[Python-checkins] distutils2: Imported distutils docs from python source at REV 79621.

tarek.ziade python-checkins at python.org
Thu Aug 19 08:34:11 CEST 2010


tarek.ziade pushed 1ec91e015df8 to distutils2:

http://hg.python.org/distutils2/rev/1ec91e015df8
changeset:   524:1ec91e015df8
user:        Ali Afshar <aafshar at gmail.com>
date:        Mon May 31 16:46:57 2010 +0100
summary:     Imported distutils docs from python source at REV 79621.
files:       docs/source/apiref.rst, docs/source/builtdist.rst, docs/source/commandref.rst, docs/source/configfile.rst, docs/source/dependencies.rst, docs/source/examples.rst, docs/source/extending.rst, docs/source/index.rst, docs/source/introduction.rst, docs/source/packageindex.rst, docs/source/setupscript.rst, docs/source/sourcedist.rst, docs/source/uploading.rst

diff --git a/docs/source/apiref.rst b/docs/source/apiref.rst
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+.. _api-reference:
+
+*************
+API Reference
+*************
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.core` --- Core Distutils functionality
+======================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.core
+   :synopsis: The core Distutils functionality
+
+
+The :mod:`distutils.core` module is the only module that needs to be installed
+to use the Distutils. It provides the :func:`setup` (which is called from the
+setup script). Indirectly provides the  :class:`distutils.dist.Distribution` and
+:class:`distutils.cmd.Command` class.
+
+
+.. function:: setup(arguments)
+
+   The basic do-everything function that does most everything you could ever ask
+   for from a Distutils method. See XXXXX
+
+   The setup function takes a large number of arguments. These are laid out in the
+   following table.
+
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | argument name      | value                          | type                                                        |
+   +====================+================================+=============================================================+
+   | *name*             | The name of the package        | a string                                                    |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *version*          | The version number of the      | See :mod:`distutils.version`                                |
+   |                    | package                        |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *description*      | A single line describing the   | a string                                                    |
+   |                    | package                        |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *long_description* | Longer description of the      | a string                                                    |
+   |                    | package                        |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *author*           | The name of the package author | a string                                                    |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *author_email*     | The email address of the       | a string                                                    |
+   |                    | package author                 |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *maintainer*       | The name of the current        | a string                                                    |
+   |                    | maintainer, if different from  |                                                             |
+   |                    | the author                     |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *maintainer_email* | The email address of the       |                                                             |
+   |                    | current maintainer, if         |                                                             |
+   |                    | different from the author      |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *url*              | A URL for the package          | a URL                                                       |
+   |                    | (homepage)                     |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *download_url*     | A URL to download the package  | a URL                                                       |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *packages*         | A list of Python packages that | a list of strings                                           |
+   |                    | distutils will manipulate      |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *py_modules*       | A list of Python modules that  | a list of strings                                           |
+   |                    | distutils will manipulate      |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *scripts*          | A list of standalone script    | a list of strings                                           |
+   |                    | files to be built and          |                                                             |
+   |                    | installed                      |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *ext_modules*      | A list of Python extensions to | A list of  instances of                                     |
+   |                    | be built                       | :class:`distutils.core.Extension`                           |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *classifiers*      | A list of categories for the   | The list of available                                       |
+   |                    | package                        | categorizations is at                                       |
+   |                    |                                | http://pypi.python.org/pypi?:action=list_classifiers.       |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *distclass*        | the :class:`Distribution`      | A subclass of                                               |
+   |                    | class to use                   | :class:`distutils.core.Distribution`                        |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *script_name*      | The name of the setup.py       | a string                                                    |
+   |                    | script - defaults to           |                                                             |
+   |                    | ``sys.argv[0]``                |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *script_args*      | Arguments to supply to the     | a list of strings                                           |
+   |                    | setup script                   |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *options*          | default options for the setup  | a string                                                    |
+   |                    | script                         |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *license*          | The license for the package    | a string                                                    |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *keywords*         | Descriptive meta-data, see     |                                                             |
+   |                    | :pep:`314`                     |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *platforms*        |                                |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *cmdclass*         | A mapping of command names to  | a dictionary                                                |
+   |                    | :class:`Command` subclasses    |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *data_files*       | A list of data files to        | a list                                                      |
+   |                    | install                        |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+   | *package_dir*      | A mapping of package to        | a dictionary                                                |
+   |                    | directory names                |                                                             |
+   +--------------------+--------------------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+.. function:: run_setup(script_name[, script_args=None, stop_after='run'])
+
+   Run a setup script in a somewhat controlled environment, and return  the
+   :class:`distutils.dist.Distribution` instance that drives things.   This is
+   useful if you need to find out the distribution meta-data  (passed as keyword
+   args from *script* to :func:`setup`), or  the contents of the config files or
+   command-line.
+
+   *script_name* is a file that will be run with :func:`execfile` ``sys.argv[0]``
+   will be replaced with *script* for the duration of the call.  *script_args* is a
+   list of strings; if supplied, ``sys.argv[1:]`` will be replaced by *script_args*
+   for the duration  of the call.
+
+   *stop_after* tells :func:`setup` when to stop processing; possible  values:
+
+   +---------------+---------------------------------------------+
+   | value         | description                                 |
+   +===============+=============================================+
+   | *init*        | Stop after the :class:`Distribution`        |
+   |               | instance has been created  and populated    |
+   |               | with the keyword arguments to :func:`setup` |
+   +---------------+---------------------------------------------+
+   | *config*      | Stop after config files have been parsed    |
+   |               | (and their data stored in the               |
+   |               | :class:`Distribution` instance)             |
+   +---------------+---------------------------------------------+
+   | *commandline* | Stop after the command-line                 |
+   |               | (``sys.argv[1:]`` or  *script_args*) have   |
+   |               | been parsed (and the data stored in the     |
+   |               | :class:`Distribution` instance.)            |
+   +---------------+---------------------------------------------+
+   | *run*         | Stop after all commands have been run (the  |
+   |               | same as  if :func:`setup` had been called   |
+   |               | in the usual way). This is the default      |
+   |               | value.                                      |
+   +---------------+---------------------------------------------+
+
+In addition, the :mod:`distutils.core` module exposed a number of  classes that
+live elsewhere.
+
+* :class:`Extension` from :mod:`distutils.extension`
+
+* :class:`Command` from :mod:`distutils.cmd`
+
+* :class:`Distribution` from :mod:`distutils.dist`
+
+A short description of each of these follows, but see the relevant module for
+the full reference.
+
+
+.. class:: Extension
+
+   The Extension class describes a single C or C++extension module in a setup
+   script. It accepts the following keyword arguments in its constructor
+
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | argument name          | value                          | type                      |
+   +========================+================================+===========================+
+   | *name*                 | the full name of the           | string                    |
+   |                        | extension, including any       |                           |
+   |                        | packages --- ie. *not* a       |                           |
+   |                        | filename or pathname, but      |                           |
+   |                        | Python dotted name             |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *sources*              | list of source filenames,      | string                    |
+   |                        | relative to the distribution   |                           |
+   |                        | root (where the setup script   |                           |
+   |                        | lives), in Unix form (slash-   |                           |
+   |                        | separated) for portability.    |                           |
+   |                        | Source files may be C, C++,    |                           |
+   |                        | SWIG (.i), platform-specific   |                           |
+   |                        | resource files, or whatever    |                           |
+   |                        | else is recognized by the      |                           |
+   |                        | :command:`build_ext` command   |                           |
+   |                        | as source for a Python         |                           |
+   |                        | extension.                     |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *include_dirs*         | list of directories to search  | string                    |
+   |                        | for C/C++ header files (in     |                           |
+   |                        | Unix form for portability)     |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *define_macros*        | list of macros to define; each | (string, string) tuple or |
+   |                        | macro is defined using a       | (name, ``None``)          |
+   |                        | 2-tuple ``(name, value)``,     |                           |
+   |                        | where *value* is               |                           |
+   |                        | either the string to define it |                           |
+   |                        | to or ``None`` to define it    |                           |
+   |                        | without a particular value     |                           |
+   |                        | (equivalent of ``#define FOO`` |                           |
+   |                        | in source or :option:`-DFOO`   |                           |
+   |                        | on Unix C compiler command     |                           |
+   |                        | line)                          |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *undef_macros*         | list of macros to undefine     | string                    |
+   |                        | explicitly                     |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *library_dirs*         | list of directories to search  | string                    |
+   |                        | for C/C++ libraries at link    |                           |
+   |                        | time                           |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *libraries*            | list of library names (not     | string                    |
+   |                        | filenames or paths) to link    |                           |
+   |                        | against                        |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *runtime_library_dirs* | list of directories to search  | string                    |
+   |                        | for C/C++ libraries at run     |                           |
+   |                        | time (for shared extensions,   |                           |
+   |                        | this is when the extension is  |                           |
+   |                        | loaded)                        |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *extra_objects*        | list of extra files to link    | string                    |
+   |                        | with (eg. object files not     |                           |
+   |                        | implied by 'sources', static   |                           |
+   |                        | library that must be           |                           |
+   |                        | explicitly specified, binary   |                           |
+   |                        | resource files, etc.)          |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *extra_compile_args*   | any extra platform- and        | string                    |
+   |                        | compiler-specific information  |                           |
+   |                        | to use when compiling the      |                           |
+   |                        | source files in 'sources'. For |                           |
+   |                        | platforms and compilers where  |                           |
+   |                        | a command line makes sense,    |                           |
+   |                        | this is typically a list of    |                           |
+   |                        | command-line arguments, but    |                           |
+   |                        | for other platforms it could   |                           |
+   |                        | be anything.                   |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *extra_link_args*      | any extra platform- and        | string                    |
+   |                        | compiler-specific information  |                           |
+   |                        | to use when linking object     |                           |
+   |                        | files together to create the   |                           |
+   |                        | extension (or to create a new  |                           |
+   |                        | static Python interpreter).    |                           |
+   |                        | Similar interpretation as for  |                           |
+   |                        | 'extra_compile_args'.          |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *export_symbols*       | list of symbols to be exported | string                    |
+   |                        | from a shared extension. Not   |                           |
+   |                        | used on all platforms, and not |                           |
+   |                        | generally necessary for Python |                           |
+   |                        | extensions, which typically    |                           |
+   |                        | export exactly one symbol:     |                           |
+   |                        | ``init`` + extension_name.     |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *depends*              | list of files that the         | string                    |
+   |                        | extension depends on           |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+   | *language*             | extension language (i.e.       | string                    |
+   |                        | ``'c'``, ``'c++'``,            |                           |
+   |                        | ``'objc'``). Will be detected  |                           |
+   |                        | from the source extensions if  |                           |
+   |                        | not provided.                  |                           |
+   +------------------------+--------------------------------+---------------------------+
+
+
+.. class:: Distribution
+
+   A :class:`Distribution` describes how to build, install and package up a Python
+   software package.
+
+   See the :func:`setup` function for a list of keyword arguments accepted  by the
+   Distribution constructor. :func:`setup` creates a Distribution instance.
+
+
+.. class:: Command
+
+   A :class:`Command` class (or rather, an instance of one of its subclasses)
+   implement a single distutils command.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.ccompiler` --- CCompiler base class
+===================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.ccompiler
+   :synopsis: Abstract CCompiler class
+
+
+This module provides the abstract base class for the :class:`CCompiler`
+classes.  A :class:`CCompiler` instance can be used for all the compile  and
+link steps needed to build a single project. Methods are provided to  set
+options for the compiler --- macro definitions, include directories,  link path,
+libraries and the like.
+
+This module provides the following functions.
+
+
+.. function:: gen_lib_options(compiler, library_dirs, runtime_library_dirs, libraries)
+
+   Generate linker options for searching library directories and linking with
+   specific libraries.  *libraries* and *library_dirs* are, respectively, lists of
+   library names (not filenames!) and search directories.  Returns a list of
+   command-line options suitable for use with some compiler (depending on the two
+   format strings passed in).
+
+
+.. function:: gen_preprocess_options(macros, include_dirs)
+
+   Generate C pre-processor options (:option:`-D`, :option:`-U`, :option:`-I`) as
+   used by at least two types of compilers: the typical Unix compiler and Visual
+   C++. *macros* is the usual thing, a list of 1- or 2-tuples, where ``(name,)``
+   means undefine (:option:`-U`) macro *name*, and ``(name, value)`` means define
+   (:option:`-D`) macro *name* to *value*.  *include_dirs* is just a list of
+   directory names to be added to the header file search path (:option:`-I`).
+   Returns a list of command-line options suitable for either Unix compilers or
+   Visual C++.
+
+
+.. function:: get_default_compiler(osname, platform)
+
+   Determine the default compiler to use for the given platform.
+
+   *osname* should be one of the standard Python OS names (i.e. the ones returned
+   by ``os.name``) and *platform* the common value returned by ``sys.platform`` for
+   the platform in question.
+
+   The default values are ``os.name`` and ``sys.platform`` in case the parameters
+   are not given.
+
+
+.. function:: new_compiler(plat=None, compiler=None, verbose=0, dry_run=0, force=0)
+
+   Factory function to generate an instance of some CCompiler subclass for the
+   supplied platform/compiler combination. *plat* defaults to ``os.name`` (eg.
+   ``'posix'``, ``'nt'``), and *compiler*  defaults to the default compiler for
+   that platform. Currently only ``'posix'`` and ``'nt'`` are supported, and the
+   default compilers are "traditional Unix interface" (:class:`UnixCCompiler`
+   class) and Visual C++ (:class:`MSVCCompiler` class).  Note that it's perfectly
+   possible to ask for a Unix compiler object under Windows, and a Microsoft
+   compiler object under Unix---if you supply a value for *compiler*, *plat* is
+   ignored.
+
+   .. % Is the posix/nt only thing still true? Mac OS X seems to work, and
+   .. % returns a UnixCCompiler instance. How to document this... hmm.
+
+
+.. function:: show_compilers()
+
+   Print list of available compilers (used by the :option:`--help-compiler` options
+   to :command:`build`, :command:`build_ext`, :command:`build_clib`).
+
+
+.. class:: CCompiler([verbose=0, dry_run=0, force=0])
+
+   The abstract base class :class:`CCompiler` defines the interface that  must be
+   implemented by real compiler classes.  The class also has  some utility methods
+   used by several compiler classes.
+
+   The basic idea behind a compiler abstraction class is that each instance can be
+   used for all the compile/link steps in building a single project.  Thus,
+   attributes common to all of those compile and link steps --- include
+   directories, macros to define, libraries to link against, etc. --- are
+   attributes of the compiler instance.  To allow for variability in how individual
+   files are treated, most of those attributes may be varied on a per-compilation
+   or per-link basis.
+
+   The constructor for each subclass creates an instance of the Compiler object.
+   Flags are *verbose* (show verbose output), *dry_run* (don't actually execute the
+   steps) and *force* (rebuild everything, regardless of dependencies). All of
+   these flags default to ``0`` (off). Note that you probably don't want to
+   instantiate :class:`CCompiler` or one of its subclasses directly - use the
+   :func:`distutils.CCompiler.new_compiler` factory function instead.
+
+   The following methods allow you to manually alter compiler options for  the
+   instance of the Compiler class.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.add_include_dir(dir)
+
+      Add *dir* to the list of directories that will be searched for header files.
+      The compiler is instructed to search directories in the order in which they are
+      supplied by successive calls to :meth:`add_include_dir`.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.set_include_dirs(dirs)
+
+      Set the list of directories that will be searched to *dirs* (a list of strings).
+      Overrides any preceding calls to :meth:`add_include_dir`; subsequent calls to
+      :meth:`add_include_dir` add to the list passed to :meth:`set_include_dirs`.
+      This does not affect any list of standard include directories that the compiler
+      may search by default.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.add_library(libname)
+
+      Add *libname* to the list of libraries that will be included in all links driven
+      by this compiler object.  Note that *libname* should \*not\* be the name of a
+      file containing a library, but the name of the library itself: the actual
+      filename will be inferred by the linker, the compiler, or the compiler class
+      (depending on the platform).
+
+      The linker will be instructed to link against libraries in the order they were
+      supplied to :meth:`add_library` and/or :meth:`set_libraries`.  It is perfectly
+      valid to duplicate library names; the linker will be instructed to link against
+      libraries as many times as they are mentioned.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.set_libraries(libnames)
+
+      Set the list of libraries to be included in all links driven by this compiler
+      object to *libnames* (a list of strings).  This does not affect any standard
+      system libraries that the linker may include by default.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.add_library_dir(dir)
+
+      Add *dir* to the list of directories that will be searched for libraries
+      specified to :meth:`add_library` and :meth:`set_libraries`.  The linker will be
+      instructed to search for libraries in the order they are supplied to
+      :meth:`add_library_dir` and/or :meth:`set_library_dirs`.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.set_library_dirs(dirs)
+
+      Set the list of library search directories to *dirs* (a list of strings).  This
+      does not affect any standard library search path that the linker may search by
+      default.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.add_runtime_library_dir(dir)
+
+      Add *dir* to the list of directories that will be searched for shared libraries
+      at runtime.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.set_runtime_library_dirs(dirs)
+
+      Set the list of directories to search for shared libraries at runtime to *dirs*
+      (a list of strings).  This does not affect any standard search path that the
+      runtime linker may search by default.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.define_macro(name[, value=None])
+
+      Define a preprocessor macro for all compilations driven by this compiler object.
+      The optional parameter *value* should be a string; if it is not supplied, then
+      the macro will be defined without an explicit value and the exact outcome
+      depends on the compiler used (XXX true? does ANSI say anything about this?)
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.undefine_macro(name)
+
+      Undefine a preprocessor macro for all compilations driven by this compiler
+      object.  If the same macro is defined by :meth:`define_macro` and
+      undefined by :meth:`undefine_macro` the last call takes precedence
+      (including multiple redefinitions or undefinitions).  If the macro is
+      redefined/undefined on a per-compilation basis (ie. in the call to
+      :meth:`compile`), then that takes precedence.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.add_link_object(object)
+
+      Add *object* to the list of object files (or analogues, such as explicitly named
+      library files or the output of "resource compilers") to be included in every
+      link driven by this compiler object.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.set_link_objects(objects)
+
+      Set the list of object files (or analogues) to be included in every link to
+      *objects*.  This does not affect any standard object files that the linker may
+      include by default (such as system libraries).
+
+   The following methods implement methods for autodetection of compiler  options,
+   providing some functionality similar to GNU :program:`autoconf`.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.detect_language(sources)
+
+      Detect the language of a given file, or list of files. Uses the  instance
+      attributes :attr:`language_map` (a dictionary), and  :attr:`language_order` (a
+      list) to do the job.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.find_library_file(dirs, lib[, debug=0])
+
+      Search the specified list of directories for a static or shared library file
+      *lib* and return the full path to that file.  If *debug* is true, look for a
+      debugging version (if that makes sense on the current platform).  Return
+      ``None`` if *lib* wasn't found in any of the specified directories.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.has_function(funcname [, includes=None, include_dirs=None, libraries=None, library_dirs=None])
+
+      Return a boolean indicating whether *funcname* is supported on the current
+      platform.  The optional arguments can be used to augment the compilation
+      environment by providing additional include files and paths and libraries and
+      paths.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.library_dir_option(dir)
+
+      Return the compiler option to add *dir* to the list of directories searched for
+      libraries.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.library_option(lib)
+
+      Return the compiler option to add *dir* to the list of libraries linked into the
+      shared library or executable.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.runtime_library_dir_option(dir)
+
+      Return the compiler option to add *dir* to the list of directories searched for
+      runtime libraries.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.set_executables(**args)
+
+      Define the executables (and options for them) that will be run to perform the
+      various stages of compilation.  The exact set of executables that may be
+      specified here depends on the compiler class (via the 'executables' class
+      attribute), but most will have:
+
+      +--------------+------------------------------------------+
+      | attribute    | description                              |
+      +==============+==========================================+
+      | *compiler*   | the C/C++ compiler                       |
+      +--------------+------------------------------------------+
+      | *linker_so*  | linker used to create shared objects and |
+      |              | libraries                                |
+      +--------------+------------------------------------------+
+      | *linker_exe* | linker used to create binary executables |
+      +--------------+------------------------------------------+
+      | *archiver*   | static library creator                   |
+      +--------------+------------------------------------------+
+
+      On platforms with a command-line (Unix, DOS/Windows), each of these is a string
+      that will be split into executable name and (optional) list of arguments.
