no-blank-line-before-class-docstring (PDF208)¶

Part of the PDF rule category.

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Fix is always available.

Rule is incompatible with PDF209.

What it does¶

PDF208 removes blank lines immediately before class docstrings.

Only the adjacent blank-line run before the docstring statement is changed. Comments, decorators, class headers, and non-blank lines before the docstring are preserved. The rule applies only to primary class docstrings. It does not apply to function docstrings, attribute docstrings, or simple-suite class docstrings written on the same physical line as the class header.

Why is this useful?¶

Keeping a class docstring directly attached to the class body follows Ruff's default class-docstring spacing convention.

Ruff compatibility¶

This rule replaces Ruff's D211.

Examples¶

The canonical fix removes blank lines before a class docstring:

class Client:

    """Docstring."""
    value = 1

class Client:
    """Docstring."""
    value = 1

Comments are preserved; only the adjacent blank-line run before the docstring is removed:

class Client:
    # Leading comment.


    """Docstring."""
    value = 1

class Client:
    # Leading comment.
    """Docstring."""
    value = 1

Function docstrings and attribute docstrings are ignored:

class Client:
    value = 1
    """Attribute docstring."""

def function():

    """Function docstring."""
    return None

Options¶

None.