Repository: ipython/traitlets (python)

Issue:
`Dict` trait is lacking a way to constrain all keys with a single trait
Coming from the original traits, I am used to `tr.Dict(TraitAppliedToKeys,TraitAppliedToValues)`. This functionality is lacking in traitlets. When describing a mathematical map, the two trait specifications would specify the domain and image of the map.
Obviously, this trait instead offers the functionality of something that I'd call _lightweight object specification_, where the keys are essentially fixed values. To me, that describes less of a mapping, but really more of a set of (typically named?) properties. Maaybe we should have two aliases `Mapping` and `PropertySet`, both describing instances of dict?


Pull request:
added a key_trait argument to Dict
Fixes #304


Patch:
diff --git a/traitlets/traitlets.py b/traitlets/traitlets.py
index 8ceedc6..d2e9ad9 100644
--- a/traitlets/traitlets.py
+++ b/traitlets/traitlets.py
@@ -2476,9 +2476,10 @@ class Tuple(Container):
 
 class Dict(Instance):
     """An instance of a Python dict."""
-    _trait = None
+    _value_trait = None
+    _key_trait = None
 
-    def __init__(self, trait=None, traits=None, default_value=Undefined,
+    def __init__(self, value_trait=None, per_key_traits=None, key_trait=None, default_value=Undefined,
                  **kwargs):
         """Create a dict trait type from a Python dict.
 
@@ -2488,24 +2489,48 @@ class Dict(Instance):
         Parameters
         ----------
 
-        trait : TraitType [ optional ]
+        value_trait : TraitType [ optional ]
             The specified trait type to check and use to restrict contents of
             the Container. If unspecified, trait types are not checked.
 
-        traits : Dictionary of trait types [ optional ]
+        per_key_traits : Dictionary of trait types [ optional ]
             A Python dictionary containing the types that are valid for
             restricting the content of the Dict Container for certain keys.
 
+        key_trait : TraitType [ optional ]
+            The type for restricting the keys of the container. If
+            unspecified, the types of the keys are not checked.
+
         default_value : SequenceType [ optional ]
             The default value for the Dict.  Must be dict, tuple, or None, and
             will be cast to a dict if not None. If `trait` is specified, the
             `default_value` must conform to the constraints it specifies.
         """
+
+        # handle deprecated keywords
+        trait = kwargs.pop('trait', None)
+        if trait is not None:
+            if value_trait is not None:
+                raise TypeError("Found a value for both `value_trait` and it's deprecated alias `trait`.")
+            value_trait = trait
+            warn("Keyword `trait` is deprecated, use `value_trait` instead", DeprecationWarning)
+        traits = kwargs.pop('traits', None)
+        if traits is not None:
+            if per_key_traits is not None:
+                raise TypeError("Found a value for both `per_key_traits` and it's deprecated alias `traits`.")
+            per_key_traits = traits
+            warn("Keyword `traits` is deprecated, use `per_key_traits` instead", DeprecationWarning)
+
         # Handling positional arguments
-        if default_value is Undefined and trait is not None:
-            if not is_trait(trait):
-                default_value = trait
-                trait = None
+        if default_value is Undefined and value_trait is not None:
+            if not is_trait(value_trait):
+                default_value = value_trait
+                value_trait = None
+
+        if key_trait is None and per_key_traits is not None:
+            if is_trait(per_key_traits):
+                key_trait = per_key_traits
+                per_key_traits = None
 
         # Handling default value
         if default_value is Undefined:
@@ -2520,21 +2545,32 @@ class Dict(Instance):
             raise TypeError('default value of Dict was %s' % default_value)
 
         # Case where a type of TraitType is provided rather than an instance
-        if is_trait(trait):
-            if isinstance(trait, type):
+        if is_trait(value_trait):
+            if isinstance(value_trait, type):
                 warn("Traits should be given as instances, not types (for example, `Int()`, not `Int`)"
                      " Passing types is deprecated in traitlets 4.1.",
                      DeprecationWarning, stacklevel=2)
-            self._trait = trait() if isinstance(trait, type) else trait
-        elif trait is not None:
-            raise TypeError("`trait` must be a Trait or None, got %s" % repr_type(trait))
+                value_trait = value_trait()
+            self._value_trait = value_trait
+        elif value_trait is not None:
+            raise TypeError("`value_trait` must be a Trait or None, got %s" % repr_type(value_trait))
+
+        if is_trait(key_trait):
+            if isinstance(key_trait, type):
+                warn("Traits should be given as instances, not types (for example, `Int()`, not `Int`)"
+                     " Passing types is deprecated in traitlets 4.1.",
+                     DeprecationWarning, stacklevel=2)
+                key_trait = key_trait()
+            self._key_trait = key_trait
+        elif key_trait is not None:
+            raise TypeError("`key_trait` must be a Trait or None, got %s" % repr_type(key_trait))
 
-        self._traits = traits
+        self._per_key_traits = per_key_traits
 
         super(Dict, self).__init__(klass=dict, args=args, **kwargs)
 
-    def element_error(self, obj, element, validator):
-        e = "Element of the '%s' trait of %s instance must be %s, but a value of %s was specified." \
+    def element_error(self, obj, element, validator, side='Values'):
+        e = side + " of the '%s' trait of %s instance must be %s, but a value of %s was specified." \
             % (self.name, class_of(obj), validator.info(), repr_type(element))
         raise TraitError(e)
 