+      (Splitting the string is done similarly to how Unix shells operate: words are
+      delimited by spaces, but quotes and backslashes can override this.  See
+      :func:`distutils.util.split_quoted`.)
+
+   The following methods invoke stages in the build process.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.compile(sources[, output_dir=None, macros=None, include_dirs=None, debug=0, extra_preargs=None, extra_postargs=None, depends=None])
+
+      Compile one or more source files. Generates object files (e.g.  transforms a
+      :file:`.c` file to a :file:`.o` file.)
+
+      *sources* must be a list of filenames, most likely C/C++ files, but in reality
+      anything that can be handled by a particular compiler and compiler class (eg.
+      :class:`MSVCCompiler` can handle resource files in *sources*).  Return a list of
+      object filenames, one per source filename in *sources*.  Depending on the
+      implementation, not all source files will necessarily be compiled, but all
+      corresponding object filenames will be returned.
+
+      If *output_dir* is given, object files will be put under it, while retaining
+      their original path component.  That is, :file:`foo/bar.c` normally compiles to
+      :file:`foo/bar.o` (for a Unix implementation); if *output_dir* is *build*, then
+      it would compile to :file:`build/foo/bar.o`.
+
+      *macros*, if given, must be a list of macro definitions.  A macro definition is
+      either a ``(name, value)`` 2-tuple or a ``(name,)`` 1-tuple. The former defines
+      a macro; if the value is ``None``, the macro is defined without an explicit
+      value.  The 1-tuple case undefines a macro.  Later
+      definitions/redefinitions/undefinitions take precedence.
+
+      *include_dirs*, if given, must be a list of strings, the directories to add to
+      the default include file search path for this compilation only.
+
+      *debug* is a boolean; if true, the compiler will be instructed to output debug
+      symbols in (or alongside) the object file(s).
+
+      *extra_preargs* and *extra_postargs* are implementation-dependent. On platforms
+      that have the notion of a command-line (e.g. Unix, DOS/Windows), they are most
+      likely lists of strings: extra command-line arguments to prepend/append to the
+      compiler command line.  On other platforms, consult the implementation class
+      documentation.  In any event, they are intended as an escape hatch for those
+      occasions when the abstract compiler framework doesn't cut the mustard.
+
+      *depends*, if given, is a list of filenames that all targets depend on.  If a
+      source file is older than any file in depends, then the source file will be
+      recompiled.  This supports dependency tracking, but only at a coarse
+      granularity.
+
+      Raises :exc:`CompileError` on failure.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.create_static_lib(objects, output_libname[, output_dir=None, debug=0, target_lang=None])
+
+      Link a bunch of stuff together to create a static library file. The "bunch of
+      stuff" consists of the list of object files supplied as *objects*, the extra
+      object files supplied to :meth:`add_link_object` and/or
+      :meth:`set_link_objects`, the libraries supplied to :meth:`add_library` and/or
+      :meth:`set_libraries`, and the libraries supplied as *libraries* (if any).
+
+      *output_libname* should be a library name, not a filename; the filename will be
+      inferred from the library name.  *output_dir* is the directory where the library
+      file will be put. XXX defaults to what?
+
+      *debug* is a boolean; if true, debugging information will be included in the
+      library (note that on most platforms, it is the compile step where this matters:
+      the *debug* flag is included here just for consistency).
+
+      *target_lang* is the target language for which the given objects are being
+      compiled. This allows specific linkage time treatment of certain languages.
+
+      Raises :exc:`LibError` on failure.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.link(target_desc, objects, output_filename[, output_dir=None, libraries=None, library_dirs=None, runtime_library_dirs=None, export_symbols=None, debug=0, extra_preargs=None, extra_postargs=None, build_temp=None, target_lang=None])
+
+      Link a bunch of stuff together to create an executable or shared library file.
+
+      The "bunch of stuff" consists of the list of object files supplied as *objects*.
+      *output_filename* should be a filename.  If *output_dir* is supplied,
+      *output_filename* is relative to it (i.e. *output_filename* can provide
+      directory components if needed).
+
+      *libraries* is a list of libraries to link against.  These are library names,
+      not filenames, since they're translated into filenames in a platform-specific
+      way (eg. *foo* becomes :file:`libfoo.a` on Unix and :file:`foo.lib` on
+      DOS/Windows).  However, they can include a directory component, which means the
+      linker will look in that specific directory rather than searching all the normal
+      locations.
+
+      *library_dirs*, if supplied, should be a list of directories to search for
+      libraries that were specified as bare library names (ie. no directory
+      component).  These are on top of the system default and those supplied to
+      :meth:`add_library_dir` and/or :meth:`set_library_dirs`.  *runtime_library_dirs*
+      is a list of directories that will be embedded into the shared library and used
+      to search for other shared libraries that \*it\* depends on at run-time.  (This
+      may only be relevant on Unix.)
+
+      *export_symbols* is a list of symbols that the shared library will export.
+      (This appears to be relevant only on Windows.)
+
+      *debug* is as for :meth:`compile` and :meth:`create_static_lib`,  with the
+      slight distinction that it actually matters on most platforms (as opposed to
+      :meth:`create_static_lib`, which includes a *debug* flag mostly for form's
+      sake).
+
+      *extra_preargs* and *extra_postargs* are as for :meth:`compile`  (except of
+      course that they supply command-line arguments for the particular linker being
+      used).
+
+      *target_lang* is the target language for which the given objects are being
+      compiled. This allows specific linkage time treatment of certain languages.
+
+      Raises :exc:`LinkError` on failure.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.link_executable(objects, output_progname[, output_dir=None, libraries=None, library_dirs=None, runtime_library_dirs=None, debug=0, extra_preargs=None, extra_postargs=None, target_lang=None])
+
+      Link an executable.  *output_progname* is the name of the file executable, while
+      *objects* are a list of object filenames to link in. Other arguments  are as for
+      the :meth:`link` method.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.link_shared_lib(objects, output_libname[, output_dir=None, libraries=None, library_dirs=None, runtime_library_dirs=None, export_symbols=None, debug=0, extra_preargs=None, extra_postargs=None, build_temp=None, target_lang=None])
+
+      Link a shared library. *output_libname* is the name of the output  library,
+      while *objects* is a list of object filenames to link in.  Other arguments are
+      as for the :meth:`link` method.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.link_shared_object(objects, output_filename[, output_dir=None, libraries=None, library_dirs=None, runtime_library_dirs=None, export_symbols=None, debug=0, extra_preargs=None, extra_postargs=None, build_temp=None, target_lang=None])
+
+      Link a shared object. *output_filename* is the name of the shared object that
+      will be created, while *objects* is a list of object filenames  to link in.
+      Other arguments are as for the :meth:`link` method.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.preprocess(source[, output_file=None, macros=None, include_dirs=None, extra_preargs=None, extra_postargs=None])
+
+      Preprocess a single C/C++ source file, named in *source*. Output will be written
+      to file named *output_file*, or *stdout* if *output_file* not supplied.
+      *macros* is a list of macro definitions as for :meth:`compile`, which will
+      augment the macros set with :meth:`define_macro` and :meth:`undefine_macro`.
+      *include_dirs* is a list of directory names that will be added to the  default
+      list, in the same way as :meth:`add_include_dir`.
+
+      Raises :exc:`PreprocessError` on failure.
+
+   The following utility methods are defined by the :class:`CCompiler` class, for
+   use by the various concrete subclasses.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.executable_filename(basename[, strip_dir=0, output_dir=''])
+
+      Returns the filename of the executable for the given *basename*.  Typically for
+      non-Windows platforms this is the same as the basename,  while Windows will get
+      a :file:`.exe` added.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.library_filename(libname[, lib_type='static', strip_dir=0, output_dir=''])
+
+      Returns the filename for the given library name on the current platform. On Unix
+      a library with *lib_type* of ``'static'`` will typically  be of the form
+      :file:`liblibname.a`, while a *lib_type* of ``'dynamic'``  will be of the form
+      :file:`liblibname.so`.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.object_filenames(source_filenames[, strip_dir=0, output_dir=''])
+
+      Returns the name of the object files for the given source files.
+      *source_filenames* should be a list of filenames.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.shared_object_filename(basename[, strip_dir=0, output_dir=''])
+
+      Returns the name of a shared object file for the given file name *basename*.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.execute(func, args[, msg=None, level=1])
+
+      Invokes :func:`distutils.util.execute` This method invokes a  Python function
+      *func* with the given arguments *args*, after  logging and taking into account
+      the *dry_run* flag. XXX see also.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.spawn(cmd)
+
+      Invokes :func:`distutils.util.spawn`. This invokes an external  process to run
+      the given command. XXX see also.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.mkpath(name[, mode=511])
+
+      Invokes :func:`distutils.dir_util.mkpath`. This creates a directory  and any
+      missing ancestor directories. XXX see also.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.move_file(src, dst)
+
+      Invokes :meth:`distutils.file_util.move_file`. Renames *src* to  *dst*.  XXX see
+      also.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.announce(msg[, level=1])
+
+      Write a message using :func:`distutils.log.debug`. XXX see also.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.warn(msg)
+
+      Write a warning message *msg* to standard error.
+
+
+   .. method:: CCompiler.debug_print(msg)
+
+      If the *debug* flag is set on this :class:`CCompiler` instance, print  *msg* to
+      standard output, otherwise do nothing.
+
+.. % \subsection{Compiler-specific modules}
+.. %
+.. % The following modules implement concrete subclasses of the abstract
+.. % \class{CCompiler} class. They should not be instantiated directly, but should
+.. % be created using \function{distutils.ccompiler.new_compiler()} factory
+.. % function.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.unixccompiler` --- Unix C Compiler
+==================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.unixccompiler
+   :synopsis: UNIX C Compiler
+
+
+This module provides the :class:`UnixCCompiler` class, a subclass of
+:class:`CCompiler` that handles the typical Unix-style command-line  C compiler:
+
+* macros defined with :option:`-Dname[=value]`
+
+* macros undefined with :option:`-Uname`
+
+* include search directories specified with :option:`-Idir`
+
+* libraries specified with :option:`-llib`
+
+* library search directories specified with :option:`-Ldir`
+
+* compile handled by :program:`cc` (or similar) executable with :option:`-c`
+  option: compiles :file:`.c` to :file:`.o`
+
+* link static library handled by :program:`ar` command (possibly with
+  :program:`ranlib`)
+
+* link shared library handled by :program:`cc` :option:`-shared`
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.msvccompiler` --- Microsoft Compiler
+====================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.msvccompiler
+   :synopsis: Microsoft Compiler
+
+
+This module provides :class:`MSVCCompiler`, an implementation of the abstract
+:class:`CCompiler` class for Microsoft Visual Studio. Typically, extension
+modules need to be compiled with the same compiler that was used to compile
+Python. For Python 2.3 and earlier, the compiler was Visual Studio 6. For Python
+2.4 and 2.5, the compiler is Visual Studio .NET 2003. The AMD64 and Itanium
+binaries are created using the Platform SDK.
+
+:class:`MSVCCompiler` will normally choose the right compiler, linker etc. on
+its own. To override this choice, the environment variables *DISTUTILS_USE_SDK*
+and *MSSdk* must be both set. *MSSdk* indicates that the current environment has
+been setup by the SDK's ``SetEnv.Cmd`` script, or that the environment variables
+had been registered when the SDK was installed; *DISTUTILS_USE_SDK* indicates
+that the distutils user has made an explicit choice to override the compiler
+selection by :class:`MSVCCompiler`.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.bcppcompiler` --- Borland Compiler
+==================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.bcppcompiler
+
+
+This module provides :class:`BorlandCCompiler`, an subclass of the abstract
+:class:`CCompiler` class for the Borland C++ compiler.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.cygwincompiler` --- Cygwin Compiler
+===================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.cygwinccompiler
+
+
+This module provides the :class:`CygwinCCompiler` class, a subclass of
+:class:`UnixCCompiler` that handles the Cygwin port of the GNU C compiler to
+Windows.  It also contains the Mingw32CCompiler class which handles the mingw32
+port of GCC (same as cygwin in no-cygwin mode).
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.emxccompiler` --- OS/2 EMX Compiler
+===================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.emxccompiler
+   :synopsis: OS/2 EMX Compiler support
+
+
+This module provides the EMXCCompiler class, a subclass of
+:class:`UnixCCompiler` that handles the EMX port of the GNU C compiler to OS/2.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.archive_util` ---  Archiving utilities
+======================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.archive_util
+   :synopsis: Utility functions for creating archive files (tarballs, zip files, ...)
+
+
+This module provides a few functions for creating archive files, such as
+tarballs or zipfiles.
+
+
+.. function:: make_archive(base_name, format[, root_dir=None, base_dir=None, verbose=0, dry_run=0])
+
+   Create an archive file (eg. ``zip`` or ``tar``).  *base_name*  is the name of
+   the file to create, minus any format-specific extension;  *format* is the
+   archive format: one of ``zip``, ``tar``,  ``ztar``, or ``gztar``. *root_dir* is
+   a directory that will be the root directory of the archive; ie. we typically
+   ``chdir`` into *root_dir* before  creating the archive.  *base_dir* is the
+   directory where we start  archiving from; ie. *base_dir* will be the common
+   prefix of all files and directories in the archive.  *root_dir* and *base_dir*
+   both default to the current directory.  Returns the name of the archive file.
+
+   .. XXX This should be changed to support bz2 files.
+
+
+.. function:: make_tarball(base_name, base_dir[, compress='gzip', verbose=0, dry_run=0])
+
+   'Create an (optional compressed) archive as a tar file from all files in and
+   under *base_dir*. *compress* must be ``'gzip'`` (the default),  ``'compress'``,
+   ``'bzip2'``, or ``None``.  Both :program:`tar` and the compression utility named
+   by *compress* must be on the  default program search path, so this is probably
+   Unix-specific.  The  output tar file will be named :file:`base_dir.tar`,
+   possibly plus the appropriate compression extension (:file:`.gz`, :file:`.bz2`
+   or :file:`.Z`).  Return the output filename.
+
+   .. XXX This should be replaced with calls to the :mod:`tarfile` module.
+
+
+.. function:: make_zipfile(base_name, base_dir[, verbose=0, dry_run=0])
+
+   Create a zip file from all files in and under *base_dir*.  The output zip file
+   will be named *base_dir* + :file:`.zip`.  Uses either the  :mod:`zipfile` Python
+   module (if available) or the InfoZIP :file:`zip`  utility (if installed and
+   found on the default search path).  If neither  tool is available, raises
+   :exc:`DistutilsExecError`.   Returns the name of the output zip file.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.dep_util` --- Dependency checking
+=================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.dep_util
+   :synopsis: Utility functions for simple dependency checking
+
+
+This module provides functions for performing simple, timestamp-based
+dependency of files and groups of files; also, functions based entirely  on such
+timestamp dependency analysis.
+
+
+.. function:: newer(source, target)
+
+   Return true if *source* exists and is more recently modified than *target*, or
+   if *source* exists and *target* doesn't. Return false if both exist and *target*
+   is the same age or newer  than *source*. Raise :exc:`DistutilsFileError` if
+   *source* does not exist.
+
+
+.. function:: newer_pairwise(sources, targets)
+
+   Walk two filename lists in parallel, testing if each source is newer than its
+   corresponding target.  Return a pair of lists (*sources*, *targets*) where
+   source is newer than target, according to the semantics of :func:`newer`
+
+   .. % % equivalent to a listcomp...
+
+
+.. function:: newer_group(sources, target[, missing='error'])
+
+   Return true if *target* is out-of-date with respect to any file listed in
+   *sources*  In other words, if *target* exists and is newer than every file in
+   *sources*, return false; otherwise return true. *missing* controls what we do
+   when a source file is missing; the default (``'error'``) is to blow up with an
+   :exc:`OSError` from  inside :func:`os.stat`; if it is ``'ignore'``, we silently
+   drop any missing source files; if it is ``'newer'``, any missing source files
+   make us assume that *target* is out-of-date (this is handy in "dry-run" mode:
+   it'll make you pretend to carry out commands that wouldn't work because inputs
+   are missing, but that doesn't matter because you're not actually going to run
+   the commands).
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.dir_util` --- Directory tree operations
+=======================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.dir_util
+   :synopsis: Utility functions for operating on directories and directory trees
+
+
+This module provides functions for operating on directories and trees of
+directories.
+
+
+.. function:: mkpath(name[, mode=0777, verbose=0, dry_run=0])
+
+   Create a directory and any missing ancestor directories.  If the directory
+   already exists (or if *name* is the empty string, which means the current
+   directory, which of course exists), then do nothing.  Raise
+   :exc:`DistutilsFileError` if unable to create some directory along the way (eg.
+   some sub-path exists, but is a file rather than a directory).  If *verbose* is
+   true, print a one-line summary of each mkdir to stdout.  Return the list of
+   directories actually created.
+
+
+.. function:: create_tree(base_dir, files[, mode=0777, verbose=0, dry_run=0])
+
+   Create all the empty directories under *base_dir* needed to put *files* there.
+   *base_dir* is just the a name of a directory which doesn't necessarily exist
+   yet; *files* is a list of filenames to be interpreted relative to *base_dir*.
+   *base_dir* + the directory portion of every file in *files* will be created if
+   it doesn't already exist.  *mode*, *verbose* and *dry_run* flags  are as for
+   :func:`mkpath`.
+
+
+.. function:: copy_tree(src, dst[, preserve_mode=1, preserve_times=1, preserve_symlinks=0, update=0, verbose=0, dry_run=0])
+
+   Copy an entire directory tree *src* to a new location *dst*.  Both *src* and
+   *dst* must be directory names.  If *src* is not a directory, raise
+   :exc:`DistutilsFileError`.  If *dst* does  not exist, it is created with
+   :func:`mkpath`.  The end result of the  copy is that every file in *src* is
+   copied to *dst*, and  directories under *src* are recursively copied to *dst*.
+   Return the list of files that were copied or might have been copied, using their
+   output name. The return value is unaffected by *update* or *dry_run*: it is
+   simply the list of all files under *src*, with the names changed to be under
+   *dst*.
+
+   *preserve_mode* and *preserve_times* are the same as for :func:`copy_file` in
+   :mod:`distutils.file_util`; note that they only apply to regular files, not to
+   directories.  If *preserve_symlinks* is true, symlinks will be copied as
+   symlinks (on platforms that support them!); otherwise (the default), the
+   destination of the symlink will be copied.  *update* and *verbose* are the same
+   as for :func:`copy_file`.
+
+
+.. function:: remove_tree(directory[, verbose=0, dry_run=0])
+
+   Recursively remove *directory* and all files and directories underneath it. Any
+   errors are ignored (apart from being reported to ``sys.stdout`` if *verbose* is
+   true).
+
+**\*\*** Some of this could be replaced with the shutil module? **\*\***
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.file_util` --- Single file operations
+=====================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.file_util
+   :synopsis: Utility functions for operating on single files
+
+
+This module contains some utility functions for operating on individual files.
