creates functions to split full access paths and combine the atomic parts back together

src/pydase/utils/helpers.py

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import inspect
 import logging
+import re
 from collections.abc import Callable
 from itertools import chain
 from typing import Any
@@ -7,6 +8,52 @@ from typing import Any
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
+def parse_full_access_path(path: str) -> list[str]:
+    """
+    Splits a full access path into its atomic parts, separating attribute names, numeric
+    indices, and string keys within indices.
+
+    The reverse function is given by `get_path_from_path_parts`.
+
+    Args:
+        path: str
+            The full access path string to be split into components.
+
+    Returns:
+        list[str]
+            A list of components that make up the path, including attribute names,
+            numeric indices, and string keys as separate elements.
+    """
+    # <word_with_underscore> | [<any number of digits>]
+    #                        | ["<anything except ">"]
+    #                        | ['<anything except '>']
+    pattern = r'\w+|\[\d+\]|\["[^"]*"\]|\[\'[^\']*\']'
+    return re.findall(pattern, path)
+
+
+def get_path_from_path_parts(path_parts: list[str]) -> str:
+    """Creates the full access path from its atomic parts.
+
+    The reverse function is given by `parse_full_access_path`.
+
+    Args:
+        path_parts: list[str]
+            A list of components that make up the path, including attribute names,
+            numeric indices and string keys enclosed in square brackets as separate
+            elements.
+    Returns:
+        str
+            The full access path corresponding to the path_parts.
+    """
+
+    path = ""
+    for path_part in path_parts:
+        if not path_part.startswith("[") and path != "":
+            path += "."
+        path += path_part
+    return path
+
+
 def get_attribute_doc(attr: Any) -> str | None:
     """This function takes an input attribute attr and returns its documentation
     string if it's different from the documentation of its type, otherwise,

tests/utils/test_helpers.py

@@ -4,11 +4,55 @@ import pydase
 import pytest
 from pydase.utils.helpers import (
     get_object_attr_from_path,
+    get_path_from_path_parts,
     is_property_attribute,
+    parse_full_access_path,
     parse_keyed_attribute,
 )
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "full_access_path, expected",
+    [
+        ("attr_name", ["attr_name"]),
+        ("parent.attr_name", ["parent", "attr_name"]),
+        ("nested.parent.attr_name", ["nested", "parent", "attr_name"]),
+        ("nested.parent.attr_name", ["nested", "parent", "attr_name"]),
+        ("attr_name[0]", ["attr_name", "[0]"]),
+        ("parent.attr_name[0]", ["parent", "attr_name", "[0]"]),
+        ("attr_name[0][1]", ["attr_name", "[0]", "[1]"]),
+        ('attr_name[0]["some_key"]', ["attr_name", "[0]", '["some_key"]']),
+        (
+            'dict_attr["some_key"].attr_name["other_key"]',
+            ["dict_attr", '["some_key"]', "attr_name", '["other_key"]'],
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_parse_full_access_path(full_access_path: str, expected: list[str]) -> None:
+    assert parse_full_access_path(full_access_path) == expected
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "path_parts, expected",
+    [
+        (["attr_name"], "attr_name"),
+        (["parent", "attr_name"], "parent.attr_name"),
+        (["nested", "parent", "attr_name"], "nested.parent.attr_name"),
+        (["nested", "parent", "attr_name"], "nested.parent.attr_name"),
+        (["attr_name", "[0]"], "attr_name[0]"),
+        (["parent", "attr_name", "[0]"], "parent.attr_name[0]"),
+        (["attr_name", "[0]", "[1]"], "attr_name[0][1]"),
+        (["attr_name", "[0]", '["some_key"]'], 'attr_name[0]["some_key"]'),
+        (
+            ["dict_attr", '["some_key"]', "attr_name", '["other_key"]'],
+            'dict_attr["some_key"].attr_name["other_key"]',
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_get_path_from_path_parts(path_parts: list[str], expected: str) -> None:
+    assert get_path_from_path_parts(path_parts) == expected
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "attr_name, expected",
     [