[issue32513] dataclasses: make it easier to use user-supplied special methods

[Larry Hastings]

Larry Hastings <larry at hastings.org> added the comment:

So if I understand correctly: the default value of the "repr" parameter is True.


Decision matrix: does dataclass insert a __repr__ into the class?

  +-- row: argument passed in to decorator's repr parameter
  |
  |
  v    | yes     | no      |  <--- columns: does the class have a __repr__?
-------+---------+---------+
 True  | ???     | yes     |
-------+---------+---------+
 False | no      | no      |
-------+---------+---------+

If the user specifies "repr=True", and also specifies their own __repr__ in the class, does dataclasses stomp on their __repr__ with its own?  Does it throw an exception?


I still prefer the tri-state value here.  In this version, the default value of the "repr" parameter would be None, and the decision matrix for inserting a __repr__ looks like this:

  +-- row: argument passed in to decorator's repr parameter
  |
  |
  v    | yes     | no      |  <--- columns: does the class have a __repr__?
-------+---------+---------+
 True  | raise   | yes     |
-------+---------+---------+
 None  | no      | yes     |
-------+---------+---------+
 False | no      | no      |
-------+---------+---------+

But we've talked about using the tri-state default for all of these parameters before, and clearly you weren't swayed then, so I guess I've said my peace and I'll stop suggesting it.

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Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<https://bugs.python.org/issue32513>
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