+
+
+.. function:: copy_file(src, dst[, preserve_mode=1, preserve_times=1, update=0, link=None, verbose=0, dry_run=0])
+
+   Copy file *src* to *dst*. If *dst* is a directory, then *src* is copied there
+   with the same name; otherwise, it must be a filename. (If the file exists, it
+   will be ruthlessly clobbered.) If *preserve_mode* is true (the default), the
+   file's mode (type and permission bits, or whatever is analogous on the
+   current platform) is copied. If *preserve_times* is true (the default), the
+   last-modified and last-access times are copied as well. If *update* is true,
+   *src* will only be copied if *dst* does not exist, or if *dst* does exist but
+   is older than *src*.
+
+   *link* allows you to make hard links (using :func:`os.link`) or symbolic links
+   (using :func:`os.symlink`) instead of copying: set it to ``'hard'`` or
+   ``'sym'``; if it is ``None`` (the default), files are copied. Don't set *link*
+   on systems that don't support it: :func:`copy_file` doesn't check if hard or
+   symbolic linking is available.  It uses :func:`_copy_file_contents` to copy file
+   contents.
+
+   Return a tuple ``(dest_name, copied)``: *dest_name* is the actual  name of the
+   output file, and *copied* is true if the file was copied  (or would have been
+   copied, if *dry_run* true).
+
+   .. % XXX if the destination file already exists, we clobber it if
+   .. % copying, but blow up if linking.  Hmmm.  And I don't know what
+   .. % macostools.copyfile() does.  Should definitely be consistent, and
+   .. % should probably blow up if destination exists and we would be
+   .. % changing it (ie. it's not already a hard/soft link to src OR
+   .. % (not update) and (src newer than dst)).
+
+
+.. function:: move_file(src, dst[, verbose, dry_run])
+
+   Move file *src* to *dst*. If *dst* is a directory, the file will be moved into
+   it with the same name; otherwise, *src* is just renamed to *dst*.  Returns the
+   new full name of the file.
+
+   .. warning::
+
+      Handles cross-device moves on Unix using :func:`copy_file`.  What about
+      other systems?
+
+
+.. function:: write_file(filename, contents)
+
+   Create a file called *filename* and write *contents* (a sequence of strings
+   without line terminators) to it.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.util` --- Miscellaneous other utility functions
+===============================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.util
+   :synopsis: Miscellaneous other utility functions
+
+
+This module contains other assorted bits and pieces that don't fit into  any
+other utility module.
+
+
+.. function:: get_platform()
+
+   Return a string that identifies the current platform.  This is used mainly to
+   distinguish platform-specific build directories and platform-specific built
+   distributions.  Typically includes the OS name and version and the architecture
+   (as supplied by 'os.uname()'), although the exact information included depends
+   on the OS; eg. for IRIX the architecture isn't particularly important (IRIX only
+   runs on SGI hardware), but for Linux the kernel version isn't particularly
+   important.
+
+   Examples of returned values:
+
+   * ``linux-i586``
+   * ``linux-alpha``
+   * ``solaris-2.6-sun4u``
+   * ``irix-5.3``
+   * ``irix64-6.2``
+
+   For non-POSIX platforms, currently just returns ``sys.platform``.
+
+   For Mac OS X systems the OS version reflects the minimal version on which
+   binaries will run (that is, the value of ``MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET``
+   during the build of Python), not the OS version of the current system.
+
+   For universal binary builds on Mac OS X the architecture value reflects
+   the univeral binary status instead of the architecture of the current
+   processor. For 32-bit universal binaries the architecture is ``fat``,
+   for 64-bit universal binaries the architecture is ``fat64``, and
+   for 4-way universal binaries the architecture is ``universal``. Starting
+   from Python 2.7 and Python 3.2 the architecture ``fat3`` is used for
+   a 3-way universal build (ppc, i386, x86_64) and ``intel`` is used for
+   a univeral build with the i386 and x86_64 architectures
+
+   Examples of returned values on Mac OS X:
+
+   * ``macosx-10.3-ppc``
+
+   * ``macosx-10.3-fat``
+
+   * ``macosx-10.5-universal``
+
+   * ``macosx-10.6-intel``
+
+   .. % XXX isn't this also provided by some other non-distutils module?
+
+
+.. function:: convert_path(pathname)
+
+   Return 'pathname' as a name that will work on the native filesystem, i.e. split
+   it on '/' and put it back together again using the current directory separator.
+   Needed because filenames in the setup script are always supplied in Unix style,
+   and have to be converted to the local convention before we can actually use them
+   in the filesystem.  Raises :exc:`ValueError` on non-Unix-ish systems if
+   *pathname* either  starts or ends with a slash.
+
+
+.. function:: change_root(new_root, pathname)
+
+   Return *pathname* with *new_root* prepended.  If *pathname* is relative, this is
+   equivalent to ``os.path.join(new_root,pathname)`` Otherwise, it requires making
+   *pathname* relative and then joining the two, which is tricky on DOS/Windows.
+
+
+.. function:: check_environ()
+
+   Ensure that 'os.environ' has all the environment variables we guarantee that
+   users can use in config files, command-line options, etc.  Currently this
+   includes:
+
+   * :envvar:`HOME` - user's home directory (Unix only)
+   * :envvar:`PLAT` - description of the current platform, including hardware and
+     OS (see :func:`get_platform`)
+
+
+.. function:: subst_vars(s, local_vars)
+
+   Perform shell/Perl-style variable substitution on *s*.  Every occurrence of
+   ``$`` followed by a name is considered a variable, and variable is substituted
+   by the value found in the *local_vars* dictionary, or in ``os.environ`` if it's
+   not in *local_vars*. *os.environ* is first checked/augmented to guarantee that
+   it contains certain values: see :func:`check_environ`.  Raise :exc:`ValueError`
+   for any variables not found in either *local_vars* or ``os.environ``.
+
+   Note that this is not a fully-fledged string interpolation function. A valid
+   ``$variable`` can consist only of upper and lower case letters, numbers and an
+   underscore. No { } or ( ) style quoting is available.
+
+
+.. function:: grok_environment_error(exc[, prefix='error: '])
+
+   Generate a useful error message from an :exc:`EnvironmentError`  (:exc:`IOError`
+   or :exc:`OSError`) exception object.   Handles Python 1.5.1 and later styles,
+   and does what it can to deal with  exception objects that don't have a filename
+   (which happens when the error  is due to a two-file operation, such as
+   :func:`rename` or  :func:`link`).  Returns the error message as a string
+   prefixed  with *prefix*.
+
+
+.. function:: split_quoted(s)
+
+   Split a string up according to Unix shell-like rules for quotes and backslashes.
+   In short: words are delimited by spaces, as long as those spaces are not escaped
+   by a backslash, or inside a quoted string. Single and double quotes are
+   equivalent, and the quote characters can be backslash-escaped.  The backslash is
+   stripped from any two-character escape sequence, leaving only the escaped
+   character.  The quote characters are stripped from any quoted string.  Returns a
+   list of words.
+
+   .. % Should probably be moved into the standard library.
+
+
+.. function:: execute(func, args[, msg=None, verbose=0, dry_run=0])
+
+   Perform some action that affects the outside world (for instance, writing to the
+   filesystem).  Such actions are special because they are disabled by the
+   *dry_run* flag.  This method takes  care of all that bureaucracy for you; all
+   you have to do is supply the function to call and an argument tuple for it (to
+   embody the "external action" being performed), and an optional message to print.
+
+
+.. function:: strtobool(val)
+
+   Convert a string representation of truth to true (1) or false (0).
+
+   True values are ``y``, ``yes``, ``t``, ``true``, ``on``  and ``1``; false values
+   are ``n``, ``no``, ``f``, ``false``,  ``off`` and ``0``.  Raises
+   :exc:`ValueError` if *val*  is anything else.
+
+
+.. function:: byte_compile(py_files[, optimize=0, force=0, prefix=None, base_dir=None, verbose=1, dry_run=0, direct=None])
+
+   Byte-compile a collection of Python source files to either :file:`.pyc` or
+   :file:`.pyo` files in the same directory.  *py_files* is a list of files to
+   compile; any files that don't end in :file:`.py` are silently skipped.
+   *optimize* must be one of the following:
+
+   * ``0`` - don't optimize (generate :file:`.pyc`)
+   * ``1`` - normal optimization (like ``python -O``)
+   * ``2`` - extra optimization (like ``python -OO``)
+
+   If *force* is true, all files are recompiled regardless of timestamps.
+
+   The source filename encoded in each :term:`bytecode` file defaults to the filenames
+   listed in *py_files*; you can modify these with *prefix* and *basedir*.
+   *prefix* is a string that will be stripped off of each source filename, and
+   *base_dir* is a directory name that will be prepended (after *prefix* is
+   stripped).  You can supply either or both (or neither) of *prefix* and
+   *base_dir*, as you wish.
+
+   If *dry_run* is true, doesn't actually do anything that would affect the
+   filesystem.
+
+   Byte-compilation is either done directly in this interpreter process with the
+   standard :mod:`py_compile` module, or indirectly by writing a temporary script
+   and executing it.  Normally, you should let :func:`byte_compile` figure out to
+   use direct compilation or not (see the source for details).  The *direct* flag
+   is used by the script generated in indirect mode; unless you know what you're
+   doing, leave it set to ``None``.
+
+
+.. function:: rfc822_escape(header)
+
+   Return a version of *header* escaped for inclusion in an :rfc:`822` header, by
+   ensuring there are 8 spaces space after each newline. Note that it does no other
+   modification of the string.
+
+   .. % this _can_ be replaced
+
+.. % \subsection{Distutils objects}
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.dist` --- The Distribution class
+================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.dist
+   :synopsis: Provides the Distribution class, which represents the module distribution being
+              built/installed/distributed
+
+
+This module provides the :class:`Distribution` class, which represents the
+module distribution being built/installed/distributed.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.extension` --- The Extension class
+==================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.extension
+   :synopsis: Provides the Extension class, used to describe C/C++ extension modules in setup
+              scripts
+
+
+This module provides the :class:`Extension` class, used to describe C/C++
+extension modules in setup scripts.
+
+.. % \subsection{Ungrouped modules}
+.. % The following haven't been moved into a more appropriate section yet.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.debug` --- Distutils debug mode
+===============================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.debug
+   :synopsis: Provides the debug flag for distutils
+
+
+This module provides the DEBUG flag.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.errors` --- Distutils exceptions
+================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.errors
+   :synopsis: Provides standard distutils exceptions
+
+
+Provides exceptions used by the Distutils modules.  Note that Distutils modules
+may raise standard exceptions; in particular, SystemExit is usually raised for
+errors that are obviously the end-user's fault (eg. bad command-line arguments).
+
+This module is safe to use in ``from ... import *`` mode; it only exports
+symbols whose names start with ``Distutils`` and end with ``Error``.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.fancy_getopt` --- Wrapper around the standard getopt module
+===========================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.fancy_getopt
+   :synopsis: Additional getopt functionality
+
+
+This module provides a wrapper around the standard :mod:`getopt`  module that
+provides the following additional features:
+
+* short and long options are tied together
+
+* options have help strings, so :func:`fancy_getopt` could potentially  create a
+  complete usage summary
+
+* options set attributes of a passed-in object
+
+* boolean options can have "negative aliases" --- eg. if :option:`--quiet` is
+  the "negative alias" of :option:`--verbose`, then :option:`--quiet` on the
+  command line sets *verbose* to false.
+
+**\*\*** Should be replaced with :mod:`optik` (which is also now known as
+:mod:`optparse` in Python 2.3 and later). **\*\***
+
+
+.. function:: fancy_getopt(options, negative_opt, object, args)
+
+   Wrapper function. *options* is a list of ``(long_option, short_option,
+   help_string)`` 3-tuples as described in the constructor for
+   :class:`FancyGetopt`. *negative_opt* should be a dictionary mapping option names
+   to option names, both the key and value should be in the *options* list.
+   *object* is an object which will be used to store values (see the :meth:`getopt`
+   method of the :class:`FancyGetopt` class). *args* is the argument list. Will use
+   ``sys.argv[1:]`` if you  pass ``None`` as *args*.
+
+
+.. function:: wrap_text(text, width)
+
+   Wraps *text* to less than *width* wide.
+
+   .. XXX Should be replaced with :mod:`textwrap` (which is available in Python
+      2.3 and later).
+
+
+.. class:: FancyGetopt([option_table=None])
+
+   The option_table is a list of 3-tuples: ``(long_option, short_option,
+   help_string)``
+
+   If an option takes an argument, its *long_option* should have ``'='`` appended;
+   *short_option* should just be a single character, no ``':'`` in any case.
+   *short_option* should be ``None`` if a *long_option*  doesn't have a
+   corresponding *short_option*. All option tuples must have long options.
+
+The :class:`FancyGetopt` class provides the following methods:
+
+
+.. method:: FancyGetopt.getopt([args=None, object=None])
+
+   Parse command-line options in args. Store as attributes on *object*.
+
+   If *args* is ``None`` or not supplied, uses ``sys.argv[1:]``.  If *object* is
+   ``None`` or not supplied, creates a new :class:`OptionDummy` instance, stores
+   option values there, and returns a tuple ``(args, object)``.  If *object* is
+   supplied, it is modified in place and :func:`getopt` just returns *args*; in
+   both cases, the returned *args* is a modified copy of the passed-in *args* list,
+   which is left untouched.
+
+   .. % and args returned are?
+
+
+.. method:: FancyGetopt.get_option_order()
+
+   Returns the list of ``(option, value)`` tuples processed by the previous run of
+   :meth:`getopt`  Raises :exc:`RuntimeError` if :meth:`getopt` hasn't been called
+   yet.
+
+
+.. method:: FancyGetopt.generate_help([header=None])
+
+   Generate help text (a list of strings, one per suggested line of output) from
+   the option table for this :class:`FancyGetopt` object.
+
+   If supplied, prints the supplied *header* at the top of the help.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.filelist` --- The FileList class
+================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.filelist
+   :synopsis: The FileList class, used for poking about the file system and
+              building lists of files.
+
+
+This module provides the :class:`FileList` class, used for poking about the
+filesystem and building lists of files.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.log` --- Simple PEP 282-style logging
+=====================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.log
+   :synopsis: A simple logging mechanism, 282-style
+
+
+.. XXX Should be replaced with standard :mod:`logging` module.
+
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.spawn` --- Spawn a sub-process
+==============================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.spawn
+   :synopsis: Provides the spawn() function
+
+
+This module provides the :func:`spawn` function, a front-end to  various
+platform-specific functions for launching another program in a  sub-process.
+Also provides :func:`find_executable` to search the path for a given executable
+name.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.sysconfig` --- System configuration information
+===============================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.sysconfig
+   :synopsis: Low-level access to configuration information of the Python interpreter.
+.. moduleauthor:: Fred L. Drake, Jr. <fdrake at acm.org>
+.. moduleauthor:: Greg Ward <gward at python.net>
+.. sectionauthor:: Fred L. Drake, Jr. <fdrake at acm.org>
+
+
+The :mod:`distutils.sysconfig` module provides access to Python's low-level
+configuration information.  The specific configuration variables available
+depend heavily on the platform and configuration. The specific variables depend
+on the build process for the specific version of Python being run; the variables
+are those found in the :file:`Makefile` and configuration header that are
+installed with Python on Unix systems.  The configuration header is called
+:file:`pyconfig.h` for Python versions starting with 2.2, and :file:`config.h`
+for earlier versions of Python.
+
+Some additional functions are provided which perform some useful manipulations
+for other parts of the :mod:`distutils` package.
+
+
+.. data:: PREFIX
+
+   The result of ``os.path.normpath(sys.prefix)``.
+
+
+.. data:: EXEC_PREFIX
+
+   The result of ``os.path.normpath(sys.exec_prefix)``.
+
+
+.. function:: get_config_var(name)
+
+   Return the value of a single variable.  This is equivalent to
+   ``get_config_vars().get(name)``.
+
+
+.. function:: get_config_vars(...)
+
+   Return a set of variable definitions.  If there are no arguments, this returns a
+   dictionary mapping names of configuration variables to values.  If arguments are
+   provided, they should be strings, and the return value will be a sequence giving
+   the associated values. If a given name does not have a corresponding value,
+   ``None`` will be included for that variable.
+
+
+.. function:: get_config_h_filename()
+
+   Return the full path name of the configuration header.  For Unix, this will be
+   the header generated by the :program:`configure` script; for other platforms the
+   header will have been supplied directly by the Python source distribution.  The
+   file is a platform-specific text file.
+
+
+.. function:: get_makefile_filename()
+
+   Return the full path name of the :file:`Makefile` used to build Python.  For
+   Unix, this will be a file generated by the :program:`configure` script; the
+   meaning for other platforms will vary.  The file is a platform-specific text
+   file, if it exists. This function is only useful on POSIX platforms.
+
+
+.. function:: get_python_inc([plat_specific[, prefix]])
+
+   Return the directory for either the general or platform-dependent C include
+   files.  If *plat_specific* is true, the platform-dependent include directory is
+   returned; if false or omitted, the platform-independent directory is returned.
+   If *prefix* is given, it is used as either the prefix instead of
+   :const:`PREFIX`, or as the exec-prefix instead of :const:`EXEC_PREFIX` if
+   *plat_specific* is true.
+
+
+.. function:: get_python_lib([plat_specific[, standard_lib[, prefix]]])
+
+   Return the directory for either the general or platform-dependent library
+   installation.  If *plat_specific* is true, the platform-dependent include
+   directory is returned; if false or omitted, the platform-independent directory
+   is returned.  If *prefix* is given, it is used as either the prefix instead of
+   :const:`PREFIX`, or as the exec-prefix instead of :const:`EXEC_PREFIX` if
+   *plat_specific* is true.  If *standard_lib* is true, the directory for the
+   standard library is returned rather than the directory for the installation of
+   third-party extensions.
+
+The following function is only intended for use within the :mod:`distutils`
+package.
+
+
+.. function:: customize_compiler(compiler)
+
+   Do any platform-specific customization of a
+   :class:`distutils.ccompiler.CCompiler` instance.
+
+   This function is only needed on Unix at this time, but should be called
+   consistently to support forward-compatibility.  It inserts the information that
+   varies across Unix flavors and is stored in Python's :file:`Makefile`.  This
+   information includes the selected compiler, compiler and linker options, and the
+   extension used by the linker for shared objects.
+
+This function is even more special-purpose, and should only be used from
+Python's own build procedures.
+
+
+.. function:: set_python_build()
+
+   Inform the :mod:`distutils.sysconfig` module that it is being used as part of
+   the build process for Python.  This changes a lot of relative locations for
+   files, allowing them to be located in the build area rather than in an installed
+   Python.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.text_file` --- The TextFile class
+=================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.text_file
+   :synopsis: provides the TextFile class, a simple interface to text files
+
+
+This module provides the :class:`TextFile` class, which gives an interface  to
+text files that (optionally) takes care of stripping comments, ignoring  blank
+lines, and joining lines with backslashes.
+
+
+.. class:: TextFile([filename=None, file=None, **options])
+
+   This class provides a file-like object that takes care of all  the things you
+   commonly want to do when processing a text file  that has some line-by-line
+   syntax: strip comments (as long as ``#``  is your comment character), skip blank
+   lines, join adjacent lines by escaping the newline (ie. backslash at end of
+   line), strip leading and/or trailing whitespace.  All of these are optional and
+   independently controllable.
+
+   The class provides a :meth:`warn` method so you can generate  warning messages
+   that report physical line number, even if the  logical line in question spans
+   multiple physical lines.  Also  provides :meth:`unreadline` for implementing
+   line-at-a-time lookahead.
+
+   :class:`TextFile` instances are create with either *filename*, *file*, or both.
+   :exc:`RuntimeError` is raised if both are ``None``. *filename* should be a
+   string, and *file* a file object (or something that provides :meth:`readline`
+   and :meth:`close`  methods).  It is recommended that you supply at least
+   *filename*,  so that :class:`TextFile` can include it in warning messages.  If
+   *file* is not supplied, :class:`TextFile` creates its own using the
+   :func:`open` built-in function.
