Merge branch 'dev' into no_override

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,13 +5,16 @@
 ### Enhancements
 - Added support to append to a dataset of references for HDMF-Zarr. @mavaylon1 [#1157](https://github.com/hdmf-dev/hdmf/pull/1157)
 - Allow override of constructor args and object attrs in `hdmf.build.ObjectMapper` to return None. @rly [#1167](https://github.com/hdmf-dev/hdmf/pull/1167)
+- Improved "already exists" error message when adding a container to a `MultiContainerInterface`. @rly [#1165](https://github.com/hdmf-dev/hdmf/pull/1165)
 
 ## HDMF 3.14.3 (July 29, 2024)
 
 ### Enhancements
 - Added new attribute "dimension_labels" on `DatasetBuilder` which specifies the names of the dimensions used in the
 dataset based on the shape of the dataset data and the dimension names in the spec for the data type. This attribute
 is available on build (during the write process), but not on read of a dataset from a file. @rly [#1081](https://github.com/hdmf-dev/hdmf/pull/1081)
+- Speed up loading namespaces by skipping register_type when already registered. @magland [#1102](https://github.com/hdmf-dev/hdmf/pull/1102)
+- Speed up namespace loading: return a shallow copy rather than a deep copy in build_const_args. @magland [#1103](https://github.com/hdmf-dev/hdmf/pull/1103)
 
 ## HDMF 3.14.2 (July 7, 2024)
 

src/hdmf/container.py

@@ -1142,7 +1142,9 @@ def _func(self, **kwargs):
                     # still need to mark self as modified
                     self.set_modified()
                 if tmp.name in d:
-                    msg = "'%s' already exists in %s '%s'" % (tmp.name, cls.__name__, self.name)
+                    msg = (f"Cannot add {tmp.__class__} '{tmp.name}' at 0x{id(tmp)} to dict attribute '{attr_name}' in "
+                           f"{cls} '{self.name}'. {d[tmp.name].__class__} '{tmp.name}' at 0x{id(d[tmp.name])} "
+                           f"already exists in '{attr_name}' and has the same name.")
                     raise ValueError(msg)
                 d[tmp.name] = tmp
             return container

src/hdmf/spec/namespace.py

@@ -466,15 +466,19 @@ def __load_namespace(self, namespace, reader, resolve=True):
         return included_types
 
     def __register_type(self, ndt, inc_ns, catalog, registered_types):
-        spec = inc_ns.get_spec(ndt)
-        spec_file = inc_ns.catalog.get_spec_source_file(ndt)
-        self.__register_dependent_types(spec, inc_ns, catalog, registered_types)
-        if isinstance(spec, DatasetSpec):
-            built_spec = self.dataset_spec_cls.build_spec(spec)
+        if ndt in registered_types:
+            # already registered
+            pass
         else:
-            built_spec = self.group_spec_cls.build_spec(spec)
-        registered_types.add(ndt)
-        catalog.register_spec(built_spec, spec_file)
+            spec = inc_ns.get_spec(ndt)
+            spec_file = inc_ns.catalog.get_spec_source_file(ndt)
+            self.__register_dependent_types(spec, inc_ns, catalog, registered_types)
+            if isinstance(spec, DatasetSpec):
+                built_spec = self.dataset_spec_cls.build_spec(spec)
+            else:
+                built_spec = self.group_spec_cls.build_spec(spec)
+            registered_types.add(ndt)
+            catalog.register_spec(built_spec, spec_file)
 
     def __register_dependent_types(self, spec, inc_ns, catalog, registered_types):
         """Ensure that classes for all types used by this type are registered

src/hdmf/spec/spec.py

@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import re
 from abc import ABCMeta
 from collections import OrderedDict
-from copy import deepcopy
 from warnings import warn
 
 from ..utils import docval, getargs, popargs, get_docval
@@ -84,7 +83,7 @@ class ConstructableDict(dict, metaclass=ABCMeta):
     def build_const_args(cls, spec_dict):
         ''' Build constructor arguments for this ConstructableDict class from a dictionary '''
         # main use cases are when spec_dict is a ConstructableDict or a spec dict read from a file
-        return deepcopy(spec_dict)
+        return spec_dict.copy()
 
     @classmethod
     def build_spec(cls, spec_dict):

tests/unit/test_multicontainerinterface.py

@@ -198,7 +198,10 @@ def test_add_single_dup(self):
         """Test that adding a container to the attribute dict correctly adds the container."""
         obj1 = Container('obj1')
         foo = Foo(obj1)
-        msg = "'obj1' already exists in Foo 'Foo'"
+        msg = (f"Cannot add <class 'hdmf.container.Container'> 'obj1' at 0x{id(obj1)} to dict attribute "
+               "'containers' in <class 'tests.unit.test_multicontainerinterface.Foo'> 'Foo'. "
+               f"<class 'hdmf.container.Container'> 'obj1' at 0x{id(obj1)} already exists in 'containers' "
+               "and has the same name.")
         with self.assertRaisesWith(ValueError, msg):
             foo.add_container(obj1)