//- 💫 DOCS > API > ANNOTATION SPECS

include ../../_includes/_mixins

p
    |  spaCy comes with a small collection of utility functions located in
    |  #[+src(gh("spaCy", "spacy/util.py")) spacy/util.py].

+infobox("Important note")
    |  Because utility functions are mostly intended for
    |  #[strong internal use within spaCy], their behaviour may change with
    |  future releases. The functions documented on this page should be safe
    |  to use and we'll try to ensure backwards compatibility. However, we
    |  recommend having additional tests in place if your application depends on
    |  any of spaCy's utilities.

+h(2, "get_data_path") util.get_data_path
    +tag function

p
    |  Get path to the data directory where spaCy looks for models. Defaults to
    |  #[code spacy/data].

+table(["Name", "Type", "Description"])
    +row
        +cell #[code require_exists]
        +cell bool
        +cell Only return path if it exists, otherwise return #[code None].

    +footrow
        +cell returns
        +cell #[code Path] / #[code None]
        +cell Data path or #[code None].

+h(2, "set_data_path") util.set_data_path
    +tag function

p
    |  Set custom path to the data directory where spaCy looks for models.

+aside-code("Example").
    util.set_data_path('/custom/path')
    util.get_data_path()
    # PosixPath('/custom/path')

+table(["Name", "Type", "Description"])
    +row
        +cell #[code path]
        +cell unicode or #[code Path]
        +cell Path to new data directory.

+h(2, "get_lang_class") util.get_lang_class
    +tag function

p
    |  Import and load a #[code Language] class. Allows lazy-loading
    |  #[+a("/docs/usage/adding-languages") language data] and importing
    |  languages using the two-letter language code.

+aside-code("Example").
    for lang_id in ['en', 'de']:
        lang_class = util.get_lang_class(lang_id)
        lang = lang_class()
        tokenizer = lang.Defaults.create_tokenizer()

+table(["Name", "Type", "Description"])
    +row
        +cell #[code lang]
        +cell unicode
        +cell Two-letter language code, e.g. #[code 'en'].

    +footrow
        +cell returns
        +cell #[code Language]
        +cell Language class.

+h(2, "resolve_model_path") util.resolve_model_path
    +tag function

p Resolve a model name or string to a model path.

+aside-code("Example").
    model_path = util.resolve_model_path('en')
    model_path = util.resolve_model_path('/path/to/en')

+table(["Name", "Type", "Description"])
    +row
        +cell #[code name]
        +cell unicode
        +cell Package name, shortcut link or model path.

    +footrow
        +cell returns
        +cell #[code Path]
        +cell Path to model data directory.

+h(2, "is_package") util.is_package
    +tag function

p
    |  Check if string maps to a package installed via pip. Mainly used to
    |  validate #[+a("/docs/usage/models") model packages].

+aside-code("Example").
    util.is_package('en_core_web_sm') # True
    util.is_package('xyz') # False

+table(["Name", "Type", "Description"])
    +row
        +cell #[code name]
        +cell unicode
        +cell Name of package.

    +footrow
        +cell returns
        +cell #[code bool]
        +cell #[code True] if installed package, #[code False] if not.

+h(2, "get_model_package_path") util.get_model_package_path
    +tag function

p
    |  Get path to a #[+a("/docs/usage/models") model package] installed via pip.
    |  Currently imports the package to find it and parse its meta data.

+aside-code("Example").
    util.get_model_package_path('en_core_web_sm')
    # /usr/lib/python3.6/site-packages/en_core_web_sm/en_core_web_sm-1.2.0

+table(["Name", "Type", "Description"])
    +row
        +cell #[code package_name]
        +cell unicode
        +cell Name of installed package.

    +footrow
        +cell returns
        +cell #[code Path]
        +cell Path to model data directory.

+h(2, "parse_package_meta") util.parse_package_meta
    +tag function

p
    |  Check if a #[code meta.json] exists in a model package and return its
    |  contents.

+aside-code("Example").
    if util.is_package('en_core_web_sm'):
        path = util.get_model_package_path('en_core_web_sm')
        meta = util.parse_package_meta(path, require=True)
        # {'name': 'core_web_sm', 'lang': 'en', ...}

+table(["Name", "Type", "Description"])
    +row
        +cell #[code package_path]
        +cell #[code Path]
        +cell Path to model package directory.

    +row
        +cell #[code require]
        +cell #[code bool]
        +cell If #[code True], raise error if no #[code meta.json] is found.

    +footrow
        +cell returns
        +cell dict / #[code None]
        +cell Model meta data or #[code None].

+h(2, "update_exc") util.update_exc
    +tag function

p
    |  Update, validate and overwrite
    |  #[+a("/docs/usage/adding-languages#tokenizer-exceptions") tokenizer exceptions].
    |  Used to combine global  exceptions with custom, language-specific
    |  exceptions. Will raise an error if key doesn't match #[code ORTH] values.

+aside-code("Example").
    BASE =  {"a.": [{ORTH: "a."}], ":)": [{ORTH: ":)"}]}
    NEW = {"a.": [{ORTH: "a.", LEMMA: "all"}]}
    exceptions = util.update_exc(BASE, NEW)
    # {"a.": [{ORTH: "a.", LEMMA: "all"}], ":)": [{ORTH: ":)"}]}

+table(["Name", "Type", "Description"])
    +row
        +cell #[code base_exceptions]
        +cell dict
        +cell Base tokenizer exceptions.

    +row
        +cell #[code *addition_dicts]
        +cell dicts
        +cell Exception dictionaries to add to the base exceptions, in order.

    +footrow
        +cell returns
        +cell dict
        +cell Combined tokenizer exceptions.


+h(2, "prints") util.prints
    +tag function

p
    |  Print a formatted, text-wrapped message with optional title. If a text
    |  argument is a #[code Path], it's converted to a string. Should only
    |  be used for interactive components like the #[+a("/docs/usage/cli") CLI].

+aside-code("Example").
    data_path = Path('/some/path')
    if not path.exists():
        util.prints("Can't find the path.", data_path,
                    title="Error", exits=True)

+table(["Name", "Type", "Description"])
    +row
        +cell #[code *texts]
        +cell unicode
        +cell Texts to print. Each argument is rendered as paragraph.

    +row
        +cell #[code **kwargs]
        +cell -
        +cell
            |  #[code title] is rendered as coloured headline. #[code exits=True]
            |  performs system exit after printing.