Reuse docstring from a method in a class in python

Question

So I have a method in a class and I have another separate function (i.e., outside the class) that want to reuse the docstring of that method. I tried something like __doc__ = <Class Name>.<Method Name>.__doc__ under the separate function but that does not work. Thus, is there a way to do so?

`other_function.__doc__ = ...`, or maybe even `@functools.wraps`. But are you really sure they should use the same doc? — zvone, Oct 08 '18 at 00:11

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 08 '18 at 00:43

2

__doc__ needs to be assigned as a property of the new function, like this:

class C:
    def foo(self):
        'docstring'

def bar():
    pass

bar.__doc__ = C.foo.__doc__  # NOT __doc__ = ...

assert bar.__doc__ == 'docstring'

answered Oct 08 '18 at 00:43

phihag

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 08 '18 at 00:44

Even this is a case, I'd use a manual copy of a docstring. Class or function could be moved around or separated to different projects. Moreso, reading a function below goesn't give me any idea what it's doing.

Please, consult with PEP-8, PEP-257 and PEP-20 for more information why this behavior is discoraged.

def myfunc():
    ...


myfunc.__doc__ = other_obj.__doc__

Reuse docstring from a method in a class in python

2 Answers2

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