From 23764794d54c2208ccc07db390c797dd3c871ec8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: d-w-moore <dmoore@renci.org>
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2026 01:32:51 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] [#698] prefix underline to IRODS_VERSION symbol in
 irods.message namespace

---
 irods/helpers/__init__.py | 10 ++++++---
 irods/message/__init__.py | 45 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
 irods/test/helpers.py     | 13 +++++------
 3 files changed, 45 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)

diff --git a/irods/helpers/__init__.py b/irods/helpers/__init__.py
index 93823a110..3852e1ee1 100644
--- a/irods/helpers/__init__.py
+++ b/irods/helpers/__init__.py
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import contextlib
 import os
 import sys
-from irods import env_filename_from_keyword_args
+
 import irods.exception as ex
-from irods.message import ET, XML_Parser_Type, IRODS_VERSION
+from irods import env_filename_from_keyword_args
+from irods.message import _IRODS_VERSION, ET, XML_Parser_Type
 from irods.path import iRODSPath
 from irods.session import iRODSSession
 
@@ -54,9 +55,12 @@ def make_session(test_server_version=False, **kwargs):
 
     env_file = env_filename_from_keyword_args(kwargs)
     session = iRODSSession(irods_env_file=env_file, **kwargs)
+    # irods.test.helpers version of this function sets test_server_version True by default, so
+    # that sessions generated for the test methods will abort on connecting with a server that
+    # is too recent.  This is a way to ensure that tests don't fail due to a server mismatch.
     if test_server_version:
         connected_version = _get_server_version_for_test(session, curtail_length=3)
-        advertised_version = IRODS_VERSION[:3]
+        advertised_version = _IRODS_VERSION[:3]
         if connected_version > advertised_version:
             msg = (
                 "Connected server is {connected_version}, "
diff --git a/irods/message/__init__.py b/irods/message/__init__.py
index 9b8e0ec80..cab29ba5e 100644
--- a/irods/message/__init__.py
+++ b/irods/message/__init__.py
@@ -1,28 +1,32 @@
 """Define objects related to communication with iRODS server API endpoints."""
 
-import struct
+import ast
+import json
 import logging
+import os
 import socket
-import json
-import irods.exception as ex
-from typing import Optional
+import struct
+import threading
 import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET_xml
+from collections import namedtuple
+from typing import Optional
+from warnings import warn
+
 import defusedxml.ElementTree as ET_secure_xml
+
+import irods.exception as ex
+
 from . import quasixml as ET_quasi_xml
-from ..api_number import api_number
-from collections import namedtuple
-import os
-import ast
-import threading
 from .message import Message
 from .property_types import (
+    ArrayProperty,
     BinaryProperty,
-    StringProperty,
     IntegerProperty,
     LongProperty,
-    ArrayProperty,
+    StringProperty,
     SubmessageProperty,
 )
+from ..api_number import api_number
 
 
 class Bad_AVU_Field(ValueError):
@@ -181,7 +185,20 @@ def ET(xml_type=(), server_version=None):
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-IRODS_VERSION = (5, 0, 2, "d")
+# The symbol _IRODS_VERSION is for internal use in testing only.  It indicates the current
+# server version for which PRC has maintained compatibility.  Attempting the unit tests with
+# more recent servers will fail by design.
+_IRODS_VERSION = (5, 0, 2, "d")
+
+# This is the older, now deprecated, version of the above symbol.
+_deprecated_names = {"IRODS_VERSION": _IRODS_VERSION}
+
+
+def __getattr__(name):
+    if name in _deprecated_names:
+        warn(f"{name} is deprecated", DeprecationWarning, stacklevel=2)
+        return _deprecated_names[name]
+    raise AttributeError(f"module {__name__!r} has no attribute {name!r}")
 
 UNICODE = str
 
@@ -473,8 +490,8 @@ def __init__(self, proxy_user, client_user, application_name=""):
             self.connectCnt = 0
             self.proxyUser, self.proxyRcatZone = proxy_user
             self.clientUser, self.clientRcatZone = client_user
-            self.relVersion = "rods{}.{}.{}".format(*IRODS_VERSION)
-            self.apiVersion = "{3}".format(*IRODS_VERSION)
+            self.relVersion = "rods{}.{}.{}".format(*_IRODS_VERSION)
+            self.apiVersion = "{3}".format(*_IRODS_VERSION)
             self.option = application_name
 
     irodsProt = IntegerProperty()
diff --git a/irods/test/helpers.py b/irods/test/helpers.py
index 8b92738fb..727cff9fa 100644
--- a/irods/test/helpers.py
+++ b/irods/test/helpers.py
@@ -1,28 +1,29 @@
 import base64
 import contextlib
-import io
 import datetime
 import hashlib
 import inspect
+import io
 import json
 import logging
 import math
 import os
-import shutil
-import socket
 import random
 import re
+import shutil
+import socket
 import sys
 import tempfile
 import threading
 
 import irods.client_configuration as config
+import irods.rule
 from irods.helpers import (
     home_collection,
-    make_session as _irods_helpers_make_session)
-from irods.message import iRODSMessage, IRODS_VERSION
+    make_session as _irods_helpers_make_session,
+)
+from irods.message import iRODSMessage
 from irods.password_obfuscation import encode
-import irods.rule
 from irods.session import iRODSSession