ENH: Adds security_start_date and _end_date with deprecation warnings

tests/test_assets.py

@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import pickle
 import pprint
 import pytz
 import uuid
-
+import warnings
 import pandas as pd
 
 from nose_parameterized import parameterized
@@ -223,9 +223,9 @@ class AssetTestCase(TestCase):
         attrs_to_check = ['end_date',
                           'exchange',
                           'first_traded',
-                          'asset_end_date',
+                          'end_date',
                           'asset_name',
-                          'asset_start_date',
+                          'start_date',
                           'sid',
                           'start_date',
                           'symbol']
@@ -610,3 +610,22 @@ class AssetFinderTestCase(TestCase):
         # Build a finder that is not allowed to assign sids, asserting failure
         with self.assertRaises(SidAssignmentError):
             AssetFinder(metadata=metadata, allow_sid_assignment=False)
+
+    def test_security_dates_warning(self):
+
+        # Build an asset with an end_date
+        eq_end = pd.Timestamp('2012-01-01', tz='UTC')
+        equity_asset = Equity(1, symbol="TESTEQ", end_date=eq_end)
+
+        # Catch all warnings
+        with warnings.catch_warnings(record=True) as w:
+            # Cause all warnings to always be triggered
+            warnings.simplefilter("always")
+            equity_asset.security_start_date
+            equity_asset.security_end_date
+            equity_asset.security_name
+            # Verify the warning
+            self.assertEqual(3, len(w))
+            for warning in w:
+                self.assertTrue(issubclass(warning.category,
+                                           DeprecationWarning))

zipline/assets/_assets.pyx

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ Cythonized Asset object.
 cimport cython
 
 import numpy as np
+import warnings
 cimport numpy as np
 
 # IMPORTANT NOTE: You must change this template if you change
@@ -67,22 +68,6 @@ cdef class Asset:
     def __hash__(self):
         return self.sid_hash
 
-    property asset_start_date:
-        """
-        Alias for start_date to disambiguate from other `start_date`s in the
-        system.
-        """
-        def __get__(self):
-            return self.start_date
-
-    property asset_end_date:
-        """
-        Alias for end_date to disambiguate from other `end_date`s in the
-        system.
-        """
-        def __get__(self):
-            return self.end_date
-
     def __richcmp__(x, y, int op):
         """
         Cython rich comparison method.  This is used in place of various
@@ -203,6 +188,39 @@ cdef class Equity(Asset):
         params = ', '.join(strings)
         return 'Equity(%d, %s)' % (self.sid, params)
 
+    property security_start_date:
+        """
+        DEPRECATION: This property should be deprecated and is only present for
+        backwards compatibility
+        """
+        def __get__(self):
+            warnings.warn("The security_start_date property will soon be "
+            "retired. Please use the start_date property instead.",
+            DeprecationWarning)
+            return self.start_date
+
+    property security_end_date:
+        """
+        DEPRECATION: This property should be deprecated and is only present for
+        backwards compatibility
+        """
+        def __get__(self):
+            warnings.warn("The security_end_date property will soon be "
+            "retired. Please use the end_date property instead.",
+            DeprecationWarning)
+            return self.end_date
+
+    property security_name:
+        """
+        DEPRECATION: This property should be deprecated and is only present for
+        backwards compatibility
+        """
+        def __get__(self):
+            warnings.warn("The security_name property will soon be "
+            "retired. Please use the asset_name property instead.",
+            DeprecationWarning)
+            return self.asset_name
+
 
 cdef class Future(Asset):