Can Sphinx napoleon document function returning multiple arguments?

Question

I am trying to use the Google code style to document a function that I then use sphinx with the napoleon extension to create documentation for. The function is unusual in that is returns two arguments. I don't think napoleon handles this. If so, could someone tell me how they handle it?

def foo(a): '''one line summary  longer explanation  Args:   a (int): parameter description  Returns:   servers (list): list of servers to use   msg (str): logging message string  ''' pass 

Maybe I'm getting a message that it is not great coding style to return multiple arguments, but can you do this? The html generated treats those two lines as part of a description for one argument. If I put a newline between the servers and msg line, it helps, but it is still documenting one arg.

Answer 1

Python only returns a single object. If you call

serv,msg = foo(myinput) 

Then you are explicitly expanding the expression_list tuple which is generated when the function returns with this code

return servers,msg 

You docstring should read some thing like this (with the Napoleon Google Style)

""" one line summary  longer explanation  Args:     a (int): parameter description  Returns:     (tuple): tuple containing:          servers(list) servers to use         msg (str): logging message string  """ 

Or with the Napoleon NumPy style:

""" one line summary  longer explanation  Parameters ---------- a : int     parameter description  Returns ------- servers : list     servers to use msg : str     logging message string  """ 

Have a look at the python docs for return and perhaps expression_list

Answer 2

Google style does not support multiple return values. As a workaround you can use:

Returns:     2-element tuple containing      - **rates** (*array*): the unnormalized rates (just the sum of the       exponential kernels). To obtain rates in Hz divide the       array by `2*tau` (or other conventional `x*tau` duration).     - **nph** (*array*): number of photons in -5*tau..5*tau window       for each timestamp. Proportional to the rate computed       with KDE and rectangular kernel. 

This results in a nice output even with multi-line description for each returned item.