Re: ENB: 20 years of lint removed from leoAtFile.py

[Kent Tenney]

Looking forward to it!

On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 4:04 PM, Edward K. Ream  wrote:

>
> On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 12:38 PM, Edward K. Ream 
> wrote:
>
> *tl;dr:* Many switches in methods of the AtFile class were confusing or
>> unnecessary.  The new code is now as simple as I can make it.  Afaik, there
>> are no more "huh?"s left.
>>
>
> ​To repeat something I've said several times recently, this work required
> all the major tools available to me:
> clone-find commands, git, pylint and pyflakes:
>
> - git makes everything safe.
> - pyflakes catches almost errors immediately.
> - pylint catches more subtle errors that sometimes escape unit tests.
> - Leo's clone-find commands revealed global patterns quickly.
>
> I would not have attempted this work without git and the clone-find
> commands. The latter allow me to answer complex questions about code
> quickly. I can then reorganize the searches for even greater clarity.
>
> I'm hoping to convince Terry and Kent at our upcoming meeting that the
> clone-find commands are worth using.
>
> Edward
>
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Re: ENB: 20 years of lint removed from leoAtFile.py

[Edward K. Ream]

On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 12:38 PM, Edward K. Ream 
wrote:

*tl;dr:* Many switches in methods of the AtFile class were confusing or
> unnecessary.  The new code is now as simple as I can make it.  Afaik, there
> are no more "huh?"s left.
>

​To repeat something I've said several times recently, this work required
all the major tools available to me:
clone-find commands, git, pylint and pyflakes:

- git makes everything safe.
- pyflakes catches almost errors immediately.
- pylint catches more subtle errors that sometimes escape unit tests.
- Leo's clone-find commands revealed global patterns quickly.

I would not have attempted this work without git and the clone-find
commands. The latter allow me to answer complex questions about code
quickly. I can then reorganize the searches for even greater clarity.

I'm hoping to convince Terry and Kent at our upcoming meeting that the
clone-find commands are worth using.

Edward

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ENB: 20 years of lint removed from leoAtFile.py

[Edward K. Ream]

This is an engineering notebook post.  It will be of interest primarily to 
devs.

The js branch contains the new code.  I created this branch to fix bugs in 
the javascript importer, but the changes needed quickly resulted in the 
massive housekeeping I am about to describe. This housekeeping was greatly 
aided by the new "hasattr" pattern.

*tl;dr:* Many switches in methods of the AtFile class were confusing or 
unnecessary.  The new code is now as simple as I can make it.  Afaik, there 
are no more "huh?"s left.

*The hasattr pattern*

The new pattern, described here 
, 
allows *direct* communication between code that wants to set a flag and 
code that uses the flag. *Intervening methods have no knowledge of the 
communication*. In particular, there is no need to pass the flag around. 
This pattern has been a spectacular success in the two or three places it 
is used.

The new hasattr pattern seems like the reverse of exception handling.  
Exceptions pass data *up *the calling tree.  The new pattern passes data *down 
*the calling tree.

*What I did*

- Removed trialWrite from all methods *except *at.writeOneAtAutoNode.
  Only linescanner.Importer.trial_write sets this flag, so it's fairly 
clear from context what is going on.
- Removed perfectImportFlag.
- Replaced forceSentinels by hasattr(at, 'force_sentinels').
- Replaced partialFlag by force.
- Removed all thinFile code from the AtFile write logic.
  thinFile still exists in Leo's *read* logic, so that Leo can read ancient 
external files.
- Removed the scriptWrite arg.

The trialWrite, perfectImportFlag, scriptWrite and thinFile switches (in 
the write logic) were each major "huh?" producers.

*Compatibility*

Eliminating keyword args in the AtFile class has the potential to break 
scripts and plugins.  Imo, the danger is small, because scripts are 
unlikely ever to have used the weird keyword args.  Python will catch 
errors *provided* that you use the following style for all calls to AtFile 
methods:

at.aMethod(
required_arg1,
required_arg2,
keyword_arg1 = aValue,
keyword_arg2 = aValue,
)

This style ensures that referencing a non-existent keyword arg will 
generate a Python error. Leo's core uses this style for all calls to AtFile 
methods.

*Summary*

For the first time in a long, long time the AtFile class contains no 
"huh?"s.

The new clarity in the code is the foundation for @auto work. That work is 
nearly complete.

I'll merge the js branch into master in a day or three. Imo, the present 
code is safe to use.

Edward

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