Close #5923: autodoc: allow not to document inherited members of specific super class

CHANGES

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ Incompatible changes
 * Drop features and APIs deprecated in 1.8.x
 * #247: autosummary: stub files are overwritten automatically by default.  see
   :confval:`autosummary_generate_overwrite` to change the behavior
+* #5923: autodoc: the members of ``object`` class are not documented by default
+  when ``:inherited-members:`` and ``:special-members:`` are given.
 
 Deprecated
 ----------
@@ -23,6 +25,8 @@ Features added
 
 * #247: autosummary: Add :confval:`autosummary_generate_overwrite` to overwrite
   old stub file
+* #5923: autodoc: ``:inherited-members:`` option takes a name of anchestor class
+  not to document inherited members of the class and uppers
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------

doc/usage/extensions/autodoc.rst

@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ inserting them into the page source under a suitable :rst:dir:`py:module`,
 
    * For classes and exceptions, members inherited from base classes will be
      left out when documenting all members, unless you give the
-     ``inherited-members`` flag option, in addition to ``members``::
+     ``inherited-members`` option, in addition to ``members``::
 
         .. autoclass:: Noodle
            :members:
@@ -166,11 +166,19 @@ inserting them into the page source under a suitable :rst:dir:`py:module`,
      This can be combined with ``undoc-members`` to document *all* available
      members of the class or module.
 
+     It can take an anchestor class not to document inherited members from it.
+     By default, members of ``object`` class are not documented.  To show them
+     all, give ``None`` to the option.
+
      Note: this will lead to markup errors if the inherited members come from a
      module whose docstrings are not reST formatted.
 
      .. versionadded:: 0.3
 
+     .. versionchanged:: 3.0
+
+        It takes an anchestor class name as an argument.
+
    * It's possible to override the signature for explicitly documented callable
      objects (functions, methods, classes) with the regular syntax that will
      override the signature gained from introspection::

sphinx/ext/autodoc/__init__.py

@@ -82,6 +82,14 @@ def members_set_option(arg: Any) -> Union[object, Set[str]]:
     return {x.strip() for x in arg.split(',')}
 
 
+def inherited_members_option(arg: Any) -> Union[object, Set[str]]:
+    """Used to convert the :members: option to auto directives."""
+    if arg is None:
+        return 'object'
+    else:
+        return arg
+
+
 SUPPRESS = object()
 
 
@@ -515,6 +523,17 @@ class Documenter:
         The user can override the skipping decision by connecting to the
         ``autodoc-skip-member`` event.
         """
+        def is_filtered_inherited_member(name: str) -> bool:
+            if inspect.isclass(self.object):
+                for cls in self.object.__mro__:
+                    if cls.__name__ == self.options.inherited_members and cls != self.object:
+                        # given member is a member of specified *super class*
+                        return True
+                    elif name in cls.__dict__:
+                        return False
+
+            return False
+
         ret = []
 
         # search for members in source code too
@@ -545,12 +564,15 @@ class Documenter:
             if want_all and membername.startswith('__') and \
                     membername.endswith('__') and len(membername) > 4:
                 # special __methods__
-                if self.options.special_members is ALL and \
+                if self.options.special_members is ALL:
-                        membername != '__doc__':
+                    if membername == '__doc__':
+                        keep = False
+                    elif is_filtered_inherited_member(membername):
+                        keep = False
+                    else:
                         keep = has_doc or self.options.undoc_members
-                elif self.options.special_members and \
+                elif self.options.special_members:
-                    self.options.special_members is not ALL and \
+                    if membername in self.options.special_members:
-                        membername in self.options.special_members:
                         keep = has_doc or self.options.undoc_members
             elif (namespace, membername) in attr_docs:
                 if want_all and membername.startswith('_'):
@@ -564,6 +586,9 @@ class Documenter:
                 # ignore members whose name starts with _ by default
                 keep = self.options.private_members and \
                     (has_doc or self.options.undoc_members)
+            else:
+                if self.options.members is ALL and is_filtered_inherited_member(membername):
+                    keep = False
                 else:
                     # ignore undocumented members if :undoc-members: is not given
                     keep = has_doc or self.options.undoc_members
@@ -740,7 +765,7 @@ class ModuleDocumenter(Documenter):
 
     option_spec = {
         'members': members_option, 'undoc-members': bool_option,
-        'noindex': bool_option, 'inherited-members': bool_option,
+        'noindex': bool_option, 'inherited-members': inherited_members_option,
         'show-inheritance': bool_option, 'synopsis': identity,
         'platform': identity, 'deprecated': bool_option,
         'member-order': identity, 'exclude-members': members_set_option,
@@ -1039,7 +1064,7 @@ class ClassDocumenter(DocstringSignatureMixin, ModuleLevelDocumenter):  # type:
     member_order = 20
     option_spec = {
         'members': members_option, 'undoc-members': bool_option,
-        'noindex': bool_option, 'inherited-members': bool_option,
+        'noindex': bool_option, 'inherited-members': inherited_members_option,
         'show-inheritance': bool_option, 'member-order': identity,
         'exclude-members': members_set_option,
         'private-members': bool_option, 'special-members': members_option,

tests/test_autodoc.py

@@ -581,6 +581,30 @@ def test_autodoc_inherited_members(app):
     ]
 
 
+@pytest.mark.sphinx('html', testroot='ext-autodoc')
+def test_autodoc_inherited_members_Base(app):
+    options = {"members": None,
+               "inherited-members": "Base",
+               "special-members": None}
+
+    # check methods for object class are shown
+    actual = do_autodoc(app, 'class', 'target.inheritance.Derived', options)
+    assert '   .. py:method:: Derived.inheritedmeth()' in actual
+    assert '   .. py:method:: Derived.inheritedclassmeth' not in actual
+
+
+@pytest.mark.sphinx('html', testroot='ext-autodoc')
+def test_autodoc_inherited_members_None(app):
+    options = {"members": None,
+               "inherited-members": "None",
+               "special-members": None}
+
+    # check methods for object class are shown
+    actual = do_autodoc(app, 'class', 'target.inheritance.Derived', options)
+    assert '   .. py:method:: Derived.__init__' in actual
+    assert '   .. py:method:: Derived.__str__' in actual
+
+
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('html', testroot='ext-autodoc')
 def test_autodoc_imported_members(app):
     options = {"members": None,