+
+   The options are all boolean, and affect the values returned by :meth:`readline`
+
+   +------------------+--------------------------------+---------+
+   | option name      | description                    | default |
+   +==================+================================+=========+
+   | *strip_comments* | strip from ``'#'`` to end-of-  | true    |
+   |                  | line, as well as any           |         |
+   |                  | whitespace leading up to the   |         |
+   |                  | ``'#'``\ ---unless it is       |         |
+   |                  | escaped by a backslash         |         |
+   +------------------+--------------------------------+---------+
+   | *lstrip_ws*      | strip leading whitespace from  | false   |
+   |                  | each line before returning it  |         |
+   +------------------+--------------------------------+---------+
+   | *rstrip_ws*      | strip trailing whitespace      | true    |
+   |                  | (including line terminator!)   |         |
+   |                  | from each line before          |         |
+   |                  | returning it.                  |         |
+   +------------------+--------------------------------+---------+
+   | *skip_blanks*    | skip lines that are empty      | true    |
+   |                  | \*after\* stripping comments   |         |
+   |                  | and whitespace.  (If both      |         |
+   |                  | lstrip_ws and rstrip_ws are    |         |
+   |                  | false, then some lines may     |         |
+   |                  | consist of solely whitespace:  |         |
+   |                  | these will \*not\* be skipped, |         |
+   |                  | even if *skip_blanks* is       |         |
+   |                  | true.)                         |         |
+   +------------------+--------------------------------+---------+
+   | *join_lines*     | if a backslash is the last     | false   |
+   |                  | non-newline character on a     |         |
+   |                  | line after stripping comments  |         |
+   |                  | and whitespace, join the       |         |
+   |                  | following line to it to form   |         |
+   |                  | one logical line; if N         |         |
+   |                  | consecutive lines end with a   |         |
+   |                  | backslash, then N+1 physical   |         |
+   |                  | lines will be joined to form   |         |
+   |                  | one logical line.              |         |
+   +------------------+--------------------------------+---------+
+   | *collapse_join*  | strip leading whitespace from  | false   |
+   |                  | lines that are joined to their |         |
+   |                  | predecessor; only matters if   |         |
+   |                  | ``(join_lines and not          |         |
+   |                  | lstrip_ws)``                   |         |
+   +------------------+--------------------------------+---------+
+
+   Note that since *rstrip_ws* can strip the trailing newline, the semantics of
+   :meth:`readline` must differ from those of the built-in file object's
+   :meth:`readline` method!  In particular, :meth:`readline`  returns ``None`` for
+   end-of-file: an empty string might just be a  blank line (or an all-whitespace
+   line), if *rstrip_ws* is true  but *skip_blanks* is not.
+
+
+   .. method:: TextFile.open(filename)
+
+      Open a new file *filename*.  This overrides any *file* or *filename*
+      constructor arguments.
+
+
+   .. method:: TextFile.close()
+
+      Close the current file and forget everything we know about it (including the
+      filename and the current line number).
+
+
+   .. method:: TextFile.warn(msg[,line=None])
+
+      Print (to stderr) a warning message tied to the current logical line in the
+      current file.  If the current logical line in the file spans multiple physical
+      lines, the warning refers to the whole range, such as ``"lines 3-5"``.  If
+      *line* is supplied,  it overrides the current line number; it may be a list or
+      tuple  to indicate a range of physical lines, or an integer for a  single
+      physical line.
+
+
+   .. method:: TextFile.readline()
+
+      Read and return a single logical line from the current file (or from an internal
+      buffer if lines have previously been "unread" with :meth:`unreadline`).  If the
+      *join_lines* option  is true, this may involve reading multiple physical lines
+      concatenated into a single string.  Updates the current line number,  so calling
+      :meth:`warn` after :meth:`readline` emits a warning  about the physical line(s)
+      just read.  Returns ``None`` on end-of-file,  since the empty string can occur
+      if *rstrip_ws* is true but  *strip_blanks* is not.
+
+
+   .. method:: TextFile.readlines()
+
+      Read and return the list of all logical lines remaining in the current file.
+      This updates the current line number to the last line of the file.
+
+
+   .. method:: TextFile.unreadline(line)
+
+      Push *line* (a string) onto an internal buffer that will be checked by future
+      :meth:`readline` calls.  Handy for implementing a parser with line-at-a-time
+      lookahead. Note that lines that are "unread" with :meth:`unreadline` are not
+      subsequently re-cleansed (whitespace  stripped, or whatever) when read with
+      :meth:`readline`. If multiple calls are made to :meth:`unreadline` before a call
+      to :meth:`readline`, the lines will be returned most in most recent first order.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.version` --- Version number classes
+===================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.version
+   :synopsis: implements classes that represent module version numbers.
+
+
+.. % todo
+.. % \section{Distutils Commands}
+.. %
+.. % This part of Distutils implements the various Distutils commands, such
+.. % as \code{build}, \code{install} \&c. Each command is implemented as a
+.. % separate module, with the command name as the name of the module.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.cmd` --- Abstract base class for Distutils commands
+===================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.cmd
+   :synopsis: This module provides the abstract base class Command. This class is subclassed
+              by the modules in the distutils.command  subpackage.
+
+
+This module supplies the abstract base class :class:`Command`.
+
+
+.. class:: Command(dist)
+
+   Abstract base class for defining command classes, the "worker bees" of the
+   Distutils.  A useful analogy for command classes is to think of them as
+   subroutines with local variables called *options*.  The options are declared in
+   :meth:`initialize_options` and defined (given their final values) in
+   :meth:`finalize_options`, both of which must be defined by every command class.
+   The distinction between the two is necessary because option values might come
+   from the outside world (command line, config file, ...), and any options
+   dependent on other options must be computed after these outside influences have
+   been processed --- hence :meth:`finalize_options`.  The body of the subroutine,
+   where it does all its work based on the values of its options, is the
+   :meth:`run` method, which must also be implemented by every command class.
+
+   The class constructor takes a single argument *dist*, a  :class:`Distribution`
+   instance.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command` --- Individual Distutils commands
+==========================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command
+   :synopsis: This subpackage contains one module for each standard Distutils command.
+
+
+.. % \subsubsection{Individual Distutils commands}
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.bdist` --- Build a binary installer
+===========================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.bdist
+   :synopsis: Build a binary installer for a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.bdist_packager` --- Abstract base class for packagers
+=============================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.bdist_packager
+   :synopsis: Abstract base class for packagers
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.bdist_dumb` --- Build a "dumb" installer
+================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.bdist_dumb
+   :synopsis: Build a "dumb" installer - a simple archive of files
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.bdist_msi` --- Build a Microsoft Installer binary package
+=================================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.bdist_msi
+   :synopsis: Build a binary distribution as a Windows MSI file
+
+.. class:: bdist_msi(Command)
+
+   Builds a `Windows Installer`_ (.msi) binary package.
+
+   .. _Windows Installer: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc185688(VS.85).aspx
+
+   In most cases, the ``bdist_msi`` installer is a better choice than the
+   ``bdist_wininst`` installer, because it provides better support for
+   Win64 platforms, allows administrators to perform non-interactive
+   installations, and allows installation through group policies.
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.bdist_rpm` --- Build a binary distribution as a Redhat RPM and SRPM
+===========================================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.bdist_rpm
+   :synopsis: Build a binary distribution as a Redhat RPM and SRPM
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.bdist_wininst` --- Build a Windows installer
+====================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.bdist_wininst
+   :synopsis: Build a Windows installer
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.sdist` --- Build a source distribution
+==============================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.sdist
+   :synopsis: Build a source distribution
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.build` --- Build all files of a package
+===============================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.build
+   :synopsis: Build all files of a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.build_clib` --- Build any C libraries in a package
+==========================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.build_clib
+   :synopsis: Build any C libraries in a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.build_ext` --- Build any extensions in a package
+========================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.build_ext
+   :synopsis: Build any extensions in a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.build_py` --- Build the .py/.pyc files of a package
+===========================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.build_py
+   :synopsis: Build the .py/.pyc files of a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.build_scripts` --- Build the scripts of a package
+=========================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.build_scripts
+   :synopsis: Build the scripts of a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.clean` --- Clean a package build area
+=============================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.clean
+   :synopsis: Clean a package build area
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.config` --- Perform package configuration
+=================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.config
+   :synopsis: Perform package configuration
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.install` --- Install a package
+======================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.install
+   :synopsis: Install a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.install_data` --- Install data files from a package
+===========================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.install_data
+   :synopsis: Install data files from a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.install_headers` --- Install C/C++ header files from a package
+======================================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.install_headers
+   :synopsis: Install C/C++ header files from a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.install_lib` --- Install library files from a package
+=============================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.install_lib
+   :synopsis: Install library files from a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.install_scripts` --- Install script files from a package
+================================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.install_scripts
+   :synopsis: Install script files from a package
+
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.register` --- Register a module with the Python Package Index
+=====================================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.register
+   :synopsis: Register a module with the Python Package Index
+
+
+The ``register`` command registers the package with the Python Package  Index.
+This is described in more detail in :pep:`301`.
+
+.. % todo
+
+:mod:`distutils.command.check` --- Check the meta-data of a package
+===================================================================
+
+.. module:: distutils.command.check
+   :synopsis: Check the metadata of a package
+
+
+The ``check`` command performs some tests on the meta-data of a package.
+For example, it verifies that all required meta-data are provided as
+the arguments passed to the :func:`setup` function.
+
+.. % todo
+
+
+Creating a new Distutils command
+================================
+
+This section outlines the steps to create a new Distutils command.
+
+A new command lives in a module in the :mod:`distutils.command` package. There
+is a sample template in that directory called  :file:`command_template`. Copy
+this file to a new module with the same name as the new command you're
+implementing. This module should implement a class with the same name as the
+module (and the command). So, for instance, to create the command
+``peel_banana`` (so that users can run ``setup.py peel_banana``), you'd copy
+:file:`command_template`  to :file:`distutils/command/peel_banana.py`, then edit
+it so that it's implementing the class :class:`peel_banana`, a subclass of
+:class:`distutils.cmd.Command`.
+
+Subclasses of :class:`Command` must define the following methods.
+
+
+.. method:: Command.initialize_options()
+
+   Set default values for all the options that this command supports.  Note that
+   these defaults may be overridden by other commands, by the setup script, by
+   config files, or by the command-line.  Thus, this is not the place to code
+   dependencies between options; generally, :meth:`initialize_options`
+   implementations are just a bunch of ``self.foo = None`` assignments.
+
+
+.. method:: Command.finalize_options()
+
+   Set final values for all the options that this command supports. This is
+   always called as late as possible, ie.  after any option assignments from the
+   command-line or from other commands have been done.  Thus, this is the place
+   to to code option dependencies: if *foo* depends on *bar*, then it is safe to
+   set *foo* from *bar* as long as *foo* still has the same value it was
+   assigned in :meth:`initialize_options`.
+
+
+.. method:: Command.run()
+
+   A command's raison d'etre: carry out the action it exists to perform, controlled
+   by the options initialized in :meth:`initialize_options`, customized by other
+   commands, the setup script, the command-line, and config files, and finalized in
+   :meth:`finalize_options`.  All terminal output and filesystem interaction should
+   be done by :meth:`run`.
+
+*sub_commands* formalizes the notion of a "family" of commands, eg. ``install``
+as the parent with sub-commands ``install_lib``, ``install_headers``, etc.  The
+parent of a family of commands defines *sub_commands* as a class attribute; it's
+a list of 2-tuples ``(command_name, predicate)``, with *command_name* a string
+and *predicate* an unbound method, a string or None. *predicate* is a method of
+the parent command that determines whether the corresponding command is
+applicable in the current situation.  (Eg. we ``install_headers`` is only
+applicable if we have any C header files to install.)  If *predicate* is None,
+that command is always applicable.
+
+*sub_commands* is usually defined at the \*end\* of a class, because predicates
+can be unbound methods, so they must already have been defined.  The canonical
+example is the :command:`install` command.
diff --git a/docs/source/builtdist.rst b/docs/source/builtdist.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/builtdist.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,452 @@
+.. _built-dist:
+
+****************************
+Creating Built Distributions
+****************************
+
+A "built distribution" is what you're probably used to thinking of either as a
+"binary package" or an "installer" (depending on your background).  It's not
+necessarily binary, though, because it might contain only Python source code
+and/or byte-code; and we don't call it a package, because that word is already
+spoken for in Python.  (And "installer" is a term specific to the world of
+mainstream desktop systems.)
+
+A built distribution is how you make life as easy as possible for installers of
+your module distribution: for users of RPM-based Linux systems, it's a binary
+RPM; for Windows users, it's an executable installer; for Debian-based Linux
+users, it's a Debian package; and so forth.  Obviously, no one person will be
+able to create built distributions for every platform under the sun, so the
+Distutils are designed to enable module developers to concentrate on their
+specialty---writing code and creating source distributions---while an
+intermediary species called *packagers* springs up to turn source distributions
+into built distributions for as many platforms as there are packagers.
+
+Of course, the module developer could be his own packager; or the packager could
+be a volunteer "out there" somewhere who has access to a platform which the
+original developer does not; or it could be software periodically grabbing new
+source distributions and turning them into built distributions for as many
+platforms as the software has access to.  Regardless of who they are, a packager
+uses the setup script and the :command:`bdist` command family to generate built
+distributions.
+
+As a simple example, if I run the following command in the Distutils source
+tree::
+
+   python setup.py bdist
+
+then the Distutils builds my module distribution (the Distutils itself in this
+case), does a "fake" installation (also in the :file:`build` directory), and
+creates the default type of built distribution for my platform.  The default
+format for built distributions is a "dumb" tar file on Unix, and a simple
+executable installer on Windows.  (That tar file is considered "dumb" because it
+has to be unpacked in a specific location to work.)
+
+Thus, the above command on a Unix system creates
+:file:`Distutils-1.0.{plat}.tar.gz`; unpacking this tarball from the right place
+installs the Distutils just as though you had downloaded the source distribution
+and run ``python setup.py install``.  (The "right place" is either the root of
+the filesystem or  Python's :file:`{prefix}` directory, depending on the options
+given to the :command:`bdist_dumb` command; the default is to make dumb
+distributions relative to :file:`{prefix}`.)
+
+Obviously, for pure Python distributions, this isn't any simpler than just
+running ``python setup.py install``\ ---but for non-pure distributions, which
+include extensions that would need to be compiled, it can mean the difference
+between someone being able to use your extensions or not.  And creating "smart"
+built distributions, such as an RPM package or an executable installer for
+Windows, is far more convenient for users even if your distribution doesn't
+include any extensions.
+
+The :command:`bdist` command has a :option:`--formats` option, similar to the
+:command:`sdist` command, which you can use to select the types of built
+distribution to generate: for example, ::
+
+   python setup.py bdist --format=zip
+
+would, when run on a Unix system, create :file:`Distutils-1.0.{plat}.zip`\
+---again, this archive would be unpacked from the root directory to install the
+Distutils.
+
+The available formats for built distributions are:
+
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+| Format      | Description                  | Notes   |
++=============+==============================+=========+
+| ``gztar``   | gzipped tar file             | (1),(3) |
+|             | (:file:`.tar.gz`)            |         |
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+| ``ztar``    | compressed tar file          | \(3)    |
+|             | (:file:`.tar.Z`)             |         |
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+| ``tar``     | tar file (:file:`.tar`)      | \(3)    |
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+| ``zip``     | zip file (:file:`.zip`)      | (2),(4) |
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+| ``rpm``     | RPM                          | \(5)    |
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+| ``pkgtool`` | Solaris :program:`pkgtool`   |         |
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+| ``sdux``    | HP-UX :program:`swinstall`   |         |
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+| ``rpm``     | RPM                          | \(5)    |
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+| ``wininst`` | self-extracting ZIP file for | \(4)    |
+|             | Windows                      |         |
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+| ``msi``     | Microsoft Installer.         |         |
++-------------+------------------------------+---------+
+
+
+Notes:
+
+(1)
+   default on Unix
+
+(2)
+   default on Windows
+
+(3)
+   requires external utilities: :program:`tar` and possibly one of :program:`gzip`,
+   :program:`bzip2`, or :program:`compress`
+
+(4)
+   requires either external :program:`zip` utility or :mod:`zipfile` module (part
+   of the standard Python library since Python 1.6)
+
+(5)
+   requires external :program:`rpm` utility, version 3.0.4 or better (use ``rpm
+   --version`` to find out which version you have)
+
+You don't have to use the :command:`bdist` command with the :option:`--formats`
+option; you can also use the command that directly implements the format you're
+interested in.  Some of these :command:`bdist` "sub-commands" actually generate
+several similar formats; for instance, the :command:`bdist_dumb` command
+generates all the "dumb" archive formats (``tar``, ``ztar``, ``gztar``, and
+``zip``), and :command:`bdist_rpm` generates both binary and source RPMs.  The
+:command:`bdist` sub-commands, and the formats generated by each, are:
+
++--------------------------+-----------------------+
+| Command                  | Formats               |
++==========================+=======================+
+| :command:`bdist_dumb`    | tar, ztar, gztar, zip |
++--------------------------+-----------------------+
+| :command:`bdist_rpm`     | rpm, srpm             |
++--------------------------+-----------------------+
+| :command:`bdist_wininst` | wininst               |
++--------------------------+-----------------------+
+| :command:`bdist_msi`     | msi                   |
++--------------------------+-----------------------+
+
+The following sections give details on the individual :command:`bdist_\*`
+commands.
+
+
+.. _creating-dumb:
+
+Creating dumb built distributions
+=================================
+
+**\*\*** Need to document absolute vs. prefix-relative packages here, but first
+I have to implement it! **\*\***
+
+
+.. _creating-rpms:
+
+Creating RPM packages
+=====================
+
+The RPM format is used by many popular Linux distributions, including Red Hat,
+SuSE, and Mandrake.  If one of these (or any of the other RPM-based Linux
+distributions) is your usual environment, creating RPM packages for other users
+of that same distribution is trivial. Depending on the complexity of your module
+distribution and differences between Linux distributions, you may also be able
+to create RPMs that work on different RPM-based distributions.
+
+The usual way to create an RPM of your module distribution is to run the
+:command:`bdist_rpm` command::
+
+   python setup.py bdist_rpm
+
+or the :command:`bdist` command with the :option:`--format` option::
+
+   python setup.py bdist --formats=rpm
+
+The former allows you to specify RPM-specific options; the latter allows  you to
+easily specify multiple formats in one run.  If you need to do both, you can
+explicitly specify multiple :command:`bdist_\*` commands and their options::
+
+   python setup.py bdist_rpm --packager="John Doe <jdoe at example.org>" \
+                   bdist_wininst --target_version="2.0"
+
+Creating RPM packages is driven by a :file:`.spec` file, much as using the
+Distutils is driven by the setup script.  To make your life easier, the
+:command:`bdist_rpm` command normally creates a :file:`.spec` file based on the
+information you supply in the setup script, on the command line, and in any
+Distutils configuration files.  Various options and sections in the
+:file:`.spec` file are derived from options in the setup script as follows:
+
++------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| RPM :file:`.spec` file option or section | Distutils setup script option                |
++==========================================+==============================================+
+| Name                                     | :option:`name`                               |
++------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| Summary (in preamble)                    | :option:`description`                        |
++------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| Version                                  | :option:`version`                            |
++------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| Vendor                                   | :option:`author` and :option:`author_email`, |
+|                                          | or  --- & :option:`maintainer` and           |
+|                                          | :option:`maintainer_email`                   |
++------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| Copyright                                | :option:`license`                            |
++------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| Url                                      | :option:`url`                                |
++------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| %description (section)                   | :option:`long_description`                   |
++------------------------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+
+Additionally, there are many options in :file:`.spec` files that don't have
+corresponding options in the setup script.  Most of these are handled through
+options to the :command:`bdist_rpm` command as follows:
+
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| RPM :file:`.spec` file option | :command:`bdist_rpm` option | default value           |
+| or section                    |                             |                         |
++===============================+=============================+=========================+
+| Release                       | :option:`release`           | "1"                     |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| Group                         | :option:`group`             | "Development/Libraries" |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| Vendor                        | :option:`vendor`            | (see above)             |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| Packager                      | :option:`packager`          | (none)                  |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| Provides                      | :option:`provides`          | (none)                  |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| Requires                      | :option:`requires`          | (none)                  |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| Conflicts                     | :option:`conflicts`         | (none)                  |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| Obsoletes                     | :option:`obsoletes`         | (none)                  |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| Distribution                  | :option:`distribution_name` | (none)                  |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| BuildRequires                 | :option:`build_requires`    | (none)                  |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+| Icon                          | :option:`icon`              | (none)                  |
++-------------------------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------+
+
+Obviously, supplying even a few of these options on the command-line would be
+tedious and error-prone, so it's usually best to put them in the setup
+configuration file, :file:`setup.cfg`\ ---see section :ref:`setup-config`.  If
+you distribute or package many Python module distributions, you might want to
+put options that apply to all of them in your personal Distutils configuration
+file (:file:`~/.pydistutils.cfg`).  If you want to temporarily disable
+this file, you can pass the --no-user-cfg option to setup.py.
