[3.12] Enhance TypedDict docs around required/optional keys (GH-109547) (#109982)

Enhance TypedDict docs around required/optional keys (GH-109547)

As discussed in comments to GH-109544, the semantics of this attribute
are somewhat confusing. Add a note explaining its limitations and
steering users towards __required_keys__ and __optional_keys__ instead.
(cherry picked from commit f49958c886a2f2608f1008186d588efc2a98b445)

Co-authored-by: Jelle Zijlstra <jelle.zijlstra@gmail.com>

diff --git a/Doc/library/typing.rst b/Doc/library/typing.rst
index eb14d11604ae1d1c6ccc15ea9a4e546194556878..3eae7797925d779b5e9edade55a786fd795b440c 100644 (file)
--- a/Doc/library/typing.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/typing.rst
@@ -2392,6 +2392,13 @@ types.
          >>> Point3D.__total__
          True
 
+      This attribute reflects *only* the value of the ``total`` argument
+      to the current ``TypedDict`` class, not whether the class is semantically
+      total. For example, a ``TypedDict`` with ``__total__`` set to True may
+      have keys marked with :data:`NotRequired`, or it may inherit from another
+      ``TypedDict`` with ``total=False``. Therefore, it is generally better to use
+      :attr:`__required_keys__` and :attr:`__optional_keys__` for introspection.
+
    .. attribute:: __required_keys__
 
       .. versionadded:: 3.9
@@ -2427,6 +2434,14 @@ types.
 
       .. versionadded:: 3.9
 
+      .. note::
+
+         If ``from __future__ import annotations`` is used or if annotations
+         are given as strings, annotations are not evaluated when the
+         ``TypedDict`` is defined. Therefore, the runtime introspection that
+         ``__required_keys__`` and ``__optional_keys__`` rely on may not work
+         properly, and the values of the attributes may be incorrect.
+
    See :pep:`589` for more examples and detailed rules of using ``TypedDict``.
 
    .. versionadded:: 3.8