Backport doc improvements for distutils.cmd.Command (#9223).

Original commit by Georg Brandl.

1 files changed, 80 insertions, 76 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst b/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
index b28a3afdc9..275d3e61b8 100644
--- a/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
+++ b/Doc/distutils/apiref.rst
@@ -147,11 +147,11 @@ setup script). Indirectly provides the  :class:`distutils.dist.Distribution` and
 In addition, the :mod:`distutils.core` module exposed a number of  classes that
 live elsewhere.
 
-* :class:`Extension` from :mod:`distutils.extension`
+* :class:`~distutils.extension.Extension` from :mod:`distutils.extension`
 
-* :class:`Command` from :mod:`distutils.cmd`
+* :class:`~distutils.cmd.Command` from :mod:`distutils.cmd`
 
-* :class:`Distribution` from :mod:`distutils.dist`
+* :class:`~distutils.dist.Distribution` from :mod:`distutils.dist`
 
 A short description of each of these follows, but see the relevant module for
 the full reference.
@@ -1679,8 +1679,8 @@ lines, and joining lines with backslashes.
 ===================================================================
 
 .. module:: distutils.cmd
-   :synopsis: This module provides the abstract base class Command. This class is subclassed
-              by the modules in the distutils.command  subpackage.
+   :synopsis: This module provides the abstract base class Command. This class
+              is subclassed by the modules in the distutils.command subpackage.
 
 
 This module supplies the abstract base class :class:`Command`.
@@ -1690,20 +1690,84 @@ This module supplies the abstract base class :class:`Command`.
 
    Abstract base class for defining command classes, the "worker bees" of the
    Distutils.  A useful analogy for command classes is to think of them as
-   subroutines with local variables called *options*.  The options are declared in
-   :meth:`initialize_options` and defined (given their final values) in
-   :meth:`finalize_options`, both of which must be defined by every command class.
-   The distinction between the two is necessary because option values might come
-   from the outside world (command line, config file, ...), and any options
-   dependent on other options must be computed after these outside influences have
-   been processed --- hence :meth:`finalize_options`.  The body of the subroutine,
-   where it does all its work based on the values of its options, is the
-   :meth:`run` method, which must also be implemented by every command class.
-
-   The class constructor takes a single argument *dist*, a  :class:`Distribution`
+   subroutines with local variables called *options*.  The options are declared
+   in :meth:`initialize_options` and defined (given their final values) in
+   :meth:`finalize_options`, both of which must be defined by every command
+   class.  The distinction between the two is necessary because option values
+   might come from the outside world (command line, config file, ...), and any
+   options dependent on other options must be computed after these outside
+   influences have been processed --- hence :meth:`finalize_options`.  The body
+   of the subroutine, where it does all its work based on the values of its
+   options, is the :meth:`run` method, which must also be implemented by every
+   command class.
+
+   The class constructor takes a single argument *dist*, a :class:`Distribution`
    instance.
 
