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Re: What does this "See help(type(self)) for accurate signature." actually mean?

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Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
> On Sun, 15 Mar 2026 09:05:08 +0000, Chris Green wrote:
> 
> > I see this message in several places in the help() output for gpiod:
> > "See help(type(self)) for accurate signature.", but I can't work out
> > what I actually need to type into help() to get a result.
> >
> > So, for example, I say 'help("gpiod.line_settings")', I see, among
> > other things:-
> >
> >      |  __init__(
> >      |      self,
> >      |      direction: gpiod.line.Direction = <Direction.AS_IS: 1>,
> >      |      edge_detection: gpiod.line.Edge = <Edge.NONE: 1>,
> >      |      bias: gpiod.line.Bias = <Bias.AS_IS: 1>,
> >      |      drive: gpiod.line.Drive = <Drive.PUSH_PULL: 1>,
> >      |      active_low: bool = False,
> >      |      debounce_period: datetime.timedelta = datetime.timedelta(0),
> >      |      event_clock: gpiod.line.Clock = <Clock.MONOTONIC: 1>,
> >      |      output_value: gpiod.line.Value = <Value.INACTIVE: 0>
> >      |  ) -> None
> >      |      Initialize self.  See help(type(self)) for accurate signature.
> >
> > What do I actually need to type to get that "accurate signature"?
> 
> Actually, you’ve got it right there. When you call the class to create
> an instance, you are actually calling the __init__ method (or the
> __new__ method, if that’s defined). So the arguments you need to pass
> are exactly those accepted by that method. No need to look anywhere
> else for the “accurate signature”, since you have just posted it.
> 
> Or it just means that the detailed docstring explaining what all those
> args are for is attached to the class, not this __init__ method.

Yes, I realise that the __init__ method shows the signature. In that
case what does that "See help(type(self)) for accurate signature" mean
then?  I was hoping it might provide some more detail somewhere/somehow.

The same phrase occurs in other places, I'll see if any aren't like
this one where the arguments are there anyway.

-- 
Chris Green
·

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What does this "See help(type(self)) for accurate signature." actually mean? Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> - 2026-03-15 09:05 +0000
  Re: What does this "See help(type(self)) for accurate signature." actually mean? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-03-15 21:21 +0000
    Re: What does this "See help(type(self)) for accurate signature." actually mean? Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> - 2026-03-16 08:53 +0000
      Re: What does this "See help(type(self)) for accurate signature." actually mean? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-03-16 09:15 +0000
  Re: What does this "See help(type(self)) for accurate signature." actually mean? Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu> - 2026-03-16 10:17 +0000
    Re: What does this "See help(type(self)) for accurate signature." actually mean? ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2026-03-16 15:25 +0000
      Re: What does this "See help(type(self)) for accurate signature." actually mean? Jon Ribbens <jon+usenet@unequivocal.eu> - 2026-03-16 17:01 +0000

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