[New-bugs-announce] [issue32540] venv docs - doesn't match behavior

[Jason R. Coombs]

New submission from Jason R. Coombs <jaraco at jaraco.com>:

In the docs for the venv command, it states:

> Changed in version 3.4: In earlier versions, if the target directory already existed, an error was raised, unless the --clear or --upgrade option was provided. Now, if an existing directory is specified, its contents are removed and the directory is processed as if it had been newly created.

However, that's not the behavior I observe:

$ python -m venv env
$ env/bin/pip install -q requests
$ python -m venv env          
$ env/bin/python -c "import requests"
$

Plus, I believe the _current_ behavior should be documented not in a 'change' note. I suggest the change note should read:

> Changed in version 3.4: In earlier versions, if the target directory already existed, an error was raised, unless the --clear or --upgrade option was provided.

And the third paragraph, following "It also creates an (initially empty...Lib\site-packages).":

> If an existing directory is specified, it will be re-used.

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assignee: docs at python
components: Documentation
messages: 309867
nosy: docs at python, jason.coombs
priority: normal
severity: normal
status: open
title: venv docs - doesn't match behavior

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Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<https://bugs.python.org/issue32540>
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