+
+There are three steps to building a binary RPM package, all of which are
+handled automatically by the Distutils:
+
+#. create a :file:`.spec` file, which describes the package (analogous  to the
+   Distutils setup script; in fact, much of the information in the  setup script
+   winds up in the :file:`.spec` file)
+
+#. create the source RPM
+
+#. create the "binary" RPM (which may or may not contain binary code, depending
+   on whether your module distribution contains Python extensions)
+
+Normally, RPM bundles the last two steps together; when you use the Distutils,
+all three steps are typically bundled together.
+
+If you wish, you can separate these three steps.  You can use the
+:option:`--spec-only` option to make :command:`bdist_rpm` just create the
+:file:`.spec` file and exit; in this case, the :file:`.spec` file will be
+written to the "distribution directory"---normally :file:`dist/`, but
+customizable with the :option:`--dist-dir` option.  (Normally, the :file:`.spec`
+file winds up deep in the "build tree," in a temporary directory created by
+:command:`bdist_rpm`.)
+
+.. % \XXX{this isn't implemented yet---is it needed?!}
+.. % You can also specify a custom \file{.spec} file with the
+.. % \longprogramopt{spec-file} option; used in conjunction with
+.. % \longprogramopt{spec-only}, this gives you an opportunity to customize
+.. % the \file{.spec} file manually:
+.. %
+.. % \ begin{verbatim}
+.. % > python setup.py bdist_rpm --spec-only
+.. % # ...edit dist/FooBar-1.0.spec
+.. % > python setup.py bdist_rpm --spec-file=dist/FooBar-1.0.spec
+.. % \ end{verbatim}
+.. %
+.. % (Although a better way to do this is probably to override the standard
+.. % \command{bdist\_rpm} command with one that writes whatever else you want
+.. % to the \file{.spec} file.)
+
+
+.. _creating-wininst:
+
+Creating Windows Installers
+===========================
+
+Executable installers are the natural format for binary distributions on
+Windows.  They display a nice graphical user interface, display some information
+about the module distribution to be installed taken from the metadata in the
+setup script, let the user select a few options, and start or cancel the
+installation.
+
+Since the metadata is taken from the setup script, creating Windows installers
+is usually as easy as running::
+
+   python setup.py bdist_wininst
+
+or the :command:`bdist` command with the :option:`--formats` option::
+
+   python setup.py bdist --formats=wininst
+
+If you have a pure module distribution (only containing pure Python modules and
+packages), the resulting installer will be version independent and have a name
+like :file:`foo-1.0.win32.exe`.  These installers can even be created on Unix
+platforms or Mac OS X.
+
+If you have a non-pure distribution, the extensions can only be created on a
+Windows platform, and will be Python version dependent. The installer filename
+will reflect this and now has the form :file:`foo-1.0.win32-py2.0.exe`.  You
+have to create a separate installer for every Python version you want to
+support.
+
+The installer will try to compile pure modules into :term:`bytecode` after installation
+on the target system in normal and optimizing mode.  If you don't want this to
+happen for some reason, you can run the :command:`bdist_wininst` command with
+the :option:`--no-target-compile` and/or the :option:`--no-target-optimize`
+option.
+
+By default the installer will display the cool "Python Powered" logo when it is
+run, but you can also supply your own bitmap which must be a Windows
+:file:`.bmp` file with the :option:`--bitmap` option.
+
+The installer will also display a large title on the desktop background window
+when it is run, which is constructed from the name of your distribution and the
+version number.  This can be changed to another text by using the
+:option:`--title` option.
+
+The installer file will be written to the "distribution directory" --- normally
+:file:`dist/`, but customizable with the :option:`--dist-dir` option.
+
+.. _cross-compile-windows:
+
+Cross-compiling on Windows
+==========================
+
+Starting with Python 2.6, distutils is capable of cross-compiling between
+Windows platforms.  In practice, this means that with the correct tools
+installed, you can use a 32bit version of Windows to create 64bit extensions
+and vice-versa.
+
+To build for an alternate platform, specify the :option:`--plat-name` option
+to the build command.  Valid values are currently 'win32', 'win-amd64' and
+'win-ia64'.  For example, on a 32bit version of Windows, you could execute::
+
+   python setup.py build --plat-name=win-amd64
+
+to build a 64bit version of your extension.  The Windows Installers also
+support this option, so the command::
+
+   python setup.py build --plat-name=win-amd64 bdist_wininst
+
+would create a 64bit installation executable on your 32bit version of Windows.
+
+To cross-compile, you must download the Python source code and cross-compile
+Python itself for the platform you are targetting - it is not possible from a
+binary installtion of Python (as the .lib etc file for other platforms are
+not included.)  In practice, this means the user of a 32 bit operating
+system will need to use Visual Studio 2008 to open the
+:file:`PCBuild/PCbuild.sln` solution in the Python source tree and build the
+"x64" configuration of the 'pythoncore' project before cross-compiling
+extensions is possible.
+
+Note that by default, Visual Studio 2008 does not install 64bit compilers or
+tools.  You may need to reexecute the Visual Studio setup process and select
+these tools (using Control Panel->[Add/Remove] Programs is a convenient way to
+check or modify your existing install.)
+
+.. _postinstallation-script:
+
+The Postinstallation script
+---------------------------
+
+Starting with Python 2.3, a postinstallation script can be specified which the
+:option:`--install-script` option.  The basename of the script must be
+specified, and the script filename must also be listed in the scripts argument
+to the setup function.
+
+This script will be run at installation time on the target system after all the
+files have been copied, with ``argv[1]`` set to :option:`-install`, and again at
+uninstallation time before the files are removed with ``argv[1]`` set to
+:option:`-remove`.
+
+The installation script runs embedded in the windows installer, every output
+(``sys.stdout``, ``sys.stderr``) is redirected into a buffer and will be
+displayed in the GUI after the script has finished.
+
+Some functions especially useful in this context are available as additional
+built-in functions in the installation script.
+
+
+.. function:: directory_created(path)
+              file_created(path)
+
+   These functions should be called when a directory or file is created by the
+   postinstall script at installation time.  It will register *path* with the
+   uninstaller, so that it will be removed when the distribution is uninstalled.
+   To be safe, directories are only removed if they are empty.
+
+
+.. function:: get_special_folder_path(csidl_string)
+
+   This function can be used to retrieve special folder locations on Windows like
+   the Start Menu or the Desktop.  It returns the full path to the folder.
+   *csidl_string* must be one of the following strings::
+
+      "CSIDL_APPDATA"
+
+      "CSIDL_COMMON_STARTMENU"
+      "CSIDL_STARTMENU"
+
+      "CSIDL_COMMON_DESKTOPDIRECTORY"
+      "CSIDL_DESKTOPDIRECTORY"
+
+      "CSIDL_COMMON_STARTUP"
+      "CSIDL_STARTUP"
+
+      "CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS"
+      "CSIDL_PROGRAMS"
+
+      "CSIDL_FONTS"
+
+   If the folder cannot be retrieved, :exc:`OSError` is raised.
+
+   Which folders are available depends on the exact Windows version, and probably
+   also the configuration.  For details refer to Microsoft's documentation of the
+   :cfunc:`SHGetSpecialFolderPath` function.
+
+
+.. function:: create_shortcut(target, description, filename[, arguments[, workdir[, iconpath[, iconindex]]]])
+
+   This function creates a shortcut. *target* is the path to the program to be
+   started by the shortcut. *description* is the description of the shortcut.
+   *filename* is the title of the shortcut that the user will see. *arguments*
+   specifies the command line arguments, if any. *workdir* is the working directory
+   for the program. *iconpath* is the file containing the icon for the shortcut,
+   and *iconindex* is the index of the icon in the file *iconpath*.  Again, for
+   details consult the Microsoft documentation for the :class:`IShellLink`
+   interface.
+
+
+Vista User Access Control (UAC)
+===============================
+
+Starting with Python 2.6, bdist_wininst supports a :option:`--user-access-control`
+option.  The default is 'none' (meaning no UAC handling is done), and other
+valid values are 'auto' (meaning prompt for UAC elevation if Python was
+installed for all users) and 'force' (meaning always prompt for elevation).
diff --git a/docs/source/commandref.rst b/docs/source/commandref.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/commandref.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+.. _reference:
+
+*****************
+Command Reference
+*****************
+
+.. % \section{Building modules: the \protect\command{build} command family}
+.. % \label{build-cmds}
+.. % \subsubsection{\protect\command{build}}
+.. % \label{build-cmd}
+.. % \subsubsection{\protect\command{build\_py}}
+.. % \label{build-py-cmd}
+.. % \subsubsection{\protect\command{build\_ext}}
+.. % \label{build-ext-cmd}
+.. % \subsubsection{\protect\command{build\_clib}}
+.. % \label{build-clib-cmd}
+
+
+.. _install-cmd:
+
+Installing modules: the :command:`install` command family
+=========================================================
+
+The install command ensures that the build commands have been run and then runs
+the subcommands :command:`install_lib`, :command:`install_data` and
+:command:`install_scripts`.
+
+.. % \subsubsection{\protect\command{install\_lib}}
+.. % \label{install-lib-cmd}
+
+
+.. _install-data-cmd:
+
+:command:`install_data`
+-----------------------
+
+This command installs all data files provided with the distribution.
+
+
+.. _install-scripts-cmd:
+
+:command:`install_scripts`
+--------------------------
+
+This command installs all (Python) scripts in the distribution.
+
+.. % \subsection{Cleaning up: the \protect\command{clean} command}
+.. % \label{clean-cmd}
+
+
+.. % \section{Creating a built distribution: the
+.. % \protect\command{bdist} command family}
+.. % \label{bdist-cmds}
+
+.. % \subsection{\protect\command{bdist}}
+.. % \subsection{\protect\command{bdist\_dumb}}
+.. % \subsection{\protect\command{bdist\_rpm}}
+.. % \subsection{\protect\command{bdist\_wininst}}
+
+
diff --git a/docs/source/configfile.rst b/docs/source/configfile.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/configfile.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+.. _setup-config:
+
+************************************
+Writing the Setup Configuration File
+************************************
+
+Often, it's not possible to write down everything needed to build a distribution
+*a priori*: you may need to get some information from the user, or from the
+user's system, in order to proceed.  As long as that information is fairly
+simple---a list of directories to search for C header files or libraries, for
+example---then providing a configuration file, :file:`setup.cfg`, for users to
+edit is a cheap and easy way to solicit it.  Configuration files also let you
+provide default values for any command option, which the installer can then
+override either on the command-line or by editing the config file.
+
+The setup configuration file is a useful middle-ground between the setup script
+---which, ideally, would be opaque to installers [#]_---and the command-line to
+the setup script, which is outside of your control and entirely up to the
+installer.  In fact, :file:`setup.cfg` (and any other Distutils configuration
+files present on the target system) are processed after the contents of the
+setup script, but before the command-line.  This has  several useful
+consequences:
+
+.. % (If you have more advanced needs, such as determining which extensions
+.. % to build based on what capabilities are present on the target system,
+.. % then you need the Distutils ``auto-configuration'' facility.  This
+.. % started to appear in Distutils 0.9 but, as of this writing, isn't mature
+.. % or stable enough yet for real-world use.)
+
+* installers can override some of what you put in :file:`setup.py` by editing
+  :file:`setup.cfg`
+
+* you can provide non-standard defaults for options that are not easily set in
+  :file:`setup.py`
+
+* installers can override anything in :file:`setup.cfg` using the command-line
+  options to :file:`setup.py`
+
+The basic syntax of the configuration file is simple::
+
+   [command]
+   option=value
+   ...
+
+where *command* is one of the Distutils commands (e.g. :command:`build_py`,
+:command:`install`), and *option* is one of the options that command supports.
+Any number of options can be supplied for each command, and any number of
+command sections can be included in the file.  Blank lines are ignored, as are
+comments, which run from a ``'#'`` character until the end of the line.  Long
+option values can be split across multiple lines simply by indenting the
+continuation lines.
+
+You can find out the list of options supported by a particular command with the
+universal :option:`--help` option, e.g. ::
+
+   > python setup.py --help build_ext
+   [...]
+   Options for 'build_ext' command:
+     --build-lib (-b)     directory for compiled extension modules
+     --build-temp (-t)    directory for temporary files (build by-products)
+     --inplace (-i)       ignore build-lib and put compiled extensions into the
+                          source directory alongside your pure Python modules
+     --include-dirs (-I)  list of directories to search for header files
+     --define (-D)        C preprocessor macros to define
+     --undef (-U)         C preprocessor macros to undefine
+     --swig-opts          list of SWIG command line options
+   [...]
+
+Note that an option spelled :option:`--foo-bar` on the command-line  is spelled
+:option:`foo_bar` in configuration files.
+
+For example, say you want your extensions to be built "in-place"---that is, you
+have an extension :mod:`pkg.ext`, and you want the compiled extension file
+(:file:`ext.so` on Unix, say) to be put in the same source directory as your
+pure Python modules :mod:`pkg.mod1` and :mod:`pkg.mod2`.  You can always use the
+:option:`--inplace` option on the command-line to ensure this::
+
+   python setup.py build_ext --inplace
+
+But this requires that you always specify the :command:`build_ext` command
+explicitly, and remember to provide :option:`--inplace`. An easier way is to
+"set and forget" this option, by encoding it in :file:`setup.cfg`, the
+configuration file for this distribution::
+
+   [build_ext]
+   inplace=1
+
+This will affect all builds of this module distribution, whether or not you
+explicitly specify :command:`build_ext`.  If you include :file:`setup.cfg` in
+your source distribution, it will also affect end-user builds---which is
+probably a bad idea for this option, since always building extensions in-place
+would break installation of the module distribution.  In certain peculiar cases,
+though, modules are built right in their installation directory, so this is
+conceivably a useful ability.  (Distributing extensions that expect to be built
+in their installation directory is almost always a bad idea, though.)
+
+Another example: certain commands take a lot of options that don't change from
+run to run; for example, :command:`bdist_rpm` needs to know everything required
+to generate a "spec" file for creating an RPM distribution.  Some of this
+information comes from the setup script, and some is automatically generated by
+the Distutils (such as the list of files installed).  But some of it has to be
+supplied as options to :command:`bdist_rpm`, which would be very tedious to do
+on the command-line for every run.  Hence, here is a snippet from the Distutils'
+own :file:`setup.cfg`::
+
+   [bdist_rpm]
+   release = 1
+   packager = Greg Ward <gward at python.net>
+   doc_files = CHANGES.txt
+               README.txt
+               USAGE.txt
+               doc/
+               examples/
+
+Note that the :option:`doc_files` option is simply a whitespace-separated string
+split across multiple lines for readability.
+
+
+.. seealso::
+
+   :ref:`inst-config-syntax` in "Installing Python Modules"
+      More information on the configuration files is available in the manual for
+      system administrators.
+
+
+.. rubric:: Footnotes
+
+.. [#] This ideal probably won't be achieved until auto-configuration is fully
+   supported by the Distutils.
+
diff --git a/docs/source/dependencies.rst b/docs/source/dependencies.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/dependencies.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+
+============
+Dependencies
+============
+
+* unittest2
+
diff --git a/docs/source/examples.rst b/docs/source/examples.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/examples.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,338 @@
+.. _examples:
+
+********
+Examples
+********
+
+This chapter provides a number of basic examples to help get started with
+distutils.  Additional information about using distutils can be found in the
+Distutils Cookbook.
+
+
+.. seealso::
+
+   `Distutils Cookbook <http://wiki.python.org/moin/Distutils/Cookbook>`_
+      Collection of recipes showing how to achieve more control over distutils.
+
+
+.. _pure-mod:
+
+Pure Python distribution (by module)
+====================================
+
+If you're just distributing a couple of modules, especially if they don't live
+in a particular package, you can specify them individually using the
+:option:`py_modules` option in the setup script.
+
+In the simplest case, you'll have two files to worry about: a setup script and
+the single module you're distributing, :file:`foo.py` in this example::
+
+   <root>/
+           setup.py
+           foo.py
+
+(In all diagrams in this section, *<root>* will refer to the distribution root
+directory.)  A minimal setup script to describe this situation would be::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   setup(name='foo',
+         version='1.0',
+         py_modules=['foo'],
+         )
+
+Note that the name of the distribution is specified independently with the
+:option:`name` option, and there's no rule that says it has to be the same as
+the name of the sole module in the distribution (although that's probably a good
+convention to follow).  However, the distribution name is used to generate
+filenames, so you should stick to letters, digits, underscores, and hyphens.
+
+Since :option:`py_modules` is a list, you can of course specify multiple
+modules, eg. if you're distributing modules :mod:`foo` and :mod:`bar`, your
+setup might look like this::
+
+   <root>/
+           setup.py
+           foo.py
+           bar.py
+
+and the setup script might be  ::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   setup(name='foobar',
+         version='1.0',
+         py_modules=['foo', 'bar'],
+         )
+
+You can put module source files into another directory, but if you have enough
+modules to do that, it's probably easier to specify modules by package rather
+than listing them individually.
+
+
+.. _pure-pkg:
+
+Pure Python distribution (by package)
+=====================================
+
+If you have more than a couple of modules to distribute, especially if they are
+in multiple packages, it's probably easier to specify whole packages rather than
+individual modules.  This works even if your modules are not in a package; you
+can just tell the Distutils to process modules from the root package, and that
+works the same as any other package (except that you don't have to have an
+:file:`__init__.py` file).
+
+The setup script from the last example could also be written as  ::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   setup(name='foobar',
+         version='1.0',
+         packages=[''],
+         )
+
+(The empty string stands for the root package.)
+
+If those two files are moved into a subdirectory, but remain in the root
+package, e.g.::
+
+   <root>/
+           setup.py
+           src/      foo.py
+                     bar.py
+
+then you would still specify the root package, but you have to tell the
+Distutils where source files in the root package live::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   setup(name='foobar',
+         version='1.0',
+         package_dir={'': 'src'},
+         packages=[''],
+         )
+
+More typically, though, you will want to distribute multiple modules in the same
+package (or in sub-packages).  For example, if the :mod:`foo`  and :mod:`bar`
+modules belong in package :mod:`foobar`, one way to layout your source tree is
+::
+
+   <root>/
+           setup.py
+           foobar/
+                    __init__.py
+                    foo.py
+                    bar.py
+
+This is in fact the default layout expected by the Distutils, and the one that
+requires the least work to describe in your setup script::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   setup(name='foobar',
+         version='1.0',
+         packages=['foobar'],
+         )
+
+If you want to put modules in directories not named for their package, then you
+need to use the :option:`package_dir` option again.  For example, if the
+:file:`src` directory holds modules in the :mod:`foobar` package::
+
+   <root>/
+           setup.py
+           src/
+                    __init__.py
+                    foo.py
+                    bar.py
+
+an appropriate setup script would be  ::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   setup(name='foobar',
+         version='1.0',
+         package_dir={'foobar': 'src'},
+         packages=['foobar'],
+         )
+
+Or, you might put modules from your main package right in the distribution
+root::
+
+   <root>/
+           setup.py
+           __init__.py
+           foo.py
+           bar.py
+
+in which case your setup script would be  ::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   setup(name='foobar',
+         version='1.0',
+         package_dir={'foobar': ''},
+         packages=['foobar'],
+         )
+
+(The empty string also stands for the current directory.)
