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GeezerVison is showing github.com — gh-108907: ctypes: Document _type_ codes by encukou · Pull Request #145837 · python/cpython

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encukou commented Mar 11, 2026 •

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Add _SimpleCData._type_ docs.

Add type codes to the summary table.

Cross-link struct, array, and ctypes; throw in numpy too. (Anyone wanting to add a code should be aware of those.)

Add py_object, and VARIANT_BOOL for completeness.

Issue: Wrong size of c_ulong/c_ulonglong in Linux #108907

📚 Documentation preview 📚: https://cpython-previews--145837.org.readthedocs.build/

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          ctypes: Document _type_ codes

Add `_SimpleCData._type_` docs.

Add type codes to the summary table.

Cross-link `struct`, `array`, and `ctypes`; throw in `numpy` too.
(Anyone wanting to add a code should be aware of those.)

Add `py_object`, and `VARIANT_BOOL` for completeness.

encukou requested a review from skirpichev

March 11, 2026 16:33

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github-project-automation Bot added this to Docs PRs

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github-project-automation Bot moved this to Todo in Docs PRs

Mar 11, 2026

bedevere-app Bot mentioned this pull request

Mar 11, 2026

Wrong size of c_ulong/c_ulonglong in Linux #108907

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skirpichev reviewed

Mar 19, 2026

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Doc/library/ctypes.rst Resolved

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Doc/library/ctypes.rst


		.. seealso::

		The :mod:`array` and :ref:`struct <format-characters>` modules,

skirpichev Mar 19, 2026

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Do we really need this? It looks like type codes match, when same data type is present (and not an alias).

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encukou Mar 19, 2026

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They match, and I'd like to keep it that way.

I'd like to add this note, for a very specific case: when adding a new one (in stdlib or a third-party module), it's good to be aware of the others -- and more importantly, of the fact that there are several lists to be aware of.

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skirpichev Mar 19, 2026

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I see point of doing this for third-party modules, but for stdlib I would rather advocate more simple invariant to keep: struct/array/memoryview should use same type codes. Modulo well documented differences:

some fundamental types in the ctypes module are implemented as aliases.
some just aren't supported by the struct (e.g. long double, perhaps it's not forever) or the ctype (e.g. Pascal strings).

I suggest just add references to the struct and the array modules. And a more detailed note about the NumPy.

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encukou Mar 19, 2026

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That's a good ~~invariant~~ design goal, and I hope these notes will help us do that.

But, I'm assuming most readers want docs for one specific module. For those, readers separate tables are better.

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          Be more specific: unsigned

2699aa7

Co-authored-by: Sergey B Kirpichev <[email protected]>

encukou commented Mar 23, 2026

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Thank you for the review!

I'll merge now; follow-ups welcome :)

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encukou merged commit 1114d7f into python:main

Mar 23, 2026

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github-project-automation Bot moved this from Todo to Done in Docs PRs

Mar 23, 2026

encukou deleted the doc-_type_ branch

March 23, 2026 12:41

bedevere-app Bot removed the awaiting core review label

Mar 23, 2026

encukou added the needs backport to 3.14 bugs and security fixes label

Mar 23, 2026

miss-islington-app Bot commented Mar 23, 2026

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Thanks @encukou for the PR 🌮🎉.. I'm working now to backport this PR to: 3.14.
🐍🍒⛏🤖

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miss-islington pushed a commit to miss-islington/cpython that referenced this pull request

Mar 23, 2026


          pythongh-108907: ctypes: Document _type_ codes (pythonGH-145837)

5cacbb1

Add `_SimpleCData._type_` docs.

Add type codes to the summary table.

Cross-link `struct`, `array`, and `ctypes`; throw in `numpy` too.
(Anyone wanting to add a code should be aware of those.)

Add `py_object`, and `VARIANT_BOOL` for completeness.
(cherry picked from commit 1114d7f)

Co-authored-by: Petr Viktorin <[email protected]>

bedevere-app Bot commented Mar 23, 2026

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GH-146328 is a backport of this pull request to the 3.14 branch.

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bedevere-app Bot removed the needs backport to 3.14 bugs and security fixes label

Mar 23, 2026

encukou added a commit that referenced this pull request

Mar 23, 2026


          [3.14] gh-108907: ctypes: Document _type_ codes (GH-145837) (GH-146328)

f883bbd

gh-108907: ctypes: Document _type_ codes (GH-145837)

Add `_SimpleCData._type_` docs.

Add type codes to the summary table.

Cross-link `struct`, `array`, and `ctypes`; throw in `numpy` too.
(Anyone wanting to add a code should be aware of those.)

Add `py_object`, and `VARIANT_BOOL` for completeness.
(cherry picked from commit 1114d7f)

Co-authored-by: Petr Viktorin <[email protected]>

CuriousLearner added a commit to CuriousLearner/cpython that referenced this pull request

Mar 23, 2026


          Merge branch 'main' of github.com:python/cpython into fix-pythongh-13…

3e05fa3

…8577

* 'main' of github.com:python/cpython:
  pythongh-146197: Run -m test.pythoninfo on the Emscripten CI (python#146332)
  pythongh-146325: Use `test.support.requires_fork` in test_fastpath_cache_cleared_in_forked_child (python#146330)
  pythongh-146197: Add Emscripten to CI (python#146198)
  pythongh-143387: Raise an exception instead of returning None when metadata file is missing. (python#146234)
  pythongh-108907: ctypes: Document _type_ codes (pythonGH-145837)
  pythongh-146175: Soft-deprecate outdated macros; convert internal usage (pythonGH-146178)
  pythongh-146056: Rework ref counting in treebuilder_handle_end() (python#146167)
  Add a warning about untrusted input to `configparser` docs (python#146276)
  pythongh-145264: Do not ignore excess Base64 data after the first padded quad (pythonGH-145267)
  pythongh-146308: Fix error handling issues in _remote_debugging module (python#146309)
  pythongh-146192: Add base32 support to binascii (pythonGH-146193)
  pythongh-135953: Properly obtain main thread identifier in Gecko Collector (python#146045)
  pythongh-143414: Implement unique reference tracking for JIT, optimize unpacking of such tuples (pythonGH-144300)
  pythongh-146261: Fix bug in `_Py_uop_sym_set_func_version` (pythonGH-146291)
  pythongh-145144: Add more tests for UserList, UserDict, etc (pythonGH-145145)
  pythongh-143959: Fix test_datetime if _datetime is unavailable (pythonGH-145248)
  pythongh-146245: Fix reference and buffer leaks via audit hook in socket module (pythonGH-146248)
  pythongh-140049: Colorize exception notes in `traceback.py` (python#140051)
  Update docs for pythongh-146056 (pythonGH-146213)

pablogsal mentioned this pull request

Apr 4, 2026

gh-130273: Fix traceback color output with unicode characters #142529

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ljfp pushed a commit to ljfp/cpython that referenced this pull request

Apr 25, 2026


          pythongh-108907: ctypes: Document _type_ codes (pythonGH-145837)

Add `_SimpleCData._type_` docs.

Add type codes to the summary table.

Cross-link `struct`, `array`, and `ctypes`; throw in `numpy` too.
(Anyone wanting to add a code should be aware of those.)

Add `py_object`, and `VARIANT_BOOL` for completeness.

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encukou commented Mar 11, 2026 • edited by github-actions Bot Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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encukou commented Mar 23, 2026

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encukou commented Mar 11, 2026 •

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