[Python-checkins] cpython (2.7): Closes #22525: clarify documentation for ast.literal_eval().

[georg.brandl]

https://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/3e8d3c4bc17e
changeset:   93401:3e8d3c4bc17e
branch:      2.7
parent:      93391:603bd221527c
user:        Georg Brandl <georg at python.org>
date:        Wed Nov 05 20:20:28 2014 +0100
summary:
  Closes #22525: clarify documentation for ast.literal_eval().

files:
  Doc/library/ast.rst |  12 +++++++-----
  1 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)


diff --git a/Doc/library/ast.rst b/Doc/library/ast.rst
--- a/Doc/library/ast.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/ast.rst
@@ -132,12 +132,14 @@
 .. function:: literal_eval(node_or_string)
 
    Safely evaluate an expression node or a Unicode or *Latin-1* encoded string
-   containing a Python expression.  The string or node provided may only consist
-   of the following Python literal structures: strings, numbers, tuples, lists,
-   dicts, booleans, and ``None``.
+   containing a Python literal or container display.  The string or node
+   provided may only consist of the following Python literal structures:
+   strings, numbers, tuples, lists, dicts, booleans, and ``None``.
 
-   This can be used for safely evaluating strings containing Python expressions
-   from untrusted sources without the need to parse the values oneself.
+   This can be used for safely evaluating strings containing Python values from
+   untrusted sources without the need to parse the values oneself.  It is not
+   capable of evaluating arbitrarily complex expressions, for example involving
+   operators or indexing.
 
 
 .. function:: get_docstring(node, clean=True)

-- 
Repository URL: https://hg.python.org/cpython