+
+If you have sub-packages, they must be explicitly listed in :option:`packages`,
+but any entries in :option:`package_dir` automatically extend to sub-packages.
+(In other words, the Distutils does *not* scan your source tree, trying to
+figure out which directories correspond to Python packages by looking for
+:file:`__init__.py` files.)  Thus, if the default layout grows a sub-package::
+
+   <root>/
+           setup.py
+           foobar/
+                    __init__.py
+                    foo.py
+                    bar.py
+                    subfoo/
+                              __init__.py
+                              blah.py
+
+then the corresponding setup script would be  ::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   setup(name='foobar',
+         version='1.0',
+         packages=['foobar', 'foobar.subfoo'],
+         )
+
+(Again, the empty string in :option:`package_dir` stands for the current
+directory.)
+
+
+.. _single-ext:
+
+Single extension module
+=======================
+
+Extension modules are specified using the :option:`ext_modules` option.
+:option:`package_dir` has no effect on where extension source files are found;
+it only affects the source for pure Python modules.  The simplest  case, a
+single extension module in a single C source file, is::
+
+   <root>/
+           setup.py
+           foo.c
+
+If the :mod:`foo` extension belongs in the root package, the setup script for
+this could be  ::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   from distutils.extension import Extension
+   setup(name='foobar',
+         version='1.0',
+         ext_modules=[Extension('foo', ['foo.c'])],
+         )
+
+If the extension actually belongs in a package, say :mod:`foopkg`, then
+
+With exactly the same source tree layout, this extension can be put in the
+:mod:`foopkg` package simply by changing the name of the extension::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   from distutils.extension import Extension
+   setup(name='foobar',
+         version='1.0',
+         ext_modules=[Extension('foopkg.foo', ['foo.c'])],
+         )
+
+Checking a package
+==================
+
+The ``check`` command allows you to verify if your package meta-data
+meet the minimum requirements to build a distribution.
+
+To run it, just call it using your :file:`setup.py` script. If something is
+missing, ``check`` will display a warning.
+
+Let's take an example with a simple script::
+
+    from distutils.core import setup
+
+    setup(name='foobar')
+
+Running the ``check`` command will display some warnings::
+
+    $ python setup.py check
+    running check
+    warning: check: missing required meta-data: version, url
+    warning: check: missing meta-data: either (author and author_email) or
+             (maintainer and maintainer_email) must be supplied
+
+
+If you use the reStructuredText syntax in the ``long_description`` field and
+`docutils <http://docutils.sourceforge.net/>`_ is installed you can check if
+the syntax is fine with the ``check`` command, using the ``restructuredtext``
+option.
+
+For example, if the :file:`setup.py` script is changed like this::
+
+    from distutils.core import setup
+
+    desc = """\
+    My description
+    =============
+
+    This is the description of the ``foobar`` package.
+    """
+
+    setup(name='foobar', version='1', author='tarek',
+        author_email='tarek at ziade.org',
+        url='http://example.com', long_description=desc)
+
+Where the long description is broken, ``check`` will be able to detect it
+by using the :mod:`docutils` parser::
+
+    $ pythontrunk setup.py check --restructuredtext
+    running check
+    warning: check: Title underline too short. (line 2)
+    warning: check: Could not finish the parsing.
+
+
+.. _reading-metadata:
+
+Reading the metadata
+====================
+
+The :func:`distutils.core.setup` function provides a command-line interface
+that allows you to query the metadata fields of a project through the
+:file:`setup.py` script of a given project::
+
+    $ python setup.py --name
+    distribute
+
+This call reads the ``name`` metadata by running the
+:func:`distutils.core.setup`  function. Although, when a source or binary
+distribution is created with Distutils, the metadata fields are written
+in a static file called :file:`PKG-INFO`. When a Distutils-based project is
+installed in Python, the :file:`PKG-INFO` file is copied alongside the modules
+and packages of the distribution under :file:`NAME-VERSION-pyX.X.egg-info`,
+where ``NAME`` is the name of the project, ``VERSION`` its version as defined
+in the Metadata, and ``pyX.X`` the major and minor version of Python like
+``2.7`` or ``3.2``.
+
+You can read back this static file, by using the
+:class:`distutils.dist.DistributionMetadata` class and its
+:func:`read_pkg_file` method::
+
+    >>> from distutils.dist import DistributionMetadata
+    >>> metadata = DistributionMetadata()
+    >>> metadata.read_pkg_file(open('distribute-0.6.8-py2.7.egg-info'))
+    >>> metadata.name
+    'distribute'
+    >>> metadata.version
+    '0.6.8'
+    >>> metadata.description
+    'Easily download, build, install, upgrade, and uninstall Python packages'
+
+Notice that the class can also be instanciated with a metadata file path to
+loads its values::
+
+    >>> pkg_info_path = 'distribute-0.6.8-py2.7.egg-info'
+    >>> DistributionMetadata(pkg_info_path).name
+    'distribute'
+
+
+.. % \section{Multiple extension modules}
+.. % \label{multiple-ext}
+
+.. % \section{Putting it all together}
+
+
diff --git a/docs/source/extending.rst b/docs/source/extending.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/extending.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+.. _extending-distutils:
+
+*******************
+Extending Distutils
+*******************
+
+Distutils can be extended in various ways.  Most extensions take the form of new
+commands or replacements for existing commands.  New commands may be written to
+support new types of platform-specific packaging, for example, while
+replacements for existing commands may be made to modify details of how the
+command operates on a package.
+
+Most extensions of the distutils are made within :file:`setup.py` scripts that
+want to modify existing commands; many simply add a few file extensions that
+should be copied into packages in addition to :file:`.py` files as a
+convenience.
+
+Most distutils command implementations are subclasses of the :class:`Command`
+class from :mod:`distutils.cmd`.  New commands may directly inherit from
+:class:`Command`, while replacements often derive from :class:`Command`
+indirectly, directly subclassing the command they are replacing.  Commands are
+required to derive from :class:`Command`.
+
+.. % \section{Extending existing commands}
+.. % \label{extend-existing}
+
+.. % \section{Writing new commands}
+.. % \label{new-commands}
+.. % \XXX{Would an uninstall command be a good example here?}
+
+
+Integrating new commands
+========================
+
+There are different ways to integrate new command implementations into
+distutils.  The most difficult is to lobby for the inclusion of the new features
+in distutils itself, and wait for (and require) a version of Python that
+provides that support.  This is really hard for many reasons.
+
+The most common, and possibly the most reasonable for most needs, is to include
+the new implementations with your :file:`setup.py` script, and cause the
+:func:`distutils.core.setup` function use them::
+
+   from distutils.command.build_py import build_py as _build_py
+   from distutils.core import setup
+
+   class build_py(_build_py):
+       """Specialized Python source builder."""
+
+       # implement whatever needs to be different...
+
+   setup(cmdclass={'build_py': build_py},
+         ...)
+
+This approach is most valuable if the new implementations must be used to use a
+particular package, as everyone interested in the package will need to have the
+new command implementation.
+
+Beginning with Python 2.4, a third option is available, intended to allow new
+commands to be added which can support existing :file:`setup.py` scripts without
+requiring modifications to the Python installation.  This is expected to allow
+third-party extensions to provide support for additional packaging systems, but
+the commands can be used for anything distutils commands can be used for.  A new
+configuration option, :option:`command_packages` (command-line option
+:option:`--command-packages`), can be used to specify additional packages to be
+searched for modules implementing commands.  Like all distutils options, this
+can be specified on the command line or in a configuration file.  This option
+can only be set in the ``[global]`` section of a configuration file, or before
+any commands on the command line.  If set in a configuration file, it can be
+overridden from the command line; setting it to an empty string on the command
+line causes the default to be used.  This should never be set in a configuration
+file provided with a package.
+
+This new option can be used to add any number of packages to the list of
+packages searched for command implementations; multiple package names should be
+separated by commas.  When not specified, the search is only performed in the
+:mod:`distutils.command` package.  When :file:`setup.py` is run with the option
+:option:`--command-packages` :option:`distcmds,buildcmds`, however, the packages
+:mod:`distutils.command`, :mod:`distcmds`, and :mod:`buildcmds` will be searched
+in that order.  New commands are expected to be implemented in modules of the
+same name as the command by classes sharing the same name.  Given the example
+command line option above, the command :command:`bdist_openpkg` could be
+implemented by the class :class:`distcmds.bdist_openpkg.bdist_openpkg` or
+:class:`buildcmds.bdist_openpkg.bdist_openpkg`.
+
+
+Adding new distribution types
+=============================
+
+Commands that create distributions (files in the :file:`dist/` directory) need
+to add ``(command, filename)`` pairs to ``self.distribution.dist_files`` so that
+:command:`upload` can upload it to PyPI.  The *filename* in the pair contains no
+path information, only the name of the file itself.  In dry-run mode, pairs
+should still be added to represent what would have been created.
+
+
diff --git a/docs/source/index.rst b/docs/source/index.rst
--- a/docs/source/index.rst
+++ b/docs/source/index.rst
@@ -11,8 +11,21 @@
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 2
 
-   metadata
-   devresources
+   :numbered:
+
+   introduction.rst
+   setupscript.rst
+   configfile.rst
+   sourcedist.rst
+   builtdist.rst
+   packageindex.rst
+   uploading.rst
+   examples.rst
+   extending.rst
+   commandref.rst
+   metadata.rst
+   devresources.rst
+   apiref.rst
 
 Indices and tables
 ==================
diff --git a/docs/source/introduction.rst b/docs/source/introduction.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/introduction.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+.. _distutils-intro:
+
+****************************
+An Introduction to Distutils
+****************************
+
+This document covers using the Distutils to distribute your Python modules,
+concentrating on the role of developer/distributor: if you're looking for
+information on installing Python modules, you should refer to the
+:ref:`install-index` chapter.
+
+
+.. _distutils-concepts:
+
+Concepts & Terminology
+======================
+
+Using the Distutils is quite simple, both for module developers and for
+users/administrators installing third-party modules.  As a developer, your
+responsibilities (apart from writing solid, well-documented and well-tested
+code, of course!) are:
+
+* write a setup script (:file:`setup.py` by convention)
+
+* (optional) write a setup configuration file
+
+* create a source distribution
+
+* (optional) create one or more built (binary) distributions
+
+Each of these tasks is covered in this document.
+
+Not all module developers have access to a multitude of platforms, so it's not
+always feasible to expect them to create a multitude of built distributions.  It
+is hoped that a class of intermediaries, called *packagers*, will arise to
+address this need.  Packagers will take source distributions released by module
+developers, build them on one or more platforms, and release the resulting built
+distributions.  Thus, users on the most popular platforms will be able to
+install most popular Python module distributions in the most natural way for
+their platform, without having to run a single setup script or compile a line of
+code.
+
+
+.. _distutils-simple-example:
+
+A Simple Example
+================
+
+The setup script is usually quite simple, although since it's written in Python,
+there are no arbitrary limits to what you can do with it, though you should be
+careful about putting arbitrarily expensive operations in your setup script.
+Unlike, say, Autoconf-style configure scripts, the setup script may be run
+multiple times in the course of building and installing your module
+distribution.
+
+If all you want to do is distribute a module called :mod:`foo`, contained in a
+file :file:`foo.py`, then your setup script can be as simple as this::
+
+   from distutils.core import setup
+   setup(name='foo',
+         version='1.0',
+         py_modules=['foo'],
+         )
+
+Some observations:
+
+* most information that you supply to the Distutils is supplied as keyword
+  arguments to the :func:`setup` function
+
+* those keyword arguments fall into two categories: package metadata (name,
+  version number) and information about what's in the package (a list of pure
+  Python modules, in this case)
+
+* modules are specified by module name, not filename (the same will hold true
+  for packages and extensions)
+
+* it's recommended that you supply a little more metadata, in particular your
+  name, email address and a URL for the project (see section :ref:`setup-script`
+  for an example)
+
+To create a source distribution for this module, you would create a setup
+script, :file:`setup.py`, containing the above code, and run::
+
+   python setup.py sdist
+
+which will create an archive file (e.g., tarball on Unix, ZIP file on Windows)
+containing your setup script :file:`setup.py`, and your module :file:`foo.py`.
+The archive file will be named :file:`foo-1.0.tar.gz` (or :file:`.zip`), and
+will unpack into a directory :file:`foo-1.0`.
+
+If an end-user wishes to install your :mod:`foo` module, all she has to do is
+download :file:`foo-1.0.tar.gz` (or :file:`.zip`), unpack it, and---from the
+:file:`foo-1.0` directory---run ::
+
+   python setup.py install
+
+which will ultimately copy :file:`foo.py` to the appropriate directory for
+third-party modules in their Python installation.
+
+This simple example demonstrates some fundamental concepts of the Distutils.
+First, both developers and installers have the same basic user interface, i.e.
+the setup script.  The difference is which Distutils *commands* they use: the
+:command:`sdist` command is almost exclusively for module developers, while
+:command:`install` is more often for installers (although most developers will
+want to install their own code occasionally).
+
+If you want to make things really easy for your users, you can create one or
+more built distributions for them.  For instance, if you are running on a
+Windows machine, and want to make things easy for other Windows users, you can
+create an executable installer (the most appropriate type of built distribution
+for this platform) with the :command:`bdist_wininst` command.  For example::
+
+   python setup.py bdist_wininst
+
+will create an executable installer, :file:`foo-1.0.win32.exe`, in the current
+directory.
+
+Other useful built distribution formats are RPM, implemented by the
+:command:`bdist_rpm` command, Solaris :program:`pkgtool`
+(:command:`bdist_pkgtool`), and HP-UX :program:`swinstall`
+(:command:`bdist_sdux`).  For example, the following command will create an RPM
+file called :file:`foo-1.0.noarch.rpm`::
+
+   python setup.py bdist_rpm
+
+(The :command:`bdist_rpm` command uses the :command:`rpm` executable, therefore
+this has to be run on an RPM-based system such as Red Hat Linux, SuSE Linux, or
+Mandrake Linux.)
+
+You can find out what distribution formats are available at any time by running
+::
+
+   python setup.py bdist --help-formats
+
+
+.. _python-terms:
+
+General Python terminology
+==========================
+
+If you're reading this document, you probably have a good idea of what modules,
+extensions, and so forth are.  Nevertheless, just to be sure that everyone is
+operating from a common starting point, we offer the following glossary of
+common Python terms:
+
+module
+   the basic unit of code reusability in Python: a block of code imported by some
+   other code.  Three types of modules concern us here: pure Python modules,
+   extension modules, and packages.
+
+pure Python module
+   a module written in Python and contained in a single :file:`.py` file (and
+   possibly associated :file:`.pyc` and/or :file:`.pyo` files).  Sometimes referred
+   to as a "pure module."
+
+extension module
+   a module written in the low-level language of the Python implementation: C/C++
+   for Python, Java for Jython. Typically contained in a single dynamically
+   loadable pre-compiled file, e.g. a shared object (:file:`.so`) file for Python
+   extensions on Unix, a DLL (given the :file:`.pyd` extension) for Python
+   extensions on Windows, or a Java class file for Jython extensions.  (Note that
+   currently, the Distutils only handles C/C++ extensions for Python.)
+
+package
+   a module that contains other modules; typically contained in a directory in the
+   filesystem and distinguished from other directories by the presence of a file
+   :file:`__init__.py`.
+
+root package
+   the root of the hierarchy of packages.  (This isn't really a package, since it
+   doesn't have an :file:`__init__.py` file.  But we have to call it something.)
+   The vast majority of the standard library is in the root package, as are many
+   small, standalone third-party modules that don't belong to a larger module
+   collection. Unlike regular packages, modules in the root package can be found in
+   many directories: in fact, every directory listed in ``sys.path`` contributes
+   modules to the root package.
+
+
+.. _distutils-term:
+
+Distutils-specific terminology
+==============================
+
+The following terms apply more specifically to the domain of distributing Python
+modules using the Distutils:
+
+module distribution
+   a collection of Python modules distributed together as a single downloadable
+   resource and meant to be installed *en masse*.  Examples of some well-known
+   module distributions are Numeric Python, PyXML, PIL (the Python Imaging
+   Library), or mxBase.  (This would be called a *package*, except that term is
+   already taken in the Python context: a single module distribution may contain
+   zero, one, or many Python packages.)
+
+pure module distribution
+   a module distribution that contains only pure Python modules and packages.
+   Sometimes referred to as a "pure distribution."
+
+non-pure module distribution
+   a module distribution that contains at least one extension module.  Sometimes
+   referred to as a "non-pure distribution."
+
+distribution root
+   the top-level directory of your source tree (or  source distribution); the
+   directory where :file:`setup.py` exists.  Generally  :file:`setup.py` will be
+   run from this directory.
+
+
diff --git a/docs/source/packageindex.rst b/docs/source/packageindex.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/packageindex.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+.. _package-index:
+
+**********************************
+Registering with the Package Index
+**********************************
+
+The Python Package Index (PyPI) holds meta-data describing distributions
+packaged with distutils. The distutils command :command:`register` is used to
+submit your distribution's meta-data to the index. It is invoked as follows::
+
+    python setup.py register
+
+Distutils will respond with the following prompt::
+
+    running register
+    We need to know who you are, so please choose either:
+        1. use your existing login,
+        2. register as a new user,
+        3. have the server generate a new password for you (and email it to you), or
+        4. quit
+    Your selection [default 1]:
+
+Note: if your username and password are saved locally, you will not see this
+menu.
+
+If you have not registered with PyPI, then you will need to do so now. You
+should choose option 2, and enter your details as required. Soon after
+submitting your details, you will receive an email which will be used to confirm
+your registration.
+
+Once you are registered, you may choose option 1 from the menu. You will be
+prompted for your PyPI username and password, and :command:`register` will then
+submit your meta-data to the index.
+
+You may submit any number of versions of your distribution to the index. If you
+alter the meta-data for a particular version, you may submit it again and the
+index will be updated.
+
+PyPI holds a record for each (name, version) combination submitted. The first
+user to submit information for a given name is designated the Owner of that
+name. They may submit changes through the :command:`register` command or through
+the web interface. They may also designate other users as Owners or Maintainers.
+Maintainers may edit the package information, but not designate other Owners or
+Maintainers.
+
+By default PyPI will list all versions of a given package. To hide certain
+versions, the Hidden property should be set to yes. This must be edited through
+the web interface.
+
+
+.. _pypirc:
+
+The .pypirc file
+================
+
+The format of the :file:`.pypirc` file is as follows::
+
+    [distutils]
+    index-servers =
+        pypi
+
+    [pypi]
+    repository: <repository-url>
+    username: <username>
+    password: <password>
+
+The *distutils* section defines a *index-servers* variable that lists the
+name of all sections describing a repository.
+
+Each section describing a repository defines three variables:
+
+- *repository*, that defines the url of the PyPI server. Defaults to
+    ``http://www.python.org/pypi``.
+- *username*, which is the registered username on the PyPI server.
+- *password*, that will be used to authenticate. If omitted the user
+    will be prompt to type it when needed.
