Description
What's the problem this feature will solve?
Project Jupyter uses data_files for discovery of runtime extensions. This feature was deprecated without a viable alternative.
Describe the solution you'd like
The flit project recently added support for external_data, which is a simplified and constrained version of data_files. We could support an equivalent feature in setuptools, with caveats about when it is appropriate to use it.
Alternative Solutions
Project Jupyter and other current consumers of data_files could instead switch to using a flit backend, which we have been actively exploring.
Additional context
Project Jupyter uses data_files to allow libraries to provide shared setting and static assets files that are consumed by Jupyter at runtime. We have explored using entry_points for this purpose, but it did not scale well.
Code of Conduct
- I agree to follow the PSF Code of Conduct