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[Python-Dev] Best practice for documentation for std lib

Walter Dörwald walter at livinglogic.de
Tue Sep 24 12:21:45 CEST 2013 
On 23.09.13 17:18, Skip Montanaro wrote:

>>> It would be great if the docstring contained a link to the online
>>> documentation.
>>
>> That would have to be a feature of help(), not hardcoded in each docstring.
>
> That *is* a feature of the help function:
>
> Help on built-in module sys:
>
>>>> help(sys)
> NAME
>      sys
>
> FILE
>      (built-in)
>
> MODULE DOCS
>      http://docs.python.org/library/sys
> ...
>
> (pydoc too, though I'm 99.9% sure they use the same underlying
> facility Ping originally implemented.)

Hmm, but it doesn't work for functions:

 >>> import sys
 >>> help(sys.settracee)

Help on built-in function settrace in module sys:

settrace(...)
     settrace(function)

     Set the global debug tracing function.  It will be called on each
     function call.  See the debugger chapter in the library manual.

Servus,
    Walter
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