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{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"DiscussionForumPosting","headline":"Un-deprecate functional API for importlib resources \u0026 add subdirectory support","articleBody":"# Feature or enhancement\r\n\r\n### Proposal:\r\n\r\n\r\nThe `importlib.resources` functions `{open,read}_{text,binary}`, `path`, `is_resource` and `contents`, deprecated in 3.11 and removed in 3.13 alphas, are, anecdotally, missed by quite a few users.\r\nThey provide a simple API for simple tasks, while the full-featured `Traversable` API is better suited for complex ones -- especially for implementing new resources-aware loaders.\r\n\r\nI'm now in a position where I can add these functions back and support them.\r\n\r\nTheir main drawback -- not allowing subdirectories -- can be solved by taking multiple path components as positional arguments, for example:\r\n```python\r\nimportlib.resources.read_text('modulename', 'subdirectory', 'subsubdir', 'resource.txt')\r\n```\r\n\r\nThe additional arguments (*encoding* and *errors*) would become keyword-only.\r\n\r\n---\r\n\r\nThere is a wrinkle in this: in Python 3.9-3.11, the above would mean:\r\n```python\r\nimportlib.resources.read_text(\r\n    'modulename', 'subdirectory',\r\n    encoding='subsubdir',\r\n    errors='resource.txt',\r\n)\r\n```\r\n~~I believe that this is acceptable, since:~~\r\n- ~~pragmatically: typical file names do not match typical encoding/errorhandler names~~\r\n- ~~lawyerly: the functions have already been deprecated for 2 releases; no one is using them now, right?~~\r\n\r\n~~However, if this is a problem, I can~~\r\n\r\n[edit: This is solved by:]\r\n\r\n- make the `encoding` argument *required* if a text-reading function more than one path component is given.\r\n- plan to lift this limitation around 3.15.\r\n\r\n\r\n```python\r\nimportlib.resources.read_text(\r\n    'modulename', 'subdirectory', 'subsubdir', 'resource.txt',\r\n    encoding='utf-8',\r\n)\r\nimportlib.resources.read_text('modulename', 'resource.txt')  # OK\r\nimportlib.resources.read_text('modulename', 'subdirectory', 'utf-8')  # error\r\n```\r\n\r\n\r\n### Has this already been discussed elsewhere?\r\n\r\nI have already discussed this feature proposal on Discourse\r\n\r\n### Links to previous discussion of this feature:\r\n\r\nhttps://discuss.python.org/t/deprecating-importlib-resources-legacy-api/11386/29\r\n\r\n\u003c!-- gh-linked-prs --\u003e\r\n### Linked PRs\r\n* gh-116609\r\n* gh-117569\n* gh-123028\n* gh-123051\n* gh-123072\n* gh-123074\n* gh-132206\n\u003c!-- /gh-linked-prs --\u003e\r\n","author":{"url":"https://github.com/encukou","@type":"Person","name":"encukou"},"datePublished":"2024-03-11T16:03:03.000Z","interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":"https://schema.org/CommentAction","userInteractionCount":28},"url":"https://github.com/116608/cpython/issues/116608"}