+
+If you want to define another server a new section can be created and
+listed in the *index-servers* variable::
+
+    [distutils]
+    index-servers =
+        pypi
+        other
+
+    [pypi]
+    repository: <repository-url>
+    username: <username>
+    password: <password>
+
+    [other]
+    repository: http://example.com/pypi
+    username: <username>
+    password: <password>
+
+:command:`register` can then be called with the -r option to point the
+repository to work with::
+
+    python setup.py register -r http://example.com/pypi
+
+For convenience, the name of the section that describes the repository
+may also be used::
+
+    python setup.py register -r other
diff --git a/docs/source/setupscript.rst b/docs/source/setupscript.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/setupscript.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,705 @@
+.. _setup-script:
+
+************************
+Writing the Setup Script
+************************
+
+The setup script is the centre of all activity in building, distributing, and
+installing modules using the Distutils.  The main purpose of the setup script is
+to describe your module distribution to the Distutils, so that the various
+commands that operate on your modules do the right thing.  As we saw in section
+:ref:`distutils-simple-example` above, the setup script consists mainly of a call to
+:func:`setup`, and most information supplied to the Distutils by the module
+developer is supplied as keyword arguments to :func:`setup`.
+
+Here's a slightly more involved example, which we'll follow for the next couple
+of sections: the Distutils' own setup script.  (Keep in mind that although the
+Distutils are included with Python 1.6 and later, they also have an independent
+existence so that Python 1.5.2 users can use them to install other module
+distributions.  The Distutils' own setup script, shown here, is used to install
+the package into Python 1.5.2.) ::
+
+    #!/usr/bin/env python
+
+    from distutils.core import setup
+
+    setup(name='Distutils',
+          version='1.0',
+          description='Python Distribution Utilities',
+          author='Greg Ward',
+          author_email='gward at python.net',
+          url='http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/',
+          packages=['distutils', 'distutils.command'],
+         )
+
+There are only two differences between this and the trivial one-file
+distribution presented in section :ref:`distutils-simple-example`: more metadata, and the
+specification of pure Python modules by package, rather than by module.  This is
+important since the Distutils consist of a couple of dozen modules split into
+(so far) two packages; an explicit list of every module would be tedious to
+generate and difficult to maintain.  For more information on the additional
+meta-data, see section :ref:`meta-data`.
+
+Note that any pathnames (files or directories) supplied in the setup script
+should be written using the Unix convention, i.e. slash-separated.  The
+Distutils will take care of converting this platform-neutral representation into
+whatever is appropriate on your current platform before actually using the
+pathname.  This makes your setup script portable across operating systems, which
+of course is one of the major goals of the Distutils.  In this spirit, all
+pathnames in this document are slash-separated.
+
+This, of course, only applies to pathnames given to Distutils functions.  If
+you, for example, use standard Python functions such as :func:`glob.glob` or
+:func:`os.listdir` to specify files, you should be careful to write portable
+code instead of hardcoding path separators::
+
+    glob.glob(os.path.join('mydir', 'subdir', '*.html'))
+    os.listdir(os.path.join('mydir', 'subdir'))
+
+
+.. _listing-packages:
+
+Listing whole packages
+======================
+
+The :option:`packages` option tells the Distutils to process (build, distribute,
+install, etc.) all pure Python modules found in each package mentioned in the
+:option:`packages` list.  In order to do this, of course, there has to be a
+correspondence between package names and directories in the filesystem.  The
+default correspondence is the most obvious one, i.e. package :mod:`distutils` is
+found in the directory :file:`distutils` relative to the distribution root.
+Thus, when you say ``packages = ['foo']`` in your setup script, you are
+promising that the Distutils will find a file :file:`foo/__init__.py` (which
+might be spelled differently on your system, but you get the idea) relative to
+the directory where your setup script lives.  If you break this promise, the
+Distutils will issue a warning but still process the broken package anyways.
+
+If you use a different convention to lay out your source directory, that's no
+problem: you just have to supply the :option:`package_dir` option to tell the
+Distutils about your convention.  For example, say you keep all Python source
+under :file:`lib`, so that modules in the "root package" (i.e., not in any
+package at all) are in :file:`lib`, modules in the :mod:`foo` package are in
+:file:`lib/foo`, and so forth.  Then you would put ::
+
+    package_dir = {'': 'lib'}
+
+in your setup script.  The keys to this dictionary are package names, and an
+empty package name stands for the root package.  The values are directory names
+relative to your distribution root.  In this case, when you say ``packages =
+['foo']``, you are promising that the file :file:`lib/foo/__init__.py` exists.
+
+Another possible convention is to put the :mod:`foo` package right in
+:file:`lib`, the :mod:`foo.bar` package in :file:`lib/bar`, etc.  This would be
+written in the setup script as ::
+
+    package_dir = {'foo': 'lib'}
+
+A ``package: dir`` entry in the :option:`package_dir` dictionary implicitly
+applies to all packages below *package*, so the :mod:`foo.bar` case is
+automatically handled here.  In this example, having ``packages = ['foo',
+'foo.bar']`` tells the Distutils to look for :file:`lib/__init__.py` and
+:file:`lib/bar/__init__.py`.  (Keep in mind that although :option:`package_dir`
+applies recursively, you must explicitly list all packages in
+:option:`packages`: the Distutils will *not* recursively scan your source tree
+looking for any directory with an :file:`__init__.py` file.)
+
+
+.. _listing-modules:
+
+Listing individual modules
+==========================
+
+For a small module distribution, you might prefer to list all modules rather
+than listing packages---especially the case of a single module that goes in the
+"root package" (i.e., no package at all).  This simplest case was shown in
+section :ref:`distutils-simple-example`; here is a slightly more involved example::
+
+    py_modules = ['mod1', 'pkg.mod2']
+
+This describes two modules, one of them in the "root" package, the other in the
+:mod:`pkg` package.  Again, the default package/directory layout implies that
+these two modules can be found in :file:`mod1.py` and :file:`pkg/mod2.py`, and
+that :file:`pkg/__init__.py` exists as well. And again, you can override the
+package/directory correspondence using the :option:`package_dir` option.
+
+
+.. _describing-extensions:
+
+Describing extension modules
+============================
+
+Just as writing Python extension modules is a bit more complicated than writing
+pure Python modules, describing them to the Distutils is a bit more complicated.
+Unlike pure modules, it's not enough just to list modules or packages and expect
+the Distutils to go out and find the right files; you have to specify the
+extension name, source file(s), and any compile/link requirements (include
+directories, libraries to link with, etc.).
+
+.. XXX read over this section
+
+All of this is done through another keyword argument to :func:`setup`, the
+:option:`ext_modules` option.  :option:`ext_modules` is just a list of
+:class:`Extension` instances, each of which describes a single extension module.
+Suppose your distribution includes a single extension, called :mod:`foo` and
+implemented by :file:`foo.c`.  If no additional instructions to the
+compiler/linker are needed, describing this extension is quite simple::
+
+    Extension('foo', ['foo.c'])
+
+The :class:`Extension` class can be imported from :mod:`distutils.core` along
+with :func:`setup`.  Thus, the setup script for a module distribution that
+contains only this one extension and nothing else might be::
+
+    from distutils.core import setup, Extension
+    setup(name='foo',
+          version='1.0',
+          ext_modules=[Extension('foo', ['foo.c'])],
+          )
+
+The :class:`Extension` class (actually, the underlying extension-building
+machinery implemented by the :command:`build_ext` command) supports a great deal
+of flexibility in describing Python extensions, which is explained in the
+following sections.
+
+
+Extension names and packages
+----------------------------
+
+The first argument to the :class:`Extension` constructor is always the name of
+the extension, including any package names.  For example, ::
+
+    Extension('foo', ['src/foo1.c', 'src/foo2.c'])
+
+describes an extension that lives in the root package, while ::
+
+    Extension('pkg.foo', ['src/foo1.c', 'src/foo2.c'])
+
+describes the same extension in the :mod:`pkg` package.  The source files and
+resulting object code are identical in both cases; the only difference is where
+in the filesystem (and therefore where in Python's namespace hierarchy) the
+resulting extension lives.
+
+If you have a number of extensions all in the same package (or all under the
+same base package), use the :option:`ext_package` keyword argument to
+:func:`setup`.  For example, ::
+
+    setup(...,
+          ext_package='pkg',
+          ext_modules=[Extension('foo', ['foo.c']),
+                       Extension('subpkg.bar', ['bar.c'])],
+         )
+
+will compile :file:`foo.c` to the extension :mod:`pkg.foo`, and :file:`bar.c` to
+:mod:`pkg.subpkg.bar`.
+
+
+Extension source files
+----------------------
+
+The second argument to the :class:`Extension` constructor is a list of source
+files.  Since the Distutils currently only support C, C++, and Objective-C
+extensions, these are normally C/C++/Objective-C source files.  (Be sure to use
+appropriate extensions to distinguish C++\ source files: :file:`.cc` and
+:file:`.cpp` seem to be recognized by both Unix and Windows compilers.)
+
+However, you can also include SWIG interface (:file:`.i`) files in the list; the
+:command:`build_ext` command knows how to deal with SWIG extensions: it will run
+SWIG on the interface file and compile the resulting C/C++ file into your
+extension.
+
+**\*\*** SWIG support is rough around the edges and largely untested! **\*\***
+
+This warning notwithstanding, options to SWIG can be currently passed like
+this::
+
+    setup(...,
+          ext_modules=[Extension('_foo', ['foo.i'],
+                                 swig_opts=['-modern', '-I../include'])],
+          py_modules=['foo'],
+         )
+
+Or on the commandline like this::
+
+    > python setup.py build_ext --swig-opts="-modern -I../include"
+
+On some platforms, you can include non-source files that are processed by the
+compiler and included in your extension.  Currently, this just means Windows
+message text (:file:`.mc`) files and resource definition (:file:`.rc`) files for
+Visual C++. These will be compiled to binary resource (:file:`.res`) files and
+linked into the executable.
+
+
+Preprocessor options
+--------------------
+
+Three optional arguments to :class:`Extension` will help if you need to specify
+include directories to search or preprocessor macros to define/undefine:
+``include_dirs``, ``define_macros``, and ``undef_macros``.
+
+For example, if your extension requires header files in the :file:`include`
+directory under your distribution root, use the ``include_dirs`` option::
+
+    Extension('foo', ['foo.c'], include_dirs=['include'])
+
+You can specify absolute directories there; if you know that your extension will
+only be built on Unix systems with X11R6 installed to :file:`/usr`, you can get
+away with ::
+
+    Extension('foo', ['foo.c'], include_dirs=['/usr/include/X11'])
+
+You should avoid this sort of non-portable usage if you plan to distribute your
+code: it's probably better to write C code like  ::
+
+    #include <X11/Xlib.h>
+
+If you need to include header files from some other Python extension, you can
+take advantage of the fact that header files are installed in a consistent way
+by the Distutils :command:`install_header` command.  For example, the Numerical
+Python header files are installed (on a standard Unix installation) to
+:file:`/usr/local/include/python1.5/Numerical`. (The exact location will differ
+according to your platform and Python installation.)  Since the Python include
+directory---\ :file:`/usr/local/include/python1.5` in this case---is always
+included in the search path when building Python extensions, the best approach
+is to write C code like  ::
+
+    #include <Numerical/arrayobject.h>
+
+If you must put the :file:`Numerical` include directory right into your header
+search path, though, you can find that directory using the Distutils
+:mod:`distutils.sysconfig` module::
+
+    from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_inc
+    incdir = os.path.join(get_python_inc(plat_specific=1), 'Numerical')
+    setup(...,
+          Extension(..., include_dirs=[incdir]),
+          )
+
+Even though this is quite portable---it will work on any Python installation,
+regardless of platform---it's probably easier to just write your C code in the
+sensible way.
+
+You can define and undefine pre-processor macros with the ``define_macros`` and
+``undef_macros`` options. ``define_macros`` takes a list of ``(name, value)``
+tuples, where ``name`` is the name of the macro to define (a string) and
+``value`` is its value: either a string or ``None``.  (Defining a macro ``FOO``
+to ``None`` is the equivalent of a bare ``#define FOO`` in your C source: with
+most compilers, this sets ``FOO`` to the string ``1``.)  ``undef_macros`` is
+just a list of macros to undefine.
+
+For example::
+
+    Extension(...,
+              define_macros=[('NDEBUG', '1'),
+                             ('HAVE_STRFTIME', None)],
+              undef_macros=['HAVE_FOO', 'HAVE_BAR'])
+
+is the equivalent of having this at the top of every C source file::
+
+    #define NDEBUG 1
+    #define HAVE_STRFTIME
+    #undef HAVE_FOO
+    #undef HAVE_BAR
+
+
+Library options
+---------------
+
+You can also specify the libraries to link against when building your extension,
+and the directories to search for those libraries.  The ``libraries`` option is
+a list of libraries to link against, ``library_dirs`` is a list of directories
+to search for libraries at  link-time, and ``runtime_library_dirs`` is a list of
+directories to  search for shared (dynamically loaded) libraries at run-time.
+
+For example, if you need to link against libraries known to be in the standard
+library search path on target systems ::
+
+    Extension(...,
+              libraries=['gdbm', 'readline'])
+
+If you need to link with libraries in a non-standard location, you'll have to
+include the location in ``library_dirs``::
+
+    Extension(...,
+              library_dirs=['/usr/X11R6/lib'],
+              libraries=['X11', 'Xt'])
+
+(Again, this sort of non-portable construct should be avoided if you intend to
+distribute your code.)
+
+**\*\*** Should mention clib libraries here or somewhere else! **\*\***
+
+
+Other options
+-------------
+
+There are still some other options which can be used to handle special cases.
+
+The :option:`optional` option is a boolean; if it is true,
+a build failure in the extension will not abort the build process, but
+instead simply not install the failing extension.
+
+The :option:`extra_objects` option is a list of object files to be passed to the
+linker. These files must not have extensions, as the default extension for the
+compiler is used.
+
+:option:`extra_compile_args` and :option:`extra_link_args` can be used to
+specify additional command line options for the respective compiler and linker
+command lines.
+
+:option:`export_symbols` is only useful on Windows.  It can contain a list of
+symbols (functions or variables) to be exported. This option is not needed when
+building compiled extensions: Distutils  will automatically add ``initmodule``
+to the list of exported symbols.
+
+The :option:`depends` option is a list of files that the extension depends on
+(for example header files). The build command will call the compiler on the
+sources to rebuild extension if any on this files has been modified since the
+previous build.
+
+Relationships between Distributions and Packages
+================================================
+
+A distribution may relate to packages in three specific ways:
+
+#. It can require packages or modules.
+
+#. It can provide packages or modules.
+
+#. It can obsolete packages or modules.
+
+These relationships can be specified using keyword arguments to the
+:func:`distutils.core.setup` function.
+
+Dependencies on other Python modules and packages can be specified by supplying
+the *requires* keyword argument to :func:`setup`. The value must be a list of
+strings.  Each string specifies a package that is required, and optionally what
+versions are sufficient.
+
+To specify that any version of a module or package is required, the string
+should consist entirely of the module or package name. Examples include
+``'mymodule'`` and ``'xml.parsers.expat'``.
+
+If specific versions are required, a sequence of qualifiers can be supplied in
+parentheses.  Each qualifier may consist of a comparison operator and a version
+number.  The accepted comparison operators are::
+
+    <    >    ==
+    <=   >=   !=
+
+These can be combined by using multiple qualifiers separated by commas (and
+optional whitespace).  In this case, all of the qualifiers must be matched; a
+logical AND is used to combine the evaluations.
+
+Let's look at a bunch of examples:
+
++-------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| Requires Expression     | Explanation                                  |
++=========================+==============================================+
+| ``==1.0``               | Only version ``1.0`` is compatible           |
++-------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| ``>1.0, !=1.5.1, <2.0`` | Any version after ``1.0`` and before ``2.0`` |
+|                         | is compatible, except ``1.5.1``              |
++-------------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+
+Now that we can specify dependencies, we also need to be able to specify what we
+provide that other distributions can require.  This is done using the *provides*
+keyword argument to :func:`setup`. The value for this keyword is a list of
+strings, each of which names a Python module or package, and optionally
+identifies the version.  If the version is not specified, it is assumed to match
+that of the distribution.
+
+Some examples:
+
++---------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| Provides Expression | Explanation                                  |
++=====================+==============================================+
+| ``mypkg``           | Provide ``mypkg``, using the distribution    |
+|                     | version                                      |
++---------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+| ``mypkg (1.1)``     | Provide ``mypkg`` version 1.1, regardless of |
+|                     | the distribution version                     |
++---------------------+----------------------------------------------+
+
+A package can declare that it obsoletes other packages using the *obsoletes*
+keyword argument.  The value for this is similar to that of the *requires*
+keyword: a list of strings giving module or package specifiers.  Each specifier
+consists of a module or package name optionally followed by one or more version
+qualifiers.  Version qualifiers are given in parentheses after the module or
+package name.
+
+The versions identified by the qualifiers are those that are obsoleted by the
+distribution being described.  If no qualifiers are given, all versions of the
+named module or package are understood to be obsoleted.
+
+.. _distutils-installing-scripts:
+
+Installing Scripts
+==================
+
+So far we have been dealing with pure and non-pure Python modules, which are
+usually not run by themselves but imported by scripts.
+
+Scripts are files containing Python source code, intended to be started from the
+command line.  Scripts don't require Distutils to do anything very complicated.
+The only clever feature is that if the first line of the script starts with
+``#!`` and contains the word "python", the Distutils will adjust the first line
+to refer to the current interpreter location. By default, it is replaced with
+the current interpreter location.  The :option:`--executable` (or :option:`-e`)
+option will allow the interpreter path to be explicitly overridden.
+
+The :option:`scripts` option simply is a list of files to be handled in this
+way.  From the PyXML setup script::
+
+    setup(...,
+          scripts=['scripts/xmlproc_parse', 'scripts/xmlproc_val']
+          )
+
+.. versionchanged:: 2.7
+    All the scripts will also be added to the ``MANIFEST``
+    file if no template is provided. See :ref:`manifest`.
+
+.. _distutils-installing-package-data:
+
+Installing Package Data
+=======================
+
+Often, additional files need to be installed into a package.  These files are
+often data that's closely related to the package's implementation, or text files
+containing documentation that might be of interest to programmers using the
+package.  These files are called :dfn:`package data`.
+
+Package data can be added to packages using the ``package_data`` keyword
+argument to the :func:`setup` function.  The value must be a mapping from
+package name to a list of relative path names that should be copied into the
+package.  The paths are interpreted as relative to the directory containing the
+package (information from the ``package_dir`` mapping is used if appropriate);
+that is, the files are expected to be part of the package in the source
+directories. They may contain glob patterns as well.
+
+The path names may contain directory portions; any necessary directories will be
+created in the installation.
+
+For example, if a package should contain a subdirectory with several data files,
+the files can be arranged like this in the source tree::
+
+    setup.py
+    src/
+        mypkg/
+            __init__.py
+            module.py
+            data/
+                tables.dat
+                spoons.dat
+                forks.dat
+
+The corresponding call to :func:`setup` might be::
+
+    setup(...,
+          packages=['mypkg'],
+          package_dir={'mypkg': 'src/mypkg'},
+          package_data={'mypkg': ['data/*.dat']},
+          )
+
+.. versionadded:: 2.4
+
+.. versionchanged:: 2.7
+    All the files that match ``package_data`` will be added to the ``MANIFEST``
+    file if no template is provided. See :ref:`manifest`.
+
+
+.. _distutils-additional-files:
+
+Installing Additional Files
+===========================
+
+The :option:`data_files` option can be used to specify additional files needed
+by the module distribution: configuration files, message catalogs, data files,
+anything which doesn't fit in the previous categories.
