[ENH] Top-Level Convenience Aliases for Common Operations

[Omswastik-11]

Redundant syntax for getters

In getters, syntax is repeated and redundant, mainly through
the submodule having to be imported or addressed.

import openml

# List all datasets and their properties
openml.datasets.list_datasets(output_format="dataframe")

# Get dataset by ID
dataset = openml.datasets.get_dataset(61)

# Get dataset by name
dataset = openml.datasets.get_dataset('Fashion-MNIST')

# This is similar for flows, runs, studies, such as

study = openml.study.get_study(42)
flow = openml.flows.get_flow(42)

API

import openml

# List all datasets with minimal friction
datasets_df = openml.list_datasets(output_format="dataframe")

# Get dataset by ID
dataset = openml.get_dataset(61)

# Get dataset by name
dataset = openml.get_dataset("Fashion-MNIST")

# Similarly for other types (no submodule import needed)
task = openml.get_task(31)
flow = openml.get_flow(10)
run = openml.get_run(20)

tasks_df = openml.list_tasks(task_type=TaskType.SUPERVISED_CLASSIFICATION)
flows_df = openml.list_flows(size=5)
runs_df = openml.list_runs(size=10)

Implementation Details

• Added re-exports in __init__.py for:

  • list_datasets, get_dataset
  • list_flows, get_flow
  • list_tasks, get_task
  • list_runs, get_run

• Functions are imported directly from their respective submodules and exposed via __all__.

• All existing submodule-level imports remain fully functional.

• No changes to the underlying implementations — these are pure convenience aliases.

• Added unit tests to confirm that the aliases reference the correct underlying functions.

[codecov-commenter]

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 52.78%. Comparing base (8a5532f) to head (065bbf3).

Additional details and impacted files

@@            Coverage Diff             @@
##             main    #1551      +/-   ##
==========================================
+ Coverage   52.73%   52.78%   +0.04%     
==========================================
  Files          37       37              
  Lines        4399     4403       +4     
==========================================
+ Hits         2320     2324       +4     
  Misses       2079     2079              

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[jgyasu]

looks good to me, the failing test looks unrelated

[geetu040]

Please resolve conflicts with main, otherwise the changes look good.

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds top-level convenience aliases to the openml package so common operations (list/get for datasets, tasks, flows, runs) can be called directly without referencing submodules, and updates examples/tests accordingly.

Changes:

• Re-export list_* / get_* helpers from datasets/flows/tasks/runs at openml.<fn> level via openml/__init__.py.
• Add a unit test verifying the top-level aliases resolve to the intended underlying implementations.
• Update tutorial/example scripts to demonstrate the new top-level API while keeping the old submodule paths as comments.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 6 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
openml/__init__.py	Adds top-level imports + __all__ entries for list/get convenience aliases.
tests/test_openml/test_openml.py	Adds a test ensuring the top-level aliases map to the expected implementations.
examples/Basics/simple_tasks_tutorial.py	Switches example usage to openml.get_task(...) (with old path commented).
examples/Basics/simple_flows_and_runs_tutorial.py	Switches example usage to openml.get_task(...) and fixes a typo in a comment.
examples/Basics/simple_datasets_tutorial.py	Switches example usage to openml.list_datasets() / openml.get_dataset(...).
examples/Advanced/tasks_tutorial.py	Switches example usage to openml.list_tasks(...) / openml.get_task(...) and updates narrative text.

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 6 out of 6 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

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[geetu040]

Nice, LGTM.

@fkiraly please merge.

[fkiraly]

@PGijsbers, @joaquinvanschoren, are you happy with this change? This is just aliasing.

[PGijsbers]

LGTM!
Edit: waiting for CI results of merge commit

[Copilot]

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