271 lines
7.9 KiB
Groff
271 lines
7.9 KiB
Groff
.TH PYTHON "1" "5 September, 2000"
|
|
.SH NAME
|
|
python \- an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language
|
|
.SH SYNOPSIS
|
|
.B python
|
|
[
|
|
.B \-d
|
|
]
|
|
[
|
|
.B \-i
|
|
]
|
|
[
|
|
.B \-O
|
|
]
|
|
[
|
|
.B \-S
|
|
]
|
|
[
|
|
.B \-t
|
|
]
|
|
[
|
|
.B \-u
|
|
]
|
|
[
|
|
.B \-v
|
|
]
|
|
[
|
|
.B \-x
|
|
]
|
|
.br
|
|
[
|
|
.B \-c
|
|
.I command
|
|
|
|
|
.I script
|
|
|
|
|
\-
|
|
]
|
|
[
|
|
.I arguments
|
|
]
|
|
.SH DESCRIPTION
|
|
Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming
|
|
language that combines remarkable power with very clear syntax.
|
|
For an introduction to programming in Python you are referred to the
|
|
Python Tutorial.
|
|
The Python Library Reference documents built-in and standard types,
|
|
constants, functions and modules.
|
|
Finally, the Python Reference Manual describes the syntax and
|
|
semantics of the core language in (perhaps too) much detail.
|
|
(These documents may be located via the
|
|
.B "INTERNET RESOURCES"
|
|
below; they may be installed on your system as well.)
|
|
.PP
|
|
Python's basic power can be extended with your own modules written in
|
|
C or C++.
|
|
On most systems such modules may be dynamically loaded.
|
|
Python is also adaptable as an extension language for existing
|
|
applications.
|
|
See the internal documentation for hints.
|
|
.SH COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
|
|
.TP
|
|
.B \-d
|
|
Turn on parser debugging output (for wizards only, depending on
|
|
compilation options).
|
|
.TP
|
|
.B \-i
|
|
When a script is passed as first argument or the \fB\-c\fP option is
|
|
used, enter interactive mode after executing the script or the
|
|
command. It does not read the $PYTHONSTARTUP file. This can be
|
|
useful to inspect global variables or a stack trace when a script
|
|
raises an exception.
|
|
.TP
|
|
.B \-O
|
|
Turn on basic optimizations. This changes the filename extension for
|
|
compiled (bytecode) files from
|
|
.I .pyc
|
|
to \fI.pyo\fP. Given twice, causes docstrings to be discarded.
|
|
.TP
|
|
.B \-S
|
|
Disable the import of the module
|
|
.I site
|
|
and the site-dependent manipulations of
|
|
.I sys.path
|
|
that it entails.
|
|
.TP
|
|
.B \-t
|
|
Issue a warning when a source file mixes tabs and spaces for
|
|
indentation in a way that makes it depend on the worth of a tab
|
|
expressed in spaces. Issue an error when the option is given twice.
|
|
.TP
|
|
.B \-u
|
|
Force stdin, stdout and stderr to be totally unbuffered.
|
|
.TP
|
|
.B \-v
|
|
Print a message each time a module is initialized, showing the place
|
|
(filename or built-in module) from which it is loaded. When given
|
|
twice, print a message for each file that is checked for when
|
|
searching for a module. Also provides information on module cleanup
|
|
at exit.
|
|
.TP
|
|
.B \-x
|
|
Skip the first line of the source. This is intended for a DOS
|
|
specific hack only. Warning: the line numbers in error messages will
|
|
be off by one!
|
|
.TP
|
|
.BI "\-c " command
|
|
Specify the command to execute (see next section).
|
|
This terminates the option list (following options are passed as
|
|
arguments to the command).
|
|
.SH INTERPRETER INTERFACE
|
|
The interpreter interface resembles that of the UNIX shell: when
|
|
called with standard input connected to a tty device, it prompts for
|
|
commands and executes them until an EOF is read; when called with a
|
|
file name argument or with a file as standard input, it reads and
|
|
executes a
|
|
.I script
|
|
from that file;
|
|
when called with
|
|
.B \-c
|
|
.I command,
|
|
it executes the Python statement(s) given as
|
|
.I command.
|
|
Here
|
|
.I command
|
|
may contain multiple statements separated by newlines.
|
|
Leading whitespace is significant in Python statements!
|
|
In non-interactive mode, the entire input is parsed befored it is
|
|
executed.
|
|
.PP
|
|
If available, the script name and additional arguments thereafter are
|
|
passed to the script in the Python variable
|
|
.I sys.argv ,
|
|
which is a list of strings (you must first
|
|
.I import sys
|
|
to be able to access it).
|
|
If no script name is given,
|
|
.I sys.argv[0]
|
|
is an empty string; if
|
|
.B \-c
|
|
is used,
|
|
.I sys.argv[0]
|
|
contains the string
|
|
.I '-c'.
|
|
Note that options interpreted by the Python interpreter itself
|
|
are not placed in
|
|
.I sys.argv.
|
|
.PP
|
|
In interactive mode, the primary prompt is `>>>'; the second prompt
|
|
(which appears when a command is not complete) is `...'.
|
|
The prompts can be changed by assignment to
|
|
.I sys.ps1
|
|
or
|
|
.I sys.ps2.
