at = <Date 2019-03-18.19:18:19.243>
labels = ['extension-modules', 'interpreter-core', '3.8', 'docs']
title = "Remove documentation and internal use of the *RESTRICTED constants for PyMemberDef's flags field"
updated_at = <Date 2019-03-21.00:25:24.928>
user = 'https://github.com/MojoVampire'

activity = <Date 2019-03-21.00:25:24.928>
actor = 'josh.r'
assignee = 'docs@python'
closed = False
closed_date = None
closer = None
components = ['Documentation', 'Extension Modules', 'Interpreter Core']
creation = <Date 2019-03-18.19:18:19.243>
creator = 'josh.r'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 36355
keywords = []
message_count = 5.0
messages = ['338282', '338283', '338455', '338517', '338518']
nosy_count = 3.0
nosy_names = ['docs@python', 'matrixise', 'josh.r']
pr_nums = []
priority = 'normal'
resolution = None
stage = None
status = 'open'
superseder = None
type = None
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue36355'
versions = ['Python 3.8']

Activity

1. MojoVampire commented on Mar 18, 2019

   

   MojoVampiremannequin

   on Mar 18, 2019

   MannequinAuthor

   More actions

   While looking up background info for bpo-36347, I noticed that the docs for PyMemberDef ( https://docs.python.org/3/extending/newtypes.html#generic-attribute-management ) define the following flags:

   • READONLY
   • READ_RESTRICTED
   • WRITE_RESTRICTED
   • RESTRICTED

   Of those, WRITE_RESTRICTED has been documented incorrectly since Python 3.0a2 (it got renamed to PY_WRITE_RESTRICTED in structmember.h, apparently due to a name clash with VS 2008 on Windows).

   Luckily, the constants are useless; AFAICT they were there solely to support restricted mode (via the rexec and Bastion modules). The modules were apparently disabled in Python 2.3 "due to various known and not readily fixable security holes" ( https://docs.python.org/2/library/restricted.html ), and the modules themselves officially deprecated in 2.6, and removed completely in 3.0.

   Rather than fixing up the docs, maybe it's time to kill these constants for good? Probably shouldn't remove the definitions in structmember.h (if someone wrote code using them, we shouldn't needlessly break compilation), but the interpreter and standard library should stop setting them, and the documentation for them should be removed.
2. MojoVampire

   added

   3.8 (EOL)end of lifeend of life

   on Mar 18, 2019
3. MojoVampire

   assigned

   docspython

   on Mar 18, 2019
4. MojoVampire

   added

   docsDocumentation in the Doc dirDocumentation in the Doc dir

   extension-modulesC modules in the Modules dirC modules in the Modules dir

   interpreter-core(Objects, Python, Grammar, and Parser dirs)(Objects, Python, Grammar, and Parser dirs)

   on Mar 18, 2019
5. MojoVampire commented on Mar 18, 2019

   

   MojoVampiremannequin

   on Mar 18, 2019

   MannequinAuthor

   More actions

   To be clear, only the constants that include the substring RESTRICTED are useless; READONLY remains useful and should not be removed (though per my suggestion on bpo-36347, it might be good to add an alias for it named PY_READONLY to match the Python C API naming conventions).
6. MojoVampire

   changed the title [-]Remove documentation and internal use of the RESTRICTED constants for PyMemberDef's flags field[/-] [+]Remove documentation and internal use of the *RESTRICTED constants for PyMemberDef's flags field[/+] on Mar 18, 2019
7. matrixise commented on Mar 20, 2019

   

   matrixise

   on Mar 20, 2019

   Member

   More actions

   Josh, I don't know for the uselessness or not of these macros, but these macros are used.

   RESTRICTED is used in Objects/classobject.c and Objects/funcobject.c

   PY_WRITE_RESTRICTED is used in Objects/funcobject.c and Objects/methodobject.c
8. MojoVampire commented on Mar 21, 2019

   

   MojoVampiremannequin

   on Mar 21, 2019

   MannequinAuthor

   More actions

   Yes, they're set. They're never *read* anywhere. My suggestion was to stop setting them (because it gives the impression they do something when reading the docs, when in fact they do nothing), and remove them from the docs.
9. MojoVampire commented on Mar 21, 2019

   

   MojoVampiremannequin

   on Mar 21, 2019

   MannequinAuthor

   More actions

   Sorry, that should have been "it gives the impression they do something when reading the *source code*"
10. ezio-melotti

    transferred this issue fromon Apr 10, 2022
11. iritkatriel commented on Feb 18, 2023

    

    iritkatriel

    on Feb 18, 2023

    Member

    More actions

    This is out of date, see #99014.
12. iritkatriel

    closed this as not plannedon Feb 18, 2023

Issue actions