cpython/Doc
R. David Murray 88c49fe320 #9444: use first of prefix_chars for help opt instead of raising error
An argparse option parser created with a prefix_chars that did not
include a '-' would happily add -h and --help options, and then throw
an error when it tried to format the help because the - was an invalid
prefix character.  This patch makes it use the first character of
prefix_chars as the character for the help options if and only if '-'
is not one of the valid prefix_chars.

Fix by Theodore Turocy, unit tests by Catherine Devlin.
2010-08-03 17:56:09 +00:00
..
c-api Terminology fix: exceptions are raised, except in generator.throw(). 2010-08-03 12:06:29 +00:00
data Issue #9089: PyNumber_Int is no more. Remove it from the docs. 2010-06-27 17:36:54 +00:00
distutils #7973: Fix distutils options spelling. 2010-08-02 19:16:34 +00:00
documenting Document how to refer to decorators and decorator methods. 2010-08-02 12:54:24 +00:00
extending #9037: add example how to raise custom exceptions from C code. 2010-08-02 20:21:21 +00:00
faq Take care of duplicate target name warnings. 2010-07-12 09:00:29 +00:00
howto Terminology fix: exceptions are raised, except in generator.throw(). 2010-08-03 12:06:29 +00:00
includes Merged revisions 78338,78345-78346,78561-78562,78566,78574,78581,78634,78660,78675 via svnmerge from 2010-03-21 22:36:19 +00:00
install Fix grammar. 2010-07-26 15:11:49 +00:00
library #9444: use first of prefix_chars for help opt instead of raising error 2010-08-03 17:56:09 +00:00
reference #9451: strengthen warning about __*__ special name usage. 2010-08-02 19:32:43 +00:00
tools Get rid of UserWarnings when running Sphinx from tools dir. 2010-08-03 12:31:59 +00:00
tutorial Clarify that abs() is not a namespace. 2010-08-02 20:44:34 +00:00
using Fix typo. 2010-07-06 22:58:50 +00:00
whatsnew Terminology fix: exceptions are raised, except in generator.throw(). 2010-08-03 12:06:29 +00:00
about.rst Merged revisions 80388 via svnmerge from 2010-04-22 23:20:19 +00:00
ACKS.txt Merged revisions 75893 via svnmerge from 2009-10-27 23:12:01 +00:00
bugs.rst Merged revisions 80388 via svnmerge from 2010-04-22 23:20:19 +00:00
conf.py #3143: enable "collapsible sidebar" feature of new Sphinx version. 2010-07-30 11:31:03 +00:00
contents.rst Merged revisions 75363 via svnmerge from 2009-10-11 21:25:26 +00:00
copyright.rst Merged revisions 77204 via svnmerge from 2010-01-01 04:49:25 +00:00
glossary.rst #3214 followup: add link to ABC entry. 2010-07-11 08:36:20 +00:00
license.rst Update copyright years and add releases to release list. Also update Sphinx version number. 2010-07-31 09:01:16 +00:00
make.bat Update copyright years and add releases to release list. Also update Sphinx version number. 2010-07-31 09:01:16 +00:00
Makefile A couple of nits how to ignore errors. 2010-08-03 12:36:57 +00:00
README.txt Update copyright years and add releases to release list. Also update Sphinx version number. 2010-07-31 09:01:16 +00:00

Python Documentation README
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This directory contains the reStructuredText (reST) sources to the Python
documentation.  You don't need to build them yourself, prebuilt versions are
available at http://docs.python.org/download/.

Documentation on the authoring Python documentation, including information about
both style and markup, is available in the "Documenting Python" chapter of the
documentation.  There's also a chapter intended to point out differences to
those familiar with the previous docs written in LaTeX.


Building the docs
=================

You need to have Python 2.4 or higher installed; the toolset used to build the
docs is written in Python.  It is called *Sphinx*, it is not included in this
tree, but maintained separately.  Also needed are the docutils, supplying the
base markup that Sphinx uses, Jinja, a templating engine, and optionally
Pygments, a code highlighter.


Using make
----------

Luckily, a Makefile has been prepared so that on Unix, provided you have
installed Python and Subversion, you can just run ::

   make html

to check out the necessary toolset in the `tools/` subdirectory and build the
HTML output files.  To view the generated HTML, point your favorite browser at
the top-level index `build/html/index.html` after running "make".

To use a Python interpreter that's not called ``python``, use the standard
way to set Makefile variables, using e.g. ::

   make html PYTHON=/usr/bin/python2.5

Available make targets are:

 * "html", which builds standalone HTML files for offline viewing.

 * "htmlhelp", which builds HTML files and a HTML Help project file usable to
   convert them into a single Compiled HTML (.chm) file -- these are popular
   under Microsoft Windows, but very handy on every platform.

   To create the CHM file, you need to run the Microsoft HTML Help Workshop over
   the generated project (.hhp) file.

 * "latex", which builds LaTeX source files as input to "pdflatex" to produce
   PDF documents.

 * "text", which builds a plain text file for each source file.

 * "linkcheck", which checks all external references to see whether they are
   broken, redirected or malformed, and outputs this information to stdout as
   well as a plain-text (.txt) file.

 * "changes", which builds an overview over all versionadded/versionchanged/
   deprecated items in the current version. This is meant as a help for the
   writer of the "What's New" document.

 * "coverage", which builds a coverage overview for standard library modules and
   C API.

 * "pydoc-topics", which builds a Python module containing a dictionary with
   plain text documentation for the labels defined in
   `tools/sphinxext/pyspecific.py` -- pydoc needs these to show topic and
   keyword help.

A "make update" updates the Subversion checkouts in `tools/`.


Without make
------------

You'll need to install the Sphinx package, either by checking it out via ::

   svn co http://svn.python.org/projects/external/Sphinx-1.0.1/sphinx tools/sphinx

or by installing it from PyPI.

Then, you need to install Docutils, either by checking it out via ::

   svn co http://svn.python.org/projects/external/docutils-0.6/docutils tools/docutils

or by installing it from http://docutils.sf.net/.

You also need Jinja2, either by checking it out via ::

   svn co http://svn.python.org/projects/external/Jinja-2.3.1/jinja2 tools/jinja2

or by installing it from PyPI.

You can optionally also install Pygments, either as a checkout via ::

   svn co http://svn.python.org/projects/external/Pygments-1.3.1/pygments tools/pygments

or from PyPI at http://pypi.python.org/pypi/Pygments.


Then, make an output directory, e.g. under `build/`, and run ::

   python tools/sphinx-build.py -b<builder> . build/<outputdirectory>

where `<builder>` is one of html, text, latex, or htmlhelp (for explanations see
the make targets above).


Contributing
============

Bugs in the content should be reported to the Python bug tracker at
http://bugs.python.org.

Bugs in the toolset should be reported in the Sphinx bug tracker at
http://www.bitbucket.org/birkenfeld/sphinx/issues/.

You can also send a mail to the Python Documentation Team at docs@python.org,
and we will process your request as soon as possible.

If you want to help the Documentation Team, you are always welcome.  Just send
a mail to docs@python.org.


Copyright notice
================

The Python source is copyrighted, but you can freely use and copy it
as long as you don't change or remove the copyright notice:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) 2000-2010 Python Software Foundation.
All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2000 BeOpen.com.
All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 1995-2000 Corporation for National Research Initiatives.
All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 1991-1995 Stichting Mathematisch Centrum.
All rights reserved.

See the file "license.rst" for information on usage and redistribution
of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
----------------------------------------------------------------------