[SciPy-Dev] scipy.misc.ppimport

[Warren Weckesser]

Hi,

A new ticket on the scipy trac 
(http://projects.scipy.org/scipy/ticket/1136) reports a problem with 
scipy.misc.ppimport.  Not long ago I fixed a couple blatant typos in 
ppimport.py (because of another ticket, 
http://projects.scipy.org/scipy/ticket/1133), but I didn't actually try 
to use the ppimport() function.

I think this code has problems.  There was code in there that could 
never have worked, and there are no tests.

I'm not going to have time to work on ppimport, and after a little 
searching, I wonder if anyone should bother.  In scipy trunk, the only 
actual use of anything related to ppimport is in the info() function in 
misc.helpmod.py, and it just checks if the object for which info is 
being requested has attributes assigned by ppimport.  But if nothing 
else in scipy actually uses ppimport, the code in info() is moot.

All the info.py files of the various scipy packages contain 
'postpone_import = 1', but I don't see any code that actually uses this 
variable.

What's the history of ppimport?  Why does it exist in scipy?  Pearu 
Peterson worked on this several years ago, but it is not clear to me how 
it is currently used.  Can we simply get rid of it, or am I missing 
something?

Warren