swev-id: astropy__astropy-7671 Fix minversion failures with LooseVersion dev comparisons

[casey-brooks]

Summary

• add _normalize_for_loose_version to strip epochs/local tags and encode prerelease/dev/post tags into dotted numeric segments
• ensure minversion ignores distutils deprecation warnings and falls back to normalized comparisons whenever tagged versions are involved or LooseVersion raises TypeError
• extend astropy/utils/tests/test_introspection.py with coverage for dev, prerelease, post-release, epoch, and local-version cases

Testing

• .venv/bin/flake8 astropy/utils/introspection.py astropy/utils/tests/test_introspection.py
• LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/nix/store/wffgswxkp55xi14jy63rjsnfvl2qvmxy-gcc-14.3.0-lib/lib:/nix/store/qipd93x9gjyiygqk673rd2ssnf8y7jj0-gcc-14.3.0-lib/lib:/nix/store/zmjqwzhgl9hwr8xnk8raj8d50lzkql66-gcc-14.3.0-lib/lib:/nix/store/n5lymg0y5x6i9wipkjrsi8aczv1nr4qc-zlib-1.3.1/lib PYTHONPATH=/tmp/pycompat:/workspace/astropy/.venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages:. .venv/bin/python -m pytest astropy/utils/tests/test_introspection.py -k minversion -p no:cacheprovider

Observed failure

>>> from astropy.utils import minversion
>>> minversion('numpy', '1.14dev')
TypeError                                 Traceback (most recent call last)
<ipython-input-1-760e6b1c375e> in <module>()
      1 from astropy.utils import minversion
----> 2 minversion('numpy', '1.14dev')

~/dev/astropy/astropy/utils/introspection.py in minversion(module, version, inclusive, version_path)
    144
    145     if inclusive:
--> 146         return LooseVersion(have_version) >= LooseVersion(version)
    147     else:
    148         return LooseVersion(have_version) > LooseVersion(version)

~/local/conda/envs/photutils-dev/lib/python3.6/distutils/version.py in __ge__(self, other)
     68
     69     def __ge__(self, other):
---> 70         c = self._cmp(other)
     71         if c is NotImplemented:
     72             return c

~/local/conda/envs/photutils-dev/lib/python3.6/distutils/version.py in _cmp(self, other)
    335         if self.version == other.version:
    336             return 0
--> 337         if self.version < other.version:
    338             return -1
    339         if self.version > other.version:

TypeError: '<' not supported between instances of 'int' and 'str'

Reproduction

>>> from distutils.version import LooseVersion
>>> LooseVersion('1.14.3')  >= LooseVersion('1.14dev')
...
TypeError: '<' not supported between instances of 'int' and 'str'

Fixes #91

[casey-brooks]

Test & Lint Summary

• .venv/bin/flake8 astropy/utils/introspection.py astropy/utils/tests/test_introspection.py (pass)
• LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/nix/store/wffgswxkp55xi14jy63rjsnfvl2qvmxy-gcc-14.3.0-lib/lib:/nix/store/qipd93x9gjyiygqk673rd2ssnf8y7jj0-gcc-14.3.0-lib/lib:/nix/store/zmjqwzhgl9hwr8xnk8raj8d50lzkql66-gcc-14.3.0-lib/lib:/nix/store/n5lymg0y5x6i9wipkjrsi8aczv1nr4qc-zlib-1.3.1/lib PYTHONPATH=/tmp/pycompat:/workspace/astropy/.venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages:. .venv/bin/python -m pytest astropy/utils/tests/test_introspection.py -k minversion -p no:cacheprovider (7 passed, 3 deselected)

[noa-lucent]

Thanks for improving the LooseVersion fallback and adding coverage. I did spot one functional regression: normalization currently slices the release components down to three entries, so any 4+ segment version collapses when the fallback path runs. For example, minversion(_module_with_version('1.2.3.4.dev1'), '1.2.3.5.dev1') now returns True even though the required version is newer. Please keep all release segments (while still padding missing ones) and add a regression test for a four-component release. Happy to take another look once that’s in place.

[casey-brooks]

Test & Lint Summary

• .venv/bin/flake8 astropy/utils/introspection.py astropy/utils/tests/test_introspection.py (pass)
• LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/nix/store/wffgswxkp55xi14jy63rjsnfvl2qvmxy-gcc-14.3.0-lib/lib:/nix/store/qipd93x9gjyiygqk673rd2ssnf8y7jj0-gcc-14.3.0-lib/lib:/nix/store/zmjqwzhgl9hwr8xnk8raj8d50lzkql66-gcc-14.3.0-lib/lib:/nix/store/n5lymg0y5x6i9wipkjrsi8aczv1nr4qc-zlib-1.3.1/lib PYTHONPATH=/tmp/pycompat:/workspace/astropy/.venv/lib/python3.10/site-packages:. .venv/bin/python -m pytest astropy/utils/tests/test_introspection.py -k minversion -p no:cacheprovider (8 passed, 3 deselected)

[noa-lucent]

Thanks for addressing the normalization regression so quickly. The updated helper preserves every release component, the sentinel keeps tag metadata distinct, and the new multi-component dev test exercises the edge case I flagged. Everything else looks solid and the expanded test matrix covers the tricky tag ordering. LGTM.