Dropped start/stop kwargs from compute_path_length and compute_path_straightness

[vybhav72954]

Fixes #986

Description

Remove start/stop kwargs from compute_path_length and compute_path_straightness. Users do the time-windowing with idiomatic xarray instead:

compute_path_length(position.sel(time=slice(start, stop)))

What is this PR

• Bug fix
• Addition of a new feature
• Other

Why is this PR needed?

• Refactoring will help reduce signature bloat.
• Unblocks downstream trajectory complexity metric work ([Metrics] Add function for computing sinuosity (Benhamou 2004) #904, [Metrics] Add function for computing E_max (maximum expected displacement) #905, [Metrics] Add function for computing direction autocorrelation #906, [Metric] Add function for computing directional change (DC) #907).

References

Discussion on Zulip

Is this a breaking change?

Yes, it would be included in the new release!

Does this PR require an update to the documentation?

Yes, function docstrings updated to remove start/stop references; Examples now show the .sel() migration pattern.

Checklist:

• The code has been tested locally
• Tests have been added to cover all new functionality
• The documentation has been updated to reflect any changes
• The code has been formatted with pre-commit

[vybhav72954]

@niksirbi I have completed the refactor, have updated dosctring best as per my understanding.

There is one question, _slice_and_validate no longer slices, so the name is misleading. Happy to rename in this PR, looking forward to your guidance.

[codecov]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 100.00%. Comparing base (d17ced0) to head (f9f8411).

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff            @@
##              main      #987   +/-   ##
=========================================
  Coverage   100.00%   100.00%           
=========================================
  Files           41        41           
  Lines         2824      2823    -1     
=========================================
- Hits          2824      2823    -1     

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[niksirbi]

Thanks @vybhav72954, this is well done!

I only have two minor suggestions:

• as you've already flagged, let's rename _slice_and_validate to sth like _validate_time_points
• Nitpicky: The module docstring (path.py:3-4) still reads "the spatial trajectory of an individual between two time points." That phrasing was framed around the old start/stop model. Consider rewording to sth like "the spatial trajectory of an individual over the time span of the data", for consistency.

I'm pre-approving this PR, as both suggestions are minor. The CI failure is unrelated and should hopefully resolve itself soon.

[sonarqubecloud]

Quality Gate passed

Issues
0 New issues
0 Accepted issues

Measures
0 Security Hotspots
0.0% Coverage on New Code
0.0% Duplication on New Code

See analysis details on SonarQube Cloud