diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/library/pydoc.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Doc/library/pydoc.rst | 24 |
1 files changed, 19 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/library/pydoc.rst b/Doc/library/pydoc.rst index 01f48b1e0f..e100865515 100644 --- a/Doc/library/pydoc.rst +++ b/Doc/library/pydoc.rst @@ -1,4 +1,3 @@ - :mod:`pydoc` --- Documentation generator and online help system =============================================================== @@ -13,6 +12,10 @@ single: documentation; online single: help; online +**Source code:** :source:`Lib/pydoc.py` + +-------------- + The :mod:`pydoc` module automatically generates documentation from Python modules. The documentation can be presented as pages of text on the console, served to a Web browser, or saved to HTML files. @@ -51,12 +54,21 @@ manner similar to the Unix :program:`man` command. The synopsis line of a module is the first line of its documentation string. You can also use :program:`pydoc` to start an HTTP server on the local machine -that will serve documentation to visiting Web browsers. :program:`pydoc -p 1234` -will start a HTTP server on port 1234, allowing you to browse -the documentation at ``http://localhost:1234/`` in your preferred Web browser. +that will serve documentation to visiting Web browsers. :program:`pydoc -p 1234` +will start a HTTP server on port 1234, allowing you to browse the +documentation at ``http://localhost:1234/`` in your preferred Web browser. +Specifying ``0`` as the port number will select an arbitrary unused port. + :program:`pydoc -g` will start the server and additionally bring up a small :mod:`tkinter`\ -based graphical interface to help you search for -documentation pages. +documentation pages. The ``-g`` option is deprecated, since the server can +now be controlled directly from HTTP clients. + +:program:`pydoc -b` will start the server and additionally open a web +browser to a module index page. Each served page has a navigation bar at the +top where you can *Get* help on an individual item, *Search* all modules with a +keyword in their synopsis line, and go to the *Module index*, *Topics* and +*Keywords* pages. When :program:`pydoc` generates documentation, it uses the current environment and path to locate modules. Thus, invoking :program:`pydoc spam` @@ -70,3 +82,5 @@ be overridden by setting the :envvar:`PYTHONDOCS` environment variable to a different URL or to a local directory containing the Library Reference Manual pages. +.. versionchanged:: 3.2 + Added the ``-b`` option, deprecated the ``-g`` option. |