213 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
213 lines
7.8 KiB
Plaintext
Python main documentation -- in LaTeX
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-------------------------------------
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This directory contains the LaTeX sources to the Python documentation
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and tools required to support the formatting process. The documents
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now require LaTeX2e; LaTeX 2.09 compatibility has been dropped.
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If you don't have LaTeX, or if you'd rather not format the
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documentation yourself, you can ftp a tar file containing HTML, PDF,
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or PostScript versions of all documents. Additional formats may be
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available. These should be in the same place where you fetched the
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main Python distribution (try <http://www.python.org> or
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<ftp://ftp.python.org>).
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The following are the LaTeX source files:
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api/*.tex Python/C API Reference Manual
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ext/*.tex Extending and Embedding the Python Interpreter
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lib/*.tex Python Library Reference
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mac/*.tex Macintosh Library Modules
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ref/*.tex Python Reference Manual
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tut/*.tex Python Tutorial
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inst/*.tex Installing Python Modules
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dist/*.tex Distributing Python Modules
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Most use the "manual" document class and "python" package, derived from
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the old "myformat.sty" style file. The Macintosh Library Modules
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document uses the "howto" document class instead. These contains many
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macro definitions useful in documenting Python, and set some style
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parameters.
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There's a Makefile to call LaTeX and the other utilities in the right
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order and the right number of times. This will produce DVI files for
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each document made; to preview them, use xdvi. PostScript is produced
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by the same Makefile target that produces the DVI files. This uses
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the dvips tool. Printing depends on local conventions; at our site,
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we use lpr. For example:
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make lib # create lib.dvi and lib.ps
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xdvi lib # preview lib.dvi
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lpr lib.ps # print on default printer
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What if I find a bug?
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---------------------
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First, check that the bug is present in the online version of the
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documentation at <http://www.python.org/docs/>; we may have already
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fixed it.
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If we haven't, tell us about it. We'd like the documentation to be
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complete and accurate, but have limited time. If you discover any
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inconsistencies between the documentation and implementation, or just
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have suggestions as to how to improve the documentation, let is know!
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Send comments and patches to the Python Documentation Team:
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python-docs@python.org
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Thanks!
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What happened to the Macintosh chapter of the Python Library Reference?
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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The directory mac/ contains the LaTeX sources for the "Macintosh
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Library Modules" manual; this is built using the standard build
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targets, so check the proper output directory for your chosen format
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and paper size.
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What tools do I need?
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---------------------
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You need to install Python; some of the scripts used to produce the
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documentation are written in Python. You don't need this
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documentation to install Python; instructions are included in the
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README file in the Python distribution.
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The simplest way to get the rest of the tools in the configuration we
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used is to install the teTeX TeX distribution, versions 0.9 or newer.
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More information is available on teTeX at <http://www.tug.org/tetex/>.
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This is a Unix-only TeX distribution at this time. This documentation
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release was tested with the 1.0.7 release, but there have been no
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substantial changes since late in the 0.9 series, which we used
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extensively for previous versions without any difficulty.
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If you don't want to get teTeX, here is what you'll need:
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To create DVI, PDF, or PostScript files:
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- LaTeX2e, 1995/12/01 or newer. Older versions are likely to
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choke.
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- makeindex. This is used to produce the indexes for the
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library reference and Python/C API reference.
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To create PDF files:
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- pdflatex. We used the one in the teTeX distribution (pdfTeX
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version 3.14159-13d (Web2C 7.3.1) at the time of this
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writing). Versions even a couple of patchlevels earlier are
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highly likely to fail due to syntax changes for some of the
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pdftex primitives.
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To create PostScript files:
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- dvips. Most TeX installations include this. If you don't
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have one, check CTAN (<ftp://ctan.tug.org/tex-archive/>).
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To create info files:
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Note that info support is currently being revised using new
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conversion tools by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.washington.edu>.
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- makeinfo. This is available from any GNU mirror.
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- emacs or xemacs. Emacs is available from the same place as
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makeinfo, and xemacs is available from ftp.xemacs.org.
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- Perl. Find the software at
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<http://language.perl.com/info/software.html>.
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- HTML::Element. If you don't have this installed, you can get
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this from CPAN. Use the command:
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perl -e 'use CPAN; CPAN::install("HTML::Element");'
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You may need to be root to do this.
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To create HTML files:
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- Perl 5.004_04 or newer. Find the software at
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<http://language.perl.com/info/software.html>.
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- LaTeX2HTML 99.2b8. Older versions are not supported; each
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version changes enough that supporting multiple versions is not
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likely to work. Many older versions don't work with Perl
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5.6 as well. This also screws up code fragments. ;-(
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Releases are available at:
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<http://saftsack.fs.uni-bayreuth.de/~latex2ht/current/>.
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What if Times fonts are not available?
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--------------------------------------
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As distributed, the LaTeX documents use PostScript Times fonts. This
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is done since they are much better looking and produce smaller
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PostScript files. If, however, your TeX installation does not support
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them, they may be easily disabled. Edit the file
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texiinputs/manual.cls and comment out the line that starts
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"\RequirePackage{times}" by inserting a "%" character at the beginning
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of the line. An alternative is to install the right fonts and LaTeX
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style file.
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What if I want to use A4 paper?
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-------------------------------
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Instead of building the PostScript by giving the command "make", give
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the command "make PAPER=a4"; the output will be produced in the
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paper-a4/ subdirectory.
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Making HTML files
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-----------------
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The LaTeX documents can be converted to HTML using Nikos Drakos'
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LaTeX2HTML converter. See the Makefile; after some twiddling, "make
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html" should do the trick.
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What else is in here?
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---------------------
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There is a new LaTeX document class called "howto". This is used for
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the new series of Python HOWTO documents which is being coordinated by
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Andrew Kuchling <amk@acm.org>. The file templates/howto.tex is a
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commented example which may be used a template. A script to "do the
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right thing" to format a howto document is included as
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tools/mkhowto. These documents can be formatted as HTML, PDF,
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PostScript, or ASCII files. Support for this document class is
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still new, but is expected to evolve rapidly. Use "mkhowto --help"
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for information on using the formatting tool.
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For authors of module documentation, there is a file
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templates/module.tex which may be used as a template for a module
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section. This may be used in conjunction with either the howto or
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manual document class. Create the documentation for a new module by
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copying the template to lib<mymodule>.tex and editing according to the
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instructions in the comments.
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Copyright notice
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================
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The Python source is copyrighted, but you can freely use and copy it
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as long as you don't change or remove the copyright notice:
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Copyright 1991-1995 by Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam,
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The Netherlands.
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All Rights Reserved
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Copyright (c) 2000, BeOpen.com.
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Copyright (c) 1995-2000, Corporation for National Research Initiatives.
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Copyright (c) 1990-1995, Stichting Mathematisch Centrum.
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All rights reserved.
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See the file "Misc/COPYRIGHT" for information on usage and
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redistribution of this file, and for a DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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