Mailman 3 July 2010 - docs

[issue8810] TZ offset description is unclear in docs
by Alexander Belopolsky Feb. 8, 2016

Feb. 8, 2016

New submission from Alexander Belopolsky <belopolsky(a)users.sourceforge.net>: >From <http://docs.python.org/dev/py3k/library/datetime.html#datetime.tzinfo.utcof…>: """ tzinfo.utcoffset(self, dt) Return offset of local time from UTC, in minutes east of UTC. """ This suggests that the return value is an integer representing the number of minutes. It is later explained that in fact "the value returned must be a timedelta object specifying a whole number of minutes", but many users won't read past the first sentence. I suggest s/in minutes east of UTC/as a timedelta object/. I think "east of UTC" is redundant given the next sentence, "If local time is west of UTC, this should be negative", but that can also be reworded for clarity as "The offset for timezones west of UTC is negative, and for those east of UTC is positive." ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation keywords: easy messages: 106371 nosy: belopolsky, docs@python priority: normal severity: normal status: open title: TZ offset description is unclear in docs versions: Python 2.7, Python 3.2 _______________________________________ Python tracker <report(a)bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue8810> _______________________________________

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[issue8952] Doc/c-api/arg.rst: fix documentation of number formats
by STINNER Victor Oct. 14, 2015

Oct. 14, 2015

New submission from STINNER Victor <victor.stinner(a)haypocalc.com>: The documentation of PyArg_Parse*() number formats specify that only int / float / complex are accepted, whereas any int / float / complex compatible object is accepted. "compatible" means that it has an __int__() / __float__() / __complex__() method, or nb_int / nb_float of Py_TYPE(obj)->tp_as_number->nb_int is defined (tp_as_number has no nb_complex). I suppose that the following paragraph is also outdated: "It is possible to pass "long" integers (integers whose value exceeds the platform's :const:`LONG_MAX`) however no proper range checking is done --- the most significant bits are silently truncated when the receiving field is too small to receive the value (actually, the semantics are inherited from downcasts in C --- your mileage may vary)." Moreover, "without overflow checking" should be explained (Mark told me that the number is truncated to a power of 2). ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation, Interpreter Core messages: 107379 nosy: docs@python, haypo, mark.dickinson priority: normal severity: normal status: open title: Doc/c-api/arg.rst: fix documentation of number formats versions: Python 3.2 _______________________________________ Python tracker <report(a)bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue8952> _______________________________________

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[issue9119] Python download page needs to mention crypto code in Windows installer
by Marc-Andre Lemburg Feb. 20, 2015

Feb. 20, 2015

New submission from Marc-Andre Lemburg <mal(a)egenix.com>: This needs to be done to protect our users (importing crypto code or using it may be illegal in their home country, see http://rechten.uvt.nl/koops/cryptolaw/ for a survey) and to satisfy an attribution requirement in the OpenSSL license and code base: """ This product includes cryptographic software written by Eric Young (eay(a)cryptsoft.com). This product includes software written by Tim Hudson (tjh(a)cryptsoft.com). This product includes software developed by the OpenSSL Project for use in the OpenSSL Toolkit. (http://www.openssl.org/) """ ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Build, Documentation messages: 108929 nosy: docs@python, lemburg priority: normal severity: normal status: open title: Python download page needs to mention crypto code in Windows installer versions: Python 2.6, Python 2.7, Python 3.1, Python 3.2, Python 3.3 _______________________________________ Python tracker <report(a)bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue9119> _______________________________________

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[issue9307] Py_TPFLAGS_LONG_SUBCLASS is not documented
by Alexander Belopolsky April 28, 2014

