Hi, my Python and Vim friends. Here is the initial release of `pynits', and the beginning of its documentation file. I hope some courageous souls will help me at eradicating packaging and other blunt bugs! :-) *pynits.txt* Tidying up Python files TIDYING PYTHON CODE WITHIN VIM François Pinard pinard@iro.umontreal.ca Pynits is a tool which I find useful while editing Python source code with Vim, for tidying up individual sources lines, and some auxiliary tasks. It is particularly helpful when formatting lines holding long or complex expressions. This tool requires a Python-enabled Vim. 1. Introduction |pynits-introduction| 2. Finding nits |pynits-finding-nits| 3. Reformatting lines |pynits-reformatting| 4. Other commands |pynits-other-commands| The Pynits tool may be downloaded from: http://fp-etc.progiciels-bpi.ca/showfile.html?mode=archives while installation directives may be found at: http://fp-etc.progiciels-bpi.ca/showfile.html?name=pynits/README This file you are reading is also available on the Web as: http://fp-etc.progiciels-bpi.ca/showfile.html?name=pynits/pynits.txt WARNING: This tool is in alpha state, its specifications may change. Write to the author for corrections, suggestions or bug reports. ============================================================================== 1. Introduction *pynits-introduction* I once had to take over the maintenance of a set of big Python modules, written by someone without much concern about source line length limits, and also a bit lacking in the area of sound coding standards. The sources were hard to read on an usual terminal screen, hard to print without stunts on a printer, hard to edit: in a word, hard to maintain. When it comes to source coding standards, people develop religious feelings. My personal coding practices, which are somehow reflected in this tool, are surely debatable and questionable, yet I dare to think they are quite reasonable. I use an eclectic choice of good ideas from various sources: the Python mode as written for GNU Emacs, the standard Python plugin for Vim, Guido's own style as he documented it, some relevant parts of GNU and Gnits standards, good horse sense, but also, my own programming experience, accumulated for a good while by now. Source code lines are often carefully crafted by programmers, and a reformatting tool may defeat local art work. This is why I think reformatting is best done from with a scalpel, like Vim may be, than operated in bulk or in batch. The programmer may choose to accept or refuse, on a line basis, suggestions made by a tool like this one. There are three sets of commands in this tool. The first set is meant to discover and report various formatting nits. The programmer may then ask the tool for correcting them, when a correction recipe is known. The second set takes a whole Python source line, possibly continued, and fully rebuilds a surface representation from its syntax tree. The third set contains a few random commands for simple tasks. [...] -- François Pinard http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~pinard