[3.12] Improve pathname2url() and url2pathname() docs (GH-127125)
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These functions have long sown confusion among Python developers. The
existing documentation says they deal with URL path components, but that
doesn't fit the evidence on Windows:
>>> pathname2url(r'C:\foo')
'///C:/foo'
>>> pathname2url(r'\\server\share')
'////server/share' # or '//server/share' as of quite recently
If these were URL path components, they would imply complete URLs like
`file://///C:/foo` and `file://////server/share`. Clearly this isn't right.
Yet the implementation in `nturl2path` is deliberate, and the
`url2pathname()` function correctly inverts it.
On non-Windows platforms, the behaviour until quite recently is to simply
quote/unquote the path without adding or removing any leading slashes. This
behaviour is compatible with *both* interpretations -- 1) the value is a
URL path component (existing docs), and 2) the value is everything
following `file:` (this commit)
The conclusion I draw is that these functions operate on everything after
the `file:` prefix, which may include an authority section. This is the
only explanation that fits both the Windows and non-Windows behaviour.
It's also a better match for the function names.
(cherry picked from commit 307c633)
Co-authored-by: Barney Gale <[email protected]>
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These functions have long sown confusion among Python developers. The
existing documentation says they deal with URL path components, but that
doesn't fit the evidence on Windows:
If these were URL path components, they would imply complete URLs like
file://///C:/fooandfile://////server/share. Clearly this isn't right.Yet the implementation in
nturl2pathis deliberate, and theurl2pathname()function correctly inverts it.On non-Windows platforms, the behaviour until quite recently is to simply
quote/unquote the path without adding or removing any leading slashes. This
behaviour is compatible with both interpretations -- 1) the value is a
URL path component (existing docs), and 2) the value is everything
following
file:(this commit)The conclusion I draw is that these functions operate on everything after
the
file:prefix, which may include an authority section. This is theonly explanation that fits both the Windows and non-Windows behaviour.
It's also a better match for the function names.
(cherry picked from commit 307c633)
Co-authored-by: Barney Gale [email protected]
📚 Documentation preview 📚: https://cpython-previews--127233.org.readthedocs.build/