April 28, 2014

New submission from Alexander Belopolsky <belopolsky(a)users.sourceforge.net>: Is there a reason for not documenting Py_TPFLAGS_LONG_SUBCLASS (Py_TPFLAGS_INT_SUBCLASS in 2.x)? This flag is used in PyLong_Check, but neither this flag or its inheritance properties are explained anywhere in the docs. See also issue5476. ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation messages: 110787 nosy: belopolsky, docs@python priority: normal severity: normal stage: needs patch status: open title: Py_TPFLAGS_LONG_SUBCLASS is not documented type: feature request _______________________________________ Python tracker <report(a)bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue9307> _______________________________________

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[issue9364] some problems with the documentation of pydoc
by Eli Bendersky April 19, 2014

April 19, 2014

New submission from Eli Bendersky <eliben(a)gmail.com>: The first paragraph in its documentation says: """ In the Python interpreter, do "from pydoc import help" to provide online help. Calling help(thing) on a Python object documents the object. """ Which is no longer accurate, because the help() function has long ago become a built-in. Below is an excerpt from Terry Reedy in a private email discussion on this subject, that raises more issues. --------------------------------------------- 1. The output from help(help) could be made more clear. The nature of 'help' has been a point of confusion. A recent python-list post asked something like "What is 'help'?" Now (with some parallel examples: >>> help(int) Help on class int in module builtins: class int(object) [snip] >>> help(1) Help on int object: class int(object) [snip] >>> help(help) Help on _Helper in module site object: class _Helper(builtins.object) | Define the built-in 'help'. | This is a wrapper around pydoc.help (with a twist). | | Methods defined here: | | __call__(self, *args, **kwds) | a. 'module site object' is nonsense, it should just be 'module site', except that to be parallel to what is done for other instances, it should be 'Help on _Helper object'. Why should help special-case itself (with a slightly garbled line?) Is that done in site._Helper or pydoc.help? However, it would be more helpful for all instances to give the location of the class when one asks for help on an instance, just as when one asks for help on the class itself. It is annoying to to have to repeat help(<classname>) just to get that info. So I would like to see "Help on instance of class int in module builtins:" "Help on instance of class _Helper in module site:" This would be a code patch to pydoc.help b. "This is a wrapper around pydoc.help" good so far "(with a twist)" thanks a lot. I think the comment should be either removed or explained. A reference manual should explain, not tease. Replace "Define the built-in 'help'." with something clearer and more accurate, such as "The name 'help' is injected in module builtins after being bound to an instance of this class.". Put this after, not before, the 'wrapper' line. A patch for site._Helper doc string. 2. Improve manual chapter for site module. a. It currently starts "Importing this module will append site-specific paths to the module search path." Add "inject 'help' into builtins and " after append. Then add a short explanation paragraph before the search path stuff. Something like "This module contains a class (_Helper) that wraps function pydoc.help. An instance of the class is bound to name 'help' in the builtins module." A recent discussion on pydev or maybe python-list (in the thread mentioned above?) implied that one could usefully make another instance of _Helper or maybe a subclass thereof. I did not pay enough attention, though, to really get it. b. It currently ends with "XXX Update documentation XXX document python -m site –user-base –user-site" ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation messages: 111426 nosy: docs@python, eli.bendersky, tjreedy priority: normal severity: normal status: open title: some problems with the documentation of pydoc type: behavior versions: Python 3.1, Python 3.2 _______________________________________ Python tracker <report(a)bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue9364> _______________________________________

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[issue8913] Document that datetime.__format__ is datetime.strftime
by Brett Cannon April 4, 2013

April 4, 2013

New submission from Brett Cannon <brett(a)python.org>: Documenting that would help get people using datetime objects with string.format more. ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation keywords: easy messages: 107179 nosy: brett.cannon, docs@python priority: low severity: normal status: open title: Document that datetime.__format__ is datetime.strftime versions: Python 3.2 _______________________________________ Python tracker <report(a)bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue8913> _______________________________________

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[issue8996] Add a default role to allow writing bare `len` instead of :func:`len`
by Éric Araujo Oct. 27, 2012