|
|
The interpreter quits when it reads an EOF at a prompt.
|
|
When an unhandled exception occurs, a stack trace is printed and
|
|
control returns to the primary prompt; in non-interactive mode, the
|
|
interpreter exits after printing the stack trace.
|
|
The interrupt signal raises the
|
|
.I Keyboard\%Interrupt
|
|
exception; other UNIX signals are not caught (except that SIGPIPE is
|
|
sometimes ignored, in favor of the
|
|
.I IOError
|
|
exception). Error messages are written to stderr.
|
|
.SH FILES AND DIRECTORIES
|
|
These are subject to difference depending on local installation
|
|
conventions; ${prefix} and ${exec_prefix} are installation-dependent
|
|
and should be interpreted as for GNU software; they may be the same.
|
|
The default for both is \fI/usr/local\fP.
|
|
.IP \fI${exec_prefix}/bin/python\fP
|
|
Recommended location of the interpreter.
|
|
.PP
|
|
.I ${prefix}/lib/python<version>
|
|
.br
|
|
.I ${exec_prefix}/lib/python<version>
|
|
.RS
|
|
Recommended locations of the directories containing the standard
|
|
modules.
|
|
.RE
|
|
.PP
|
|
.I ${prefix}/include/python<version>
|
|
.br
|
|
.I ${exec_prefix}/include/python<version>
|
|
.RS
|
|
Recommended locations of the directories containing the include files
|
|
needed for developing Python extensions and embedding the
|
|
interpreter.
|
|
.RE
|
|
.IP \fI~/.pythonrc.py\fP
|
|
User-specific initialization file loaded by the \fIuser\fP module;
|
|
not used by default or by most applications.
|
|
.SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
|
|
.IP PYTHONHOME
|
|
Change the location of the standard Python libraries. By default, the
|
|
libraries are searched in ${prefix}/lib/python<version> and
|
|
${exec_prefix}/lib/python<version>, where ${prefix} and ${exec_prefix}
|
|
are installation-dependent directories, both defaulting to
|
|
\fI/usr/local\fP. When $PYTHONHOME is set to a single directory, its value
|
|
replaces both ${prefix} and ${exec_prefix}. To specify different values
|
|
for these, set $PYTHONHOME to ${prefix}:${exec_prefix}.
|
|
.IP PYTHONPATH
|
|
Augments the default search path for module files.
|
|
The format is the same as the shell's $PATH: one or more directory
|
|
pathnames separated by colons.
|
|
Non-existant directories are silently ignored.
|
|
The default search path is installation dependent, but generally
|
|
begins with ${prefix}/lib/python<version> (see PYTHONHOME above).
|
|
The default search path is always appended to $PYTHONPATH.
|
|
If a script argument is given, the directory containing the script is
|
|
inserted in the path in front of $PYTHONPATH.
|
|
The search path can be manipulated from within a Python program as the
|
|
variable
|
|
.I sys.path .
|
|
.IP PYTHONSTARTUP
|
|
If this is the name of a readable file, the Python commands in that
|
|
file are executed before the first prompt is displayed in interactive
|
|
mode.
|
|
The file is executed in the same name space where interactive commands
|
|
are executed so that objects defined or imported in it can be used
|
|
without qualification in the interactive session.
|
|
You can also change the prompts
|
|
.I sys.ps1
|
|
and
|
|
.I sys.ps2
|
|
in this file.
|
|
.IP PYTHONDEBUG
|
|
If this is set to a non-empty string it is equivalent to specifying
|
|
the \fB\-d\fP option.
|
|
.IP PYTHONINSPECT
|
|
If this is set to a non-empty string it is equivalent to specifying
|
|
the \fB\-i\fP option.
|
|
.IP PYTHONUNBUFFERED
|
|
If this is set to a non-empty string it is equivalent to specifying
|
|
the \fB\-u\fP option.
|
|
.IP PYTHONVERBOSE
|
|
If this is set to a non-empty string it is equivalent to specifying
|
|
the \fB\-v\fP option.
|
|
.SH AUTHOR
|
|
.nf
|
|
Guido van Rossum
|
|
BeOpen.com
|
|
160 Saratoga Avenue
|
|
Santa Clara, CA 95051
|
|
USA
|
|
.PP
|
|
E-mail: guido@beopen.com, guido@python.org
|
|
.fi
|
|
.PP
|
|
And a cast of thousands.
|
|
.SH INTERNET RESOURCES
|
|
Main website: http://www.python.org
|
|
.br
|
|
BeOpen development team: http://pythonlabs.com
|
|
.br
|
|
Community website: http://starship.python.net
|
|
.br
|
|
Developer resources:
|
|
.br
|
|
http://sourceforge.net/project/?group_id=5470
|
|
.br
|
|
FTP: ftp://ftp.python.org/pub/python
|
|
.br
|
|
Module repository: http://www.vex.net/parnassus/
|
|
.br
|
|
Newsgroups: comp.lang.python, comp.lang.python.announce
|
|
.SH LICENSING
|
|
Python is distributed under an Open Source license. See the file
|
|
"LICENSE" in the Python source distribution for information on terms &
|
|
conditions for accessing and otherwise using Python and for a
|
|
DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
|