python / python/typing

Support decorators that modify parameter types and preserve keywords

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topic: feature
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Description

For osandov/drgn#364, I'd like to be able to define a decorator that modifies the parameter types of the functions it wraps, but also preserves keywords.

For a toy example, imagine a decorator that wraps a function taking an int as the first parameter (possibly as a keyword argument) so that it can also take a str that is automatically converted to an int. I can do this manually with overloads:

import inspect
import functools
from typing import Any, Callable, TypeVar, overload


R = TypeVar("R")


def takes_int_or_str(f: Callable[..., R]) -> Callable[..., R]:
    param = next(iter(inspect.signature(f).parameters))

    @functools.wraps(f)
    def wrapper(*args: Any, **kwds: Any) -> R:
        if param in kwds:
            if isinstance(kwds[param], str):
                kwds[param] = int(kwds[param])
        elif isinstance(args[0], str):
            return f(int(args[0]), *args[1:], **kwds)
        return f(*args, **kwds)

    return wrapper


@overload
def f(x: int) -> int: ...
@overload
def f(x: str) -> int: ...
@takes_int_or_str
def f(x: int) -> int:
    return x * x


f(1)
f("2")
f(x="3")

But this is tedious and error-prone if you have a lot of functions using the decorator. ParamSpec almost gets me what I want, but it doesn't preserve keywords:

import inspect
import functools
from typing import Any, Callable, Concatenate, ParamSpec, TypeVar


P = ParamSpec("P")
R = TypeVar("R")


def takes_int_or_str(
    f: Callable[Concatenate[int, P], R]
) -> Callable[Concatenate[int | str, P], R]:
    param = next(iter(inspect.signature(f).parameters))

    @functools.wraps(f)
    def wrapper(*args: Any, **kwds: Any) -> R:
        if param in kwds:
            if isinstance(kwds[param], str):
                kwds[param] = int(kwds[param])
        elif isinstance(args[0], str):
            return f(int(args[0]), *args[1:], **kwds)
        return f(*args, **kwds)

    return wrapper


@takes_int_or_str
def f(x: int) -> int:
    return x * x


f(1)
f("2")
# error: Unexpected keyword argument "x" for "f"  [call-arg]
f(x="3")

This seems somewhat related to #1273, although I want to specify the transformation by parameter, not by input type.

P.S. I used Callable here, but my real use cases need a Protocol with __call__ because they have more complicated signatures.

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  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the decorator examples in this issue and compare the requested behavior with related issue #1273. Consider how parameter-based transformations should interact with ParamSpec, keyword arguments, Callable, and Protocol signatures; done means the behavior is specified well enough to support the stated positional and keyword calls.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
developer-experience
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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