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:mod:`pyclbr` --- Python class browser support
==============================================
.. module:: pyclbr
:synopsis: Supports information extraction for a Python class browser.
.. sectionauthor:: Fred L. Drake, Jr. <fdrake@acm.org>
The :mod:`pyclbr` module can be used to determine some limited information
about the classes, methods and top-level functions defined in a module. The
information provided is sufficient to implement a traditional three-pane
class browser. The information is extracted from the source code rather
than by importing the module, so this module is safe to use with untrusted
code. This restriction makes it impossible to use this module with modules
not implemented in Python, including all standard and optional extension
modules.
.. function:: readmodule(module[, path=None])
Read a module and return a dictionary mapping class names to class
descriptor objects. The parameter *module* should be the name of a
module as a string; it may be the name of a module within a package. The
*path* parameter should be a sequence, and is used to augment the value
of ``sys.path``, which is used to locate module source code.
.. function:: readmodule_ex(module[, path=None])
Like :func:`readmodule`, but the returned dictionary, in addition to
mapping class names to class descriptor objects, also maps top-level
function names to function descriptor objects. Moreover, if the module
being read is a package, the key ``'__path__'`` in the returned
dictionary has as its value a list which contains the package search
path.
.. _pyclbr-class-objects:
Class Objects
-------------
The :class:`Class` objects used as values in the dictionary returned by
:func:`readmodule` and :func:`readmodule_ex` provide the following data
members:
.. attribute:: Class.module
The name of the module defining the class described by the class descriptor.
.. attribute:: Class.name
The name of the class.
.. attribute:: Class.super
A list of :class:`Class` objects which describe the immediate base
classes of the class being described. Classes which are named as
superclasses but which are not discoverable by :func:`readmodule` are
listed as a string with the class name instead of as :class:`Class`
objects.
.. attribute:: Class.methods
A dictionary mapping method names to line numbers.
.. attribute:: Class.file
Name of the file containing the ``class`` statement defining the class.
.. attribute:: Class.lineno
The line number of the ``class`` statement within the file named by
:attr:`~Class.file`.
.. _pyclbr-function-objects:
Function Objects
----------------
The :class:`Function` objects used as values in the dictionary returned by
:func:`readmodule_ex` provide the following data members:
.. attribute:: Function.module
The name of the module defining the function described by the function
descriptor.
.. attribute:: Function.name
The name of the function.
.. attribute:: Function.file
Name of the file containing the ``def`` statement defining the function.
.. attribute:: Function.lineno
The line number of the ``def`` statement within the file named by
:attr:`~Function.file`.