pkg-about library

2.3.0 · active · verified Fri Apr 17

pkg-about provides unified access to Python package metadata at runtime. It's designed to fetch information like version, summary, author, and license for installed packages, abstracting away differences between `pkg_resources` and `importlib.metadata`. The current version is 2.3.0, and it generally follows a release cadence driven by new features or bug fixes, typically every few months.

Common errors

```
pkg_about.exceptions.PackageNotFoundError: No package found with name 'my-non-existent-lib'
```
cause The specified package name does not correspond to an installed Python package on the system, or there's a typo in the name.

fix Double-check the package name's spelling. Ensure the package is actually installed in the environment where the code is running by using `pip list`.
```
AttributeError: 'About' object has no attribute 'version'
```
cause This error often indicates that you are trying to access an attribute that doesn't exist on the `About` object, or you are using an older pattern for `pkg-about` (e.g., from v1.x.x) that is incompatible with v2.x.x, or the underlying metadata is missing that specific field.

fix Ensure you are using `get_about()` (for v2.x.x) and accessing standard attributes like `.name`, `.version`, `.summary`, etc. Consult the `About` object's available attributes (e.g., by `dir(about_obj)` or documentation) if you're looking for less common fields.

Warnings

breaking Major refactor in version 2.0.0 changed the primary entry point for accessing package metadata. Direct instantiation or attribute access patterns from v1.x.x versions are no longer valid.
Fix: Migrate to using `pkg_about.get_about()` which returns an `About` object. Access attributes directly on the returned object (e.g., `about.version`).
gotcha The library explicitly requires Python >=3.10.0 and <4.0.0. Attempting to use it on older Python versions (e.g., 3.9 or earlier) will result in installation failure or runtime errors.
Fix: Ensure your environment uses Python 3.10, 3.11, or 3.12. Upgrade your Python interpreter if necessary.
gotcha Attempts to retrieve metadata for a non-existent or misspelled package name will raise a `PackageNotFoundError`. This can happen even if the package is installed but has a different internal name than assumed.
Fix: Verify the exact spelling of the package as it appears in `pip list` or `site-packages`. Wrap calls to `get_about()` in a `try...except pkg_about.exceptions.PackageNotFoundError` block for robust applications.

Install

pip install pkg-about Install stable version

Imports

get_about
wrong:
```
from pkg_about.about import About
```
correct:
```
from pkg_about import get_about
```
While 'About' class exists, 'get_about' is the primary factory function for retrieving package metadata in v2.x.x and simplifies usage.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to fetch metadata for an installed package using `get_about`. It retrieves information like name, version, summary, author, and license for the 'pkg-about' library itself.

from pkg_about import get_about

# Get metadata for pkg-about itself
about_pkg = get_about('pkg-about')

print(f"Package Name: {about_pkg.name}")
print(f"Version: {about_pkg.version}")
print(f"Summary: {about_pkg.summary}")
print(f"Author: {about_pkg.author}")
print(f"License: {about_pkg.license}")

view raw JSON →