+
+:option:`data_files` specifies a sequence of (*directory*, *files*) pairs in the
+following way::
+
+    setup(...,
+          data_files=[('bitmaps', ['bm/b1.gif', 'bm/b2.gif']),
+                      ('config', ['cfg/data.cfg']),
+                      ('/etc/init.d', ['init-script'])]
+         )
+
+Note that you can specify the directory names where the data files will be
+installed, but you cannot rename the data files themselves.
+
+Each (*directory*, *files*) pair in the sequence specifies the installation
+directory and the files to install there.  If *directory* is a relative path, it
+is interpreted relative to the installation prefix (Python's ``sys.prefix`` for
+pure-Python packages, ``sys.exec_prefix`` for packages that contain extension
+modules).  Each file name in *files* is interpreted relative to the
+:file:`setup.py` script at the top of the package source distribution.  No
+directory information from *files* is used to determine the final location of
+the installed file; only the name of the file is used.
+
+You can specify the :option:`data_files` options as a simple sequence of files
+without specifying a target directory, but this is not recommended, and the
+:command:`install` command will print a warning in this case. To install data
+files directly in the target directory, an empty string should be given as the
+directory.
+
+.. versionchanged:: 2.7
+    All the files that match ``data_files`` will be added to the ``MANIFEST``
+    file if no template is provided. See :ref:`manifest`.
+
+
+
+.. _meta-data:
+
+Additional meta-data
+====================
+
+The setup script may include additional meta-data beyond the name and version.
+This information includes:
+
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| Meta-Data            | Description               | Value           | Notes  |
++======================+===========================+=================+========+
+| ``name``             | name of the package       | short string    | \(1)   |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``version``          | version of this release   | short string    | (1)(2) |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``author``           | package author's name     | short string    | \(3)   |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``author_email``     | email address of the      | email address   | \(3)   |
+|                      | package author            |                 |        |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``maintainer``       | package maintainer's name | short string    | \(3)   |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``maintainer_email`` | email address of the      | email address   | \(3)   |
+|                      | package maintainer        |                 |        |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``url``              | home page for the package | URL             | \(1)   |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``description``      | short, summary            | short string    |        |
+|                      | description of the        |                 |        |
+|                      | package                   |                 |        |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``long_description`` | longer description of the | long string     | \(5)   |
+|                      | package                   |                 |        |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``download_url``     | location where the        | URL             | \(4)   |
+|                      | package may be downloaded |                 |        |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``classifiers``      | a list of classifiers     | list of strings | \(4)   |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``platforms``        | a list of platforms       | list of strings |        |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+| ``license``          | license for the package   | short string    | \(6)   |
++----------------------+---------------------------+-----------------+--------+
+
+Notes:
+
+(1)
+    These fields are required.
+
+(2)
+    It is recommended that versions take the form *major.minor[.patch[.sub]]*.
+
+(3)
+    Either the author or the maintainer must be identified.
+
+(4)
+    These fields should not be used if your package is to be compatible with Python
+    versions prior to 2.2.3 or 2.3.  The list is available from the `PyPI website
+    <http://pypi.python.org/pypi>`_.
+
+(5)
+    The ``long_description`` field is used by PyPI when you are registering a
+    package, to build its home page.
+
+(6)
+    The ``license`` field is a text indicating the license covering the
+    package where the license is not a selection from the "License" Trove
+    classifiers. See the ``Classifier`` field. Notice that
+    there's a ``licence`` distribution option which is deprecated but still
+    acts as an alias for ``license``.
+
+'short string'
+    A single line of text, not more than 200 characters.
+
+'long string'
+    Multiple lines of plain text in reStructuredText format (see
+    http://docutils.sf.net/).
+
+'list of strings'
+    See below.
+
+None of the string values may be Unicode.
+
+Encoding the version information is an art in itself. Python packages generally
+adhere to the version format *major.minor[.patch][sub]*. The major number is 0
+for initial, experimental releases of software. It is incremented for releases
+that represent major milestones in a package. The minor number is incremented
+when important new features are added to the package. The patch number
+increments when bug-fix releases are made. Additional trailing version
+information is sometimes used to indicate sub-releases.  These are
+"a1,a2,...,aN" (for alpha releases, where functionality and API may change),
+"b1,b2,...,bN" (for beta releases, which only fix bugs) and "pr1,pr2,...,prN"
+(for final pre-release release testing). Some examples:
+
+0.1.0
+    the first, experimental release of a package
+
+1.0.1a2
+    the second alpha release of the first patch version of 1.0
+
+:option:`classifiers` are specified in a Python list::
+
+    setup(...,
+          classifiers=[
+              'Development Status :: 4 - Beta',
+              'Environment :: Console',
+              'Environment :: Web Environment',
+              'Intended Audience :: End Users/Desktop',
+              'Intended Audience :: Developers',
+              'Intended Audience :: System Administrators',
+              'License :: OSI Approved :: Python Software Foundation License',
+              'Operating System :: MacOS :: MacOS X',
+              'Operating System :: Microsoft :: Windows',
+              'Operating System :: POSIX',
+              'Programming Language :: Python',
+              'Topic :: Communications :: Email',
+              'Topic :: Office/Business',
+              'Topic :: Software Development :: Bug Tracking',
+              ],
+          )
+
+If you wish to include classifiers in your :file:`setup.py` file and also wish
+to remain backwards-compatible with Python releases prior to 2.2.3, then you can
+include the following code fragment in your :file:`setup.py` before the
+:func:`setup` call. ::
+
+    # patch distutils if it can't cope with the "classifiers" or
+    # "download_url" keywords
+    from sys import version
+    if version < '2.2.3':
+        from distutils.dist import DistributionMetadata
+        DistributionMetadata.classifiers = None
+        DistributionMetadata.download_url = None
+
+
+Debugging the setup script
+==========================
+
+Sometimes things go wrong, and the setup script doesn't do what the developer
+wants.
+
+Distutils catches any exceptions when running the setup script, and print a
+simple error message before the script is terminated.  The motivation for this
+behaviour is to not confuse administrators who don't know much about Python and
+are trying to install a package.  If they get a big long traceback from deep
+inside the guts of Distutils, they may think the package or the Python
+installation is broken because they don't read all the way down to the bottom
+and see that it's a permission problem.
+
+On the other hand, this doesn't help the developer to find the cause of the
+failure. For this purpose, the DISTUTILS_DEBUG environment variable can be set
+to anything except an empty string, and distutils will now print detailed
+information what it is doing, and prints the full traceback in case an exception
+occurs.
diff --git a/docs/source/sourcedist.rst b/docs/source/sourcedist.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/sourcedist.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,278 @@
+.. _source-dist:
+
+******************************
+Creating a Source Distribution
+******************************
+
+As shown in section :ref:`distutils-simple-example`, you use the :command:`sdist` command
+to create a source distribution.  In the simplest case, ::
+
+   python setup.py sdist
+
+(assuming you haven't specified any :command:`sdist` options in the setup script
+or config file), :command:`sdist` creates the archive of the default format for
+the current platform.  The default format is a gzip'ed tar file
+(:file:`.tar.gz`) on Unix, and ZIP file on Windows.
+
+You can specify as many formats as you like using the :option:`--formats`
+option, for example::
+
+   python setup.py sdist --formats=gztar,zip
+
+to create a gzipped tarball and a zip file.  The available formats are:
+
++-----------+-------------------------+---------+
+| Format    | Description             | Notes   |
++===========+=========================+=========+
+| ``zip``   | zip file (:file:`.zip`) | (1),(3) |
++-----------+-------------------------+---------+
+| ``gztar`` | gzip'ed tar file        | \(2)    |
+|           | (:file:`.tar.gz`)       |         |
++-----------+-------------------------+---------+
+| ``bztar`` | bzip2'ed tar file       |         |
+|           | (:file:`.tar.bz2`)      |         |
++-----------+-------------------------+---------+
+| ``ztar``  | compressed tar file     | \(4)    |
+|           | (:file:`.tar.Z`)        |         |
++-----------+-------------------------+---------+
+| ``tar``   | tar file (:file:`.tar`) |         |
++-----------+-------------------------+---------+
+
+Notes:
+
+(1)
+   default on Windows
+
+(2)
+   default on Unix
+
+(3)
+   requires either external :program:`zip` utility or :mod:`zipfile` module (part
+   of the standard Python library since Python 1.6)
+
+(4)
+   requires the :program:`compress` program. Notice that this format is now
+   pending for deprecation and will be removed in the future versions of Python.
+
+When using any ``tar`` format (``gztar``, ``bztar``, ``ztar`` or
+``tar``) under Unix, you can specify the ``owner`` and ``group`` names
+that will be set for each member of the archive.
+
+For example, if you want all files of the archive to be owned by root::
+
+    python setup.py sdist --owner=root --group=root
+
+
+.. _manifest:
+
+Specifying the files to distribute
+==================================
+
+If you don't supply an explicit list of files (or instructions on how to
+generate one), the :command:`sdist` command puts a minimal default set into the
+source distribution:
+
+* all Python source files implied by the :option:`py_modules` and
+  :option:`packages` options
+
+* all C source files mentioned in the :option:`ext_modules` or
+  :option:`libraries` options (
+
+  **\*\*** getting C library sources currently broken---no
+  :meth:`get_source_files` method in :file:`build_clib.py`! **\*\***)
+
+* scripts identified by the :option:`scripts` option
+  See :ref:`distutils-installing-scripts`.
+
+* anything that looks like a test script: :file:`test/test\*.py` (currently, the
+  Distutils don't do anything with test scripts except include them in source
+  distributions, but in the future there will be a standard for testing Python
+  module distributions)
+
+* :file:`README.txt` (or :file:`README`), :file:`setup.py` (or whatever  you
+  called your setup script), and :file:`setup.cfg`
+
+* all files that matches the ``package_data`` metadata.
+  See :ref:`distutils-installing-package-data`.
+
+* all files that matches the ``data_files`` metadata.
+  See :ref:`distutils-additional-files`.
+
+Sometimes this is enough, but usually you will want to specify additional files
+to distribute.  The typical way to do this is to write a *manifest template*,
+called :file:`MANIFEST.in` by default.  The manifest template is just a list of
+instructions for how to generate your manifest file, :file:`MANIFEST`, which is
+the exact list of files to include in your source distribution.  The
+:command:`sdist` command processes this template and generates a manifest based
+on its instructions and what it finds in the filesystem.
+
+If you prefer to roll your own manifest file, the format is simple: one filename
+per line, regular files (or symlinks to them) only.  If you do supply your own
+:file:`MANIFEST`, you must specify everything: the default set of files
+described above does not apply in this case.
+
+See :ref:`manifest_template` section for a syntax reference.
+
+.. _manifest-options:
+
+Manifest-related options
+========================
+
+The normal course of operations for the :command:`sdist` command is as follows:
+
+* if the manifest file, :file:`MANIFEST` doesn't exist, read :file:`MANIFEST.in`
+  and create the manifest
+
+* if neither :file:`MANIFEST` nor :file:`MANIFEST.in` exist, create a manifest
+  with just the default file set
+
+* if either :file:`MANIFEST.in` or the setup script (:file:`setup.py`) are more
+  recent than :file:`MANIFEST`, recreate :file:`MANIFEST` by reading
+  :file:`MANIFEST.in`
+
+* use the list of files now in :file:`MANIFEST` (either just generated or read
+  in) to create the source distribution archive(s)
+
+There are a couple of options that modify this behaviour.  First, use the
+:option:`--no-defaults` and :option:`--no-prune` to disable the standard
+"include" and "exclude" sets.
+
+Second, you might want to force the manifest to be regenerated---for example, if
+you have added or removed files or directories that match an existing pattern in
+the manifest template, you should regenerate the manifest::
+
+   python setup.py sdist --force-manifest
+
+Or, you might just want to (re)generate the manifest, but not create a source
+distribution::
+
+   python setup.py sdist --manifest-only
+
+:option:`--manifest-only` implies :option:`--force-manifest`. :option:`-o` is a
+shortcut for :option:`--manifest-only`, and :option:`-f` for
+:option:`--force-manifest`.
+
+.. _manifest_template:
+
+The MANIFEST.in template
+========================
+
+A :file:`MANIFEST.in` file can be added in a project to define the list of
+files to include in the distribution built by the :command:`sdist` command.
+
+When :command:`sdist` is run, it will look for the :file:`MANIFEST.in` file
+and interpret it to generate the :file:`MANIFEST` file that contains the
+list of files that will be included in the package.
+
+This mechanism can be used when the default list of files is not enough.
+(See :ref:`manifest`).
+
+Principle
+---------
+
+The manifest template has one command per line, where each command specifies a
+set of files to include or exclude from the source distribution.  For an
+example, let's look at the Distutils' own manifest template::
+
+   include *.txt
+   recursive-include examples *.txt *.py
+   prune examples/sample?/build
+
+The meanings should be fairly clear: include all files in the distribution root
+matching :file:`\*.txt`, all files anywhere under the :file:`examples` directory
+matching :file:`\*.txt` or :file:`\*.py`, and exclude all directories matching
+:file:`examples/sample?/build`.  All of this is done *after* the standard
+include set, so you can exclude files from the standard set with explicit
+instructions in the manifest template.  (Or, you can use the
+:option:`--no-defaults` option to disable the standard set entirely.)
+
+The order of commands in the manifest template matters: initially, we have the
+list of default files as described above, and each command in the template adds
+to or removes from that list of files.  Once we have fully processed the
+manifest template, we remove files that should not be included in the source
+distribution:
+
+* all files in the Distutils "build" tree (default :file:`build/`)
+
+* all files in directories named :file:`RCS`, :file:`CVS`, :file:`.svn`,
+  :file:`.hg`, :file:`.git`, :file:`.bzr` or :file:`_darcs`
+
+Now we have our complete list of files, which is written to the manifest for
+future reference, and then used to build the source distribution archive(s).
+
+You can disable the default set of included files with the
+:option:`--no-defaults` option, and you can disable the standard exclude set
+with :option:`--no-prune`.
+
+Following the Distutils' own manifest template, let's trace how the
+:command:`sdist` command builds the list of files to include in the Distutils
+source distribution:
+
+#. include all Python source files in the :file:`distutils` and
+   :file:`distutils/command` subdirectories (because packages corresponding to
+   those two directories were mentioned in the :option:`packages` option in the
+   setup script---see section :ref:`setup-script`)
+
+#. include :file:`README.txt`, :file:`setup.py`, and :file:`setup.cfg` (standard
+   files)
+
+#. include :file:`test/test\*.py` (standard files)
+
+#. include :file:`\*.txt` in the distribution root (this will find
+   :file:`README.txt` a second time, but such redundancies are weeded out later)
+
+#. include anything matching :file:`\*.txt` or :file:`\*.py` in the sub-tree
+   under :file:`examples`,
+
+#. exclude all files in the sub-trees starting at directories matching
+   :file:`examples/sample?/build`\ ---this may exclude files included by the
+   previous two steps, so it's important that the ``prune`` command in the manifest
+   template comes after the ``recursive-include`` command
+
+#. exclude the entire :file:`build` tree, and any :file:`RCS`, :file:`CVS`,
+   :file:`.svn`, :file:`.hg`, :file:`.git`, :file:`.bzr` and :file:`_darcs`
+   directories
+
+Just like in the setup script, file and directory names in the manifest template
+should always be slash-separated; the Distutils will take care of converting
+them to the standard representation on your platform. That way, the manifest
+template is portable across operating systems.
+
+Commands
+--------
+
+The manifest template commands are:
+
++-------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
+| Command                                   | Description                                   |
++===========================================+===============================================+
+| :command:`include pat1 pat2 ...`          | include all files matching any of the listed  |
+|                                           | patterns                                      |
++-------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
+| :command:`exclude pat1 pat2 ...`          | exclude all files matching any of the listed  |
+|                                           | patterns                                      |
++-------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
+| :command:`recursive-include dir pat1 pat2 | include all files under *dir* matching any of |
+| ...`                                      | the listed patterns                           |
++-------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
+| :command:`recursive-exclude dir pat1 pat2 | exclude all files under *dir* matching any of |
+| ...`                                      | the listed patterns                           |
++-------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
+| :command:`global-include pat1 pat2 ...`   | include all files anywhere in the source tree |
+|                                           | matching --- & any of the listed patterns     |
++-------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
+| :command:`global-exclude pat1 pat2 ...`   | exclude all files anywhere in the source tree |
+|                                           | matching --- & any of the listed patterns     |
++-------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
+| :command:`prune dir`                      | exclude all files under *dir*                 |
++-------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
+| :command:`graft dir`                      | include all files under *dir*                 |
++-------------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+
+
+The patterns here are Unix-style "glob" patterns: ``*`` matches any sequence of
+regular filename characters, ``?`` matches any single regular filename
+character, and ``[range]`` matches any of the characters in *range* (e.g.,
+``a-z``, ``a-zA-Z``, ``a-f0-9_.``).  The definition of "regular filename
+character" is platform-specific: on Unix it is anything except slash; on Windows
+anything except backslash or colon.
+
diff --git a/docs/source/uploading.rst b/docs/source/uploading.rst
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/source/uploading.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+.. _package-upload:
+
+***************************************
+Uploading Packages to the Package Index
+***************************************
+
+.. versionadded:: 2.5
+
+The Python Package Index (PyPI) not only stores the package info, but also  the
+package data if the author of the package wishes to. The distutils command
+:command:`upload` pushes the distribution files to PyPI.
+
+The command is invoked immediately after building one or more distribution
+files.  For example, the command ::
+
+    python setup.py sdist bdist_wininst upload
+
+will cause the source distribution and the Windows installer to be uploaded to
+PyPI.  Note that these will be uploaded even if they are built using an earlier
+invocation of :file:`setup.py`, but that only distributions named on the command
+line for the invocation including the :command:`upload` command are uploaded.
+
+The :command:`upload` command uses the username, password, and repository URL
+from the :file:`$HOME/.pypirc` file (see section :ref:`pypirc` for more on this
+file). If a :command:`register` command was previously called in the same command,
+and if the password was entered in the prompt, :command:`upload` will reuse the
+entered password. This is useful if you do not want to store a clear text
+password in the :file:`$HOME/.pypirc` file.
+
+You can specify another PyPI server with the :option:`--repository=*url*` option::
+
+    python setup.py sdist bdist_wininst upload -r http://example.com/pypi
+
+See section :ref:`pypirc` for more on defining several servers.
+
+You can use the :option:`--sign` option to tell :command:`upload` to sign each
+uploaded file using GPG (GNU Privacy Guard).  The  :program:`gpg` program must
+be available for execution on the system :envvar:`PATH`.  You can also specify
+which key to use for signing using the :option:`--identity=*name*` option.
+
+Other :command:`upload` options include :option:`--repository=<url>` or
+:option:`--repository=<section>` where *url* is the url of the server and
+*section* the name of the section in :file:`$HOME/.pypirc`, and
+:option:`--show-response` (which displays the full response text from the PyPI
+server for help in debugging upload problems).
+
+PyPI package display
+====================
+
+The ``long_description`` field plays a special role at PyPI. It is used by
+the server to display a home page for the registered package.
+
+If you use the `reStructuredText <http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html>`_
+syntax for this field, PyPI will parse it and display an HTML output for
+the package home page.
+
+The ``long_description`` field can be attached to a text file located
+in the package::
+
+    from distutils.core import setup
+
+    setup(name='Distutils',
+          long_description=open('README.txt'))
+
+In that case, :file:`README.txt` is a regular reStructuredText text file located
+in the root of the package besides :file:`setup.py`.
+
+To prevent registering broken reStructuredText content, you can use the
+:program:`rst2html` program that is provided by the :mod:`docutils` package
+and check the ``long_description`` from the command line::
+
+    $ python setup.py --long-description | rst2html.py > output.html
+
+:mod:`docutils` will display a warning if there's something wrong with your syntax.

--
Repository URL: http://hg.python.org/distutils2


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