 
+Creating a new Distutils command
+================================
+
+This section outlines the steps to create a new Distutils command.
+
+A new command lives in a module in the :mod:`distutils.command` package. There
+is a sample template in that directory called :file:`command_template`.  Copy
+this file to a new module with the same name as the new command you're
+implementing.  This module should implement a class with the same name as the
+module (and the command).  So, for instance, to create the command
+``peel_banana`` (so that users can run ``setup.py peel_banana``), you'd copy
+:file:`command_template` to :file:`distutils/command/peel_banana.py`, then edit
+it so that it's implementing the class :class:`peel_banana`, a subclass of
+:class:`distutils.cmd.Command`.
+
+Subclasses of :class:`Command` must define the following methods.
+
+.. method:: Command.initialize_options()
+
+   Set default values for all the options that this command supports.  Note that
+   these defaults may be overridden by other commands, by the setup script, by
+   config files, or by the command-line.  Thus, this is not the place to code
+   dependencies between options; generally, :meth:`initialize_options`
+   implementations are just a bunch of ``self.foo = None`` assignments.
+
+
+.. method:: Command.finalize_options()
+
+   Set final values for all the options that this command supports. This is
+   always called as late as possible, ie.  after any option assignments from the
+   command-line or from other commands have been done.  Thus, this is the place
+   to to code option dependencies: if *foo* depends on *bar*, then it is safe to
+   set *foo* from *bar* as long as *foo* still has the same value it was
+   assigned in :meth:`initialize_options`.
+
+
+.. method:: Command.run()
+
+   A command's raison d'etre: carry out the action it exists to perform, controlled
+   by the options initialized in :meth:`initialize_options`, customized by other
+   commands, the setup script, the command-line, and config files, and finalized in
+   :meth:`finalize_options`.  All terminal output and filesystem interaction should
+   be done by :meth:`run`.
+
+
+.. attribute:: Command.sub_commands
+
+   *sub_commands* formalizes the notion of a "family" of commands,
+   e.g. ``install`` as the parent with sub-commands ``install_lib``,
+   ``install_headers``, etc.  The parent of a family of commands defines
+   *sub_commands* as a class attribute; it's a list of 2-tuples ``(command_name,
+   predicate)``, with *command_name* a string and *predicate* a function, a
+   string or ``None``.  *predicate* is a method of the parent command that
+   determines whether the corresponding command is applicable in the current
+   situation.  (E.g. ``install_headers`` is only applicable if we have any C
+   header files to install.)  If *predicate* is ``None``, that command is always
+   applicable.
+
+   *sub_commands* is usually defined at the *end* of a class, because
+   predicates can be methods of the class, so they must already have been
+   defined.  The canonical example is the :command:`install` command.
+
+
 :mod:`distutils.command` --- Individual Distutils commands
 ==========================================================
 
@@ -1924,63 +1988,3 @@ The ``register`` command registers the package with the Python Package  Index.
 This is described in more detail in :pep:`301`.
 
 .. % todo
-
-
-Creating a new Distutils command
-================================
-
-This section outlines the steps to create a new Distutils command.
-
-A new command lives in a module in the :mod:`distutils.command` package. There
-is a sample template in that directory called  :file:`command_template`. Copy
-this file to a new module with the same name as the new command you're
-implementing. This module should implement a class with the same name as the
-module (and the command). So, for instance, to create the command
-``peel_banana`` (so that users can run ``setup.py peel_banana``), you'd copy
-:file:`command_template`  to :file:`distutils/command/peel_banana.py`, then edit
-it so that it's implementing the class :class:`peel_banana`, a subclass of
-:class:`distutils.cmd.Command`.
-
-Subclasses of :class:`Command` must define the following methods.
-
-
-.. method:: Command.initialize_options()
-
-   Set default values for all the options that this command supports.  Note that
-   these defaults may be overridden by other commands, by the setup script, by
-   config files, or by the command-line.  Thus, this is not the place to code
-   dependencies between options; generally, :meth:`initialize_options`
-   implementations are just a bunch of ``self.foo = None`` assignments.
-
-
-.. method:: Command.finalize_options()
-
-   Set final values for all the options that this command supports. This is
-   always called as late as possible, ie.  after any option assignments from the
-   command-line or from other commands have been done.  Thus, this is the place
-   to to code option dependencies: if *foo* depends on *bar*, then it is safe to
-   set *foo* from *bar* as long as *foo* still has the same value it was
-   assigned in :meth:`initialize_options`.
-
-
-.. method:: Command.run()
-
-   A command's raison d'etre: carry out the action it exists to perform, controlled
-   by the options initialized in :meth:`initialize_options`, customized by other
-   commands, the setup script, the command-line, and config files, and finalized in
-   :meth:`finalize_options`.  All terminal output and filesystem interaction should
-   be done by :meth:`run`.
-
-*sub_commands* formalizes the notion of a "family" of commands, eg. ``install``
-as the parent with sub-commands ``install_lib``, ``install_headers``, etc.  The
-parent of a family of commands defines *sub_commands* as a class attribute; it's
-a list of 2-tuples ``(command_name, predicate)``, with *command_name* a string
-and *predicate* an unbound method, a string or None. *predicate* is a method of
-the parent command that determines whether the corresponding command is
-applicable in the current situation.  (Eg. we ``install_headers`` is only
-applicable if we have any C header files to install.)  If *predicate* is None,
-that command is always applicable.
-
-*sub_commands* is usually defined at the \*end\* of a class, because predicates
-can be unbound methods, so they must already have been defined.  The canonical
-example is the :command:`install` command.