Oct. 27, 2012

New submission from Éric Araujo <merwok(a)netwok.org>: Following a discussion on IRC: <birkenfeld> I would even prefer having more of just `object` instead of :func:`object` or :class:`object` I think it would be feasible to write a reST role that would use inspect or pydoc to find the type. It would not violate “In the face of ambiguity, refuse the temptation to guess” if it only resolves `somebuiltin` and `some.fully.qualified.name`. Cons: People unfamiliar with reST might confuse ``code`` with `name`; interpreting the role may prove non-trivial (either requiring importing Python module to introspect them, or keeping a mapping of names→types in some file). Thoughts? ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation messages: 107790 nosy: docs@python, merwok priority: normal severity: normal status: open title: Add a default role to allow writing bare `len` instead of :func:`len` type: feature request _______________________________________ Python tracker <report(a)bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue8996> _______________________________________

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[issue8652] Minor improvements to the "Handling Exceptions" part of the tutorial
by Marien Zwart June 8, 2012

June 8, 2012

New submission from Marien Zwart <m_zwart(a)123mail.org>: Based on questions asked on freenode's #python by people reading the tutorial I would like to suggest two improvements to http://docs.python.org/tutorial/errors.html#handling-exceptions : - Mention the older "except SomeException, e:" syntax too, not just "except SomeException as e:". I have had people ask me to help them upgrade to a newer python because they thought their version of python did not support catching exception instances (their distro python being 2.5). A big fat warning that they're reading the Python 2.6 tutorial (with links to older tutorials) may also work. - Mention "except IOError as e" before mentioning "except IOError as (errno, strerror):". The latter is an advanced and relatively unusual trick, combining regular exception catching and unpacking. Those two concepts need to be explained before the combination is. I have had people ask me how to do "except KeyError as (key, insert_something_here):" because they thought they *always* needed those parens there. (perhaps just not mentioning unpacking here at all, using "except IOError as e:" and then using e.errno would make more sense, especially since "except IOError as (errno, strerror):" is a SyntaxError in python 3 and up (because of the unpacking) and python 2.5.x and down (because of the "as")...) I can try to write a patch to the documentation if you like. ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation messages: 105218 nosy: docs@python, marienz priority: normal severity: normal status: open title: Minor improvements to the "Handling Exceptions" part of the tutorial _______________________________________ Python tracker <report(a)bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue8652> _______________________________________

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[issue8617] Non-existent variables documented
by Dave Abrahams May 9, 2012

May 9, 2012

New submission from Dave Abrahams <dave(a)boostpro.com>: http://docs.python.org/library/site.html#module-site mentions two variables that don't appear in my Python 2.6.5 installation's site module: PYTHONNOUSERSITE New in version 2.6. PYTHONUSERBASE New in version 2.6. ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation messages: 104985 nosy: dabrahams, docs@python priority: normal severity: normal status: open title: Non-existent variables documented versions: Python 2.6 _______________________________________ Python tracker <report(a)bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue8617> _______________________________________

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[issue9442] Update sys.version doc
by Éric Araujo Feb. 10, 2012

Feb. 10, 2012

New submission from Éric Araujo <merwok(a)netwok.org>: Attaching a patch to edit mention of “build number” in library/sys. I also don’t understand “The first three characters are used to identify the version in the installation directories (where appropriate on each platform)”, maybe someone who does could enlighten me. If #5778 is rejected, the doc will need another update to mention that there may be a newline in sys.version. ---------- assignee: docs@python components: Documentation files: sys.version1.diff keywords: patch messages: 112189 nosy: docs@python, merwok priority: normal severity: normal stage: patch review status: open title: Update sys.version doc versions: Python 2.6, Python 2.7, Python 3.1, Python 3.2 Added file: http://bugs.python.org/file18289/sys.version1.diff _______________________________________ Python tracker <report(a)bugs.python.org> <http://bugs.python.org/issue9442> _______________________________________

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