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From: Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.python
Subject: Re: how to inherit docstrings?
References: <mailman.42.1307600576.11593.python-list@python.org>
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Eric Snow <ericsnowcurrently@gmail.com> writes:

> p.s. Am I missing something or can you really not change the docstring
> of a class? I was thinking about the idea of inheriting class
> docstrings too.

The docstring of an object (whether function or class or module) is the
object's ‘__doc__’ attribute. Access that attribute to get the
docstring; re-bind that attribute to set a different docstring.

So, it's even possible to do what you ask without decorators at all:

    class Foo(object):
        def frob(self):
            """ Frobnicate thyself. """
    
    class Bar(Foo):
        def frob(self):
            pass
        frob.__doc__ = Foo.frob.__doc__

Not very elegant, and involving rather too much repetition; but not
difficult.

-- 
 \     “We are no more free to believe whatever we want about God than |
  `\         we are free to adopt unjustified beliefs about science or |
_o__)              history […].” —Sam Harris, _The End of Faith_, 2004 |
Ben Finney