I've been using reST style docstrings for a while, but I was browsing through the sphinx docs again to refresh my memory and realized that I'm not quite sure if there's a "standardized" way to document the side effects of a function. For instance, if we have this stripped-down example function:
def HandleMsgFromClient(my_list, my_int):
'''
Called when a msg is received from the client
:param my_list: a list holding some info
:param my_int: the int received from the client
'''
if my_int > 0:
my_list.append(':)')
elif my_int < 0:
my_list.append(':(')
else:
my_list.append(':/')
Should the side effect of adding something to my_list be included in the summary line? In the expanded explanation on the next line? Maybe in a :meta: field? Is it possible to highlight the side effect in the same way that we can highlight a parameter, return value, or their types? What's considered best practice to document the side effects of a function in this style?
