refactor(codegen): miscellaneous cleanup, amend tests (#2519)

Simplify the generate_classes.py script. Remove the backup and exclude functionality — this can be done manually if needed in the future. Improve the console output by showing lists in columns.

Also, one of the old commits we tested had some funky variable definitions in gwf-evta.dfn, which I think we can safely assume are no longer part of the spec. This was breaking the codegen CI tests.

Author: wpbonelli

.docs/md/generate_classes.md

@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ The `generate_classes()` function has several optional parameters.
 ```bash
 $ python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes -h
 usage: generate_classes.py [-h] [--owner OWNER] [--repo REPO] [--ref REF]
-                           [--dfnpath DFNPATH] [--no-backup]
+                           [--dfnpath DFNPATH]
 
 Generate the MODFLOW 6 flopy classes using definition files from the MODFLOW 6
 GitHub repository or a set of definition files in a folder provided by the
@@ -73,10 +73,6 @@ options:
                      definition; default is 'master'.
   --dfnpath DFNPATH  Path to a definition file folder that will be used to
                      generate the MODFLOW 6 classes.
-  --no-backup        Set to disable backup. Default behavior is to keep a
-                     backup of the definition files in dfn_backup with a date
-                     and timestamp from when the definition files were
-                     replaced.
 ```
 
 For example, use the develop branch instead:
@@ -98,8 +94,6 @@ $ python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --dfnpath ../your/dfn/path
 
 Branch names, commit hashes, or tags may be provided to `ref`.
 
-By default, a backup is made of FloPy's package classes before rewriting them. To disable backups, use `--no-backup` from command-line, or `backup=False` with the Python function.
-
 ## Testing class generation
 
 Tests for the `generate_classes()` utility are located in `test_generate_classes.py`. The tests depend on [`virtualenv`](https://pypi.org/project/virtualenv/) and will be skipped if run in parallel without the `--dist loadfile` option for `pytest-xdist`.

.github/workflows/codegen.yml

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         os: [ ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest ]
         python-version: [ "3.10", "3.11", "3.12" ]
-        ref: ["develop", "master", "6.4.1", "4458f9f", "4458f9f7a6244182e6acc2430a6996f9ca2df367"]
+        ref: ["develop", "master", "6.4.1", "6.4.0"]
     defaults:
       run:
         shell: bash -l {0}
@@ -33,4 +33,4 @@ jobs:
         run: uv sync --extra test
 
       - name: Generate classes
-        run: uv run python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --ref ${{ matrix.ref }} --no-backup
+        run: uv run python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --ref ${{ matrix.ref }}

.github/workflows/commit.yml

@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ jobs:
           subset: triangle
 
       - name: Update package classes
-        run: uv run python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --ref develop --no-backup
+        run: uv run python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --ref develop
 
       - name: Run tests
         working-directory: autotest

.github/workflows/examples.yml

@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ jobs:
           subset: triangle
 
       - name: Update FloPy packages
-        run: python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --ref develop --no-backup
+        run: python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --ref develop
 
       - name: Run example tests
         working-directory: autotest

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -39,8 +39,11 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Sync MF6 module
-        run: uv run python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --no-backup --exclude chf --exclude olf --exclude swf
+      # NOTE: assumes the MF6 module has been generated already.
+      # we do that manually to exclude models under development.
+      # if this becomes unnecessary, uncomment the lines below.
+      # - name: Sync MF6 module
+      #   run: uv run python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes
 
       - name: Update version numbers
         id: version

docs/make_release.md

@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ As described above, making a release manually involves the following steps:
 
 - Run `python scripts/update_version.py -v <semver>` to update the version number stored in `version.txt` and `flopy/version.py`. For an approved release use the `--approve` flag.
 
-- Update MODFLOW 6 dfn files in the repository and MODFLOW 6 package classes by running `python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --ref master --no-backup`
+- Update MODFLOW 6 dfn files in the repository and MODFLOW 6 package classes by running `python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --ref master`
 
 - Run `ruff check .` and `ruff format .` from the project root.
 

docs/mf6_dev_guide.md

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ FloPy can generate a MODFLOW 6 compatibility layer for itself, given a set of de
 For instance, to sync with DFNs from the MODFLOW 6 develop branch:
 
 ```shell
-python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --ref develop --no-backup
+python -m flopy.mf6.utils.generate_classes --ref develop
 ```
 
 Generated files are created in `flopy/mf6/modflow/`.

flopy/mf6/utils/codegen/filters.py

@@ -347,6 +347,7 @@ def _filter_metadata(metadata):
                     meta_.append(" ".join(s))
             return meta_
 
+        # abominable. cannot be removed soon enough
         with open(dfn_dir / "common.dfn") as common_f, \
                 open(dfn_dir / dfn_file_name) as f:
             common, _ = Dfn._load_v1_flat(common_f)