@@ -2546,41 +2582,47 @@ class Dict(Instance):
         return value
 
     def validate_elements(self, obj, value):
-        use_dict = bool(self._traits)
-        default_to = (self._trait or Any())
-        if not use_dict and isinstance(default_to, Any):
+        per_key_override = self._per_key_traits or {}
+        key_trait = self._key_trait
+        value_trait = self._value_trait
+        if not (key_trait or value_trait or per_key_override):
             return value
 
         validated = {}
         for key in value:
-            if use_dict and key in self._traits:
-                validate_with = self._traits[key]
-            else:
-                validate_with = default_to
-            try:
-                v = value[key]
-                if not isinstance(validate_with, Any):
-                    v = validate_with._validate(obj, v)
-            except TraitError:
-                self.element_error(obj, v, validate_with)
-            else:
-                validated[key] = v
+            v = value[key]
+            if key_trait:
+                try:
+                    key = key_trait._validate(obj, key)
+                except TraitError:
+                    self.element_error(obj, key, key_trait, 'Keys')
+            active_value_trait = per_key_override.get(key, value_trait)
+            if active_value_trait:
+                try:
+                    v = active_value_trait._validate(obj, v)
+                except TraitError:
+                    self.element_error(obj, v, active_value_trait, 'Values')
+            validated[key] = v
 
         return self.klass(validated)
 
     def class_init(self, cls, name):
-        if isinstance(self._trait, TraitType):
-            self._trait.class_init(cls, None)
-        if self._traits is not None:
-            for trait in self._traits.values():
+        if isinstance(self._value_trait, TraitType):
+            self._value_trait.class_init(cls, None)
+        if isinstance(self._key_trait, TraitType):
+            self._key_trait.class_init(cls, None)
+        if self._per_key_traits is not None:
+            for trait in self._per_key_traits.values():
                 trait.class_init(cls, None)
         super(Dict, self).class_init(cls, name)
 
     def instance_init(self, obj):
-        if isinstance(self._trait, TraitType):
-            self._trait.instance_init(obj)
-        if self._traits is not None:
-            for trait in self._traits.values():
+        if isinstance(self._value_trait, TraitType):
+            self._value_trait.instance_init(obj)
+        if isinstance(self._key_trait, TraitType):
+            self._key_trait.instance_init(obj)
+        if self._per_key_traits is not None:
+            for trait in self._per_key_traits.values():
                 trait.instance_init(obj)
         super(Dict, self).instance_init(obj)
 


Test patch:
diff --git a/traitlets/tests/test_traitlets.py b/traitlets/tests/test_traitlets.py
index 6a12828..9b47798 100644
--- a/traitlets/tests/test_traitlets.py
+++ b/traitlets/tests/test_traitlets.py
@@ -1598,39 +1598,55 @@ def test_dict_assignment():
     assert c.value is d
 
 
-class UniformlyValidatedDictTrait(HasTraits):
+class UniformlyValueValidatedDictTrait(HasTraits):
 
     value = Dict(trait=Unicode(),
                  default_value={'foo': '1'})
 
 
-class TestInstanceUniformlyValidatedDict(TraitTestBase):
+class TestInstanceUniformlyValueValidatedDict(TraitTestBase):
 
-    obj = UniformlyValidatedDictTrait()
+    obj = UniformlyValueValidatedDictTrait()
 
     _default_value = {'foo': '1'}
     _good_values = [{'foo': '0', 'bar': '1'}]
     _bad_values = [{'foo': 0, 'bar': '1'}]
 
 
-class KeyValidatedDictTrait(HasTraits):
+class NonuniformlyValueValidatedDictTrait(HasTraits):
 
     value = Dict(traits={'foo': Int()},
                  default_value={'foo': 1})
 
 
-class TestInstanceKeyValidatedDict(TraitTestBase):
+class TestInstanceNonuniformlyValueValidatedDict(TraitTestBase):
 
-    obj = KeyValidatedDictTrait()
+    obj = NonuniformlyValueValidatedDictTrait()
 
     _default_value = {'foo': 1}
     _good_values = [{'foo': 0, 'bar': '1'}, {'foo': 0, 'bar': 1}]
     _bad_values = [{'foo': '0', 'bar': '1'}]
 
 
+class KeyValidatedDictTrait(HasTraits):
+
+    value = Dict(key_trait=Unicode(),
+                 default_value={'foo': '1'})
+
+
+class TestInstanceKeyValidatedDict(TraitTestBase):
+
+    obj = KeyValidatedDictTrait()
+
+    _default_value = {'foo': '1'}
+    _good_values = [{'foo': '0', 'bar': '1'}]
+    _bad_values = [{'foo': '0', 0: '1'}]
+
+
 class FullyValidatedDictTrait(HasTraits):
 
     value = Dict(trait=Unicode(),
+                 key_trait=Unicode(),
                  traits={'foo': Int()},
                  default_value={'foo': 1})
 
@@ -1641,7 +1657,7 @@ class TestInstanceFullyValidatedDict(TraitTestBase):
 
     _default_value = {'foo': 1}
     _good_values = [{'foo': 0, 'bar': '1'}, {'foo': 1, 'bar': '2'}]
-    _bad_values = [{'foo': 0, 'bar': 1}, {'foo': '0', 'bar': '1'}]
+    _bad_values = [{'foo': 0, 'bar': 1}, {'foo': '0', 'bar': '1'}, {'foo': 0, 0: '1'}]
 
 
 def test_dict_default_value():