DEPR: deprecate returning a tuple from a callable in iloc indexing (#53769)

* DEPR: deprecate returning a tuple from a callable in iloc indexing

The current semantics are that tuple-destructuring of the key is
performed before unwinding any callables. As such, if a callable
returns a tuple for iloc, it will be handled incorrectly. To avoid
this, explicitly deprecate support for this behaviour.

Closes #53533.

* Update documentation and add test

* Refactor check into method

* Link to docs in whatsnew entry

* Move deprecation warning so docstring checks don't complain

* Prelim changes

* Update pandas/core/indexing.py

* Adjust test

---------

Co-authored-by: Matthew Roeschke <[email protected]>

Author: wence-

doc/source/user_guide/indexing.rst

@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ of multi-axis indexing.
     * A boolean array (any ``NA`` values will be treated as ``False``).
     * A ``callable`` function with one argument (the calling Series or DataFrame) and
       that returns valid output for indexing (one of the above).
+    * A tuple of row (and column) indices whose elements are one of the
+      above inputs.
 
   See more at :ref:`Selection by Label <indexing.label>`.
 
@@ -78,13 +80,21 @@ of multi-axis indexing.
     * A boolean array (any ``NA`` values will be treated as ``False``).
     * A ``callable`` function with one argument (the calling Series or DataFrame) and
       that returns valid output for indexing (one of the above).
+    * A tuple of row (and column) indices whose elements are one of the
+      above inputs.
 
   See more at :ref:`Selection by Position <indexing.integer>`,
   :ref:`Advanced Indexing <advanced>` and :ref:`Advanced
   Hierarchical <advanced.advanced_hierarchical>`.
 
 * ``.loc``, ``.iloc``, and also ``[]`` indexing can accept a ``callable`` as indexer. See more at :ref:`Selection By Callable <indexing.callable>`.
 
+  .. note::
+
+     Destructuring tuple keys into row (and column) indexes occurs
+     *before* callables are applied, so you cannot return a tuple from
+     a callable to index both rows and columns.
+
 Getting values from an object with multi-axes selection uses the following
 notation (using ``.loc`` as an example, but the following applies to ``.iloc`` as
 well). Any of the axes accessors may be the null slice ``:``. Axes left out of
@@ -450,6 +460,8 @@ The ``.iloc`` attribute is the primary access method. The following are valid in
 * A slice object with ints ``1:7``.
 * A boolean array.
 * A ``callable``, see :ref:`Selection By Callable <indexing.callable>`.
+* A tuple of row (and column) indexes, whose elements are one of the
+  above types.
 
 .. ipython:: python
 
@@ -553,6 +565,12 @@ Selection by callable
 ``.loc``, ``.iloc``, and also ``[]`` indexing can accept a ``callable`` as indexer.
 The ``callable`` must be a function with one argument (the calling Series or DataFrame) that returns valid output for indexing.
 
+.. note::
+
+   For ``.iloc`` indexing, returning a tuple from the callable is
+   not supported, since tuple destructuring for row and column indexes
+   occurs *before* applying callables.
+
 .. ipython:: python
 
    df1 = pd.DataFrame(np.random.randn(6, 4),

pandas/core/indexing.py

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 import sys
 from typing import (
     TYPE_CHECKING,
+    Any,
+    TypeVar,
     cast,
     final,
 )
@@ -25,6 +27,7 @@
     _chained_assignment_msg,
 )
 from pandas.util._decorators import doc
+from pandas.util._exceptions import find_stack_level
 
 from pandas.core.dtypes.cast import (
     can_hold_element,
@@ -90,6 +93,7 @@
         Series,
     )
 
+T = TypeVar("T")
 # "null slice"
 _NS = slice(None, None)
 _one_ellipsis_message = "indexer may only contain one '...' entry"
@@ -153,6 +157,10 @@ def iloc(self) -> _iLocIndexer:
         """
         Purely integer-location based indexing for selection by position.
 
+        .. deprecated:: 2.2.0
+
+           Returning a tuple from a callable is deprecated.
+
         ``.iloc[]`` is primarily integer position based (from ``0`` to
         ``length-1`` of the axis), but may also be used with a boolean
         array.
@@ -166,7 +174,8 @@ def iloc(self) -> _iLocIndexer:
         - A ``callable`` function with one argument (the calling Series or
           DataFrame) and that returns valid output for indexing (one of the above).
           This is useful in method chains, when you don't have a reference to the
-          calling object, but would like to base your selection on some value.
+          calling object, but would like to base your selection on
+          some value.
         - A tuple of row and column indexes. The tuple elements consist of one of the
           above inputs, e.g. ``(0, 1)``.
 
@@ -878,7 +887,8 @@ def __setitem__(self, key, value) -> None:
             key = tuple(list(x) if is_iterator(x) else x for x in key)
             key = tuple(com.apply_if_callable(x, self.obj) for x in key)
         else:
-            key = com.apply_if_callable(key, self.obj)
+            maybe_callable = com.apply_if_callable(key, self.obj)
+            key = self._check_deprecated_callable_usage(key, maybe_callable)
         indexer = self._get_setitem_indexer(key)
         self._has_valid_setitem_indexer(key)
 
@@ -1137,6 +1147,17 @@ def _contains_slice(x: object) -> bool:
     def _convert_to_indexer(self, key, axis: AxisInt):
         raise AbstractMethodError(self)
 
+    def _check_deprecated_callable_usage(self, key: Any, maybe_callable: T) -> T:
+        # GH53533
+        if self.name == "iloc" and callable(key) and isinstance(maybe_callable, tuple):
+            warnings.warn(
+                "Returning a tuple from a callable with iloc "
+                "is deprecated and will be removed in a future version",
+                FutureWarning,
+                stacklevel=find_stack_level(),
+            )
+        return maybe_callable
+
     @final
     def __getitem__(self, key):
         check_dict_or_set_indexers(key)
@@ -1151,6 +1172,7 @@ def __getitem__(self, key):
             axis = self.axis or 0
 
             maybe_callable = com.apply_if_callable(key, self.obj)
+            maybe_callable = self._check_deprecated_callable_usage(key, maybe_callable)
             return self._getitem_axis(maybe_callable, axis=axis)
 
     def _is_scalar_access(self, key: tuple):

pandas/tests/frame/indexing/test_indexing.py

@@ -1017,6 +1017,15 @@ def test_single_element_ix_dont_upcast(self, float_frame):
         result = df.loc[[0], "b"]
         tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
+    def test_iloc_callable_tuple_return_value(self):
+        # GH53769
+        df = DataFrame(np.arange(40).reshape(10, 4), index=range(0, 20, 2))
+        msg = "callable with iloc"
+        with tm.assert_produces_warning(FutureWarning, match=msg):
+            df.iloc[lambda _: (0,)]
+        with tm.assert_produces_warning(FutureWarning, match=msg):
+            df.iloc[lambda _: (0,)] = 1
+
     def test_iloc_row(self):
         df = DataFrame(
             np.random.default_rng(2).standard_normal((10, 4)), index=range(0, 20, 2)