posit-dev / posit-dev/positron

Incorrect Rendering of Python Docstrings in Help Panel

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#5,247 5 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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area: help bug lang: python support
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Forks
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Avg merge
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

System details:

Positron and OS details:

Positron Version: 2024.11.0 (Universal) build 116
Code - OSS Version: 1.93.0
Commit: 8b1688ababfa228db515a739050c466f3bb3089f
Date: 2024-10-28T02:50:56.075Z
Electron: 30.4.0
Chromium: 124.0.6367.243
Node.js: 20.15.1
V8: 12.4.254.20-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.1.0

Interpreter details:

Python 3.11.9

Describe the issue:

Positron is not displaying Python docstrings correctly in the help panel. Many characters are not rendered properly.

Here is an example of the issue with matplotlib.pyplot.contour:

Image

Steps to reproduce the issue:

  1. Open a new Python notebook in Positron.
  2. Run the following code:
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.contour?

Expected or desired behavior:

Same as documentation at https://matplotlib.org/stable/api/_as_gen/matplotlib.pyplot.contour.html

Image

Were there any error messages in the UI, Output panel, or Developer Tools console?

No

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the issue from a new Python notebook using plt.contour?, then inspect how the resulting content is rendered in the Help panel. Compare the output with the linked matplotlib documentation; done means the docstring's characters and formatting render correctly without UI errors.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
frontend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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