#10072: assume a bit less knowledge of the FTP protocol in the ftplib docs.
diff --git a/Doc/library/ftplib.rst b/Doc/library/ftplib.rst
index 4111de4..a187403 100644
--- a/Doc/library/ftplib.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/ftplib.rst
@@ -109,16 +109,22 @@
.. exception:: error_temp
- Exception raised when an unexpected reply is received from the server.
+ Exception raised when an error code signifying a temporary error (response
+ codes in the range 400--499) is received.
+
.. exception:: error_perm
- Exception raised when an error code in the range 500--599 is received.
+ Exception raised when an error code signifying a permanent error (response
+ codes in the range 500--599) is received.
+
.. exception:: error_proto
- Exception raised when a reply is received from the server that does not
- begin with a digit in the range 1--5.
+ Exception raised when a reply is received from the server that does not fit
+ the response specifications of the File Transfer Protocol, i.e. begin with a
+ digit in the range 1--5.
+
.. data:: all_errors
@@ -128,6 +134,7 @@
four exceptions listed above as well as :exc:`socket.error` and
:exc:`IOError`.
+
.. seealso::
Module :mod:`netrc`
@@ -209,9 +216,9 @@
.. method:: FTP.voidcmd(cmd)
- Send a simple command string to the server and handle the response. Return
- nothing if a response code in the range 200--299 is received. Raise an exception
- otherwise.
+ Send a simple command string to the server and handle the response. Return
+ nothing if a response code corresponding to success (codes in the range
+ 200--299) is received. Raise :exc:`error_reply` otherwise.
.. method:: FTP.retrbinary(cmd, callback, blocksize=8192, rest=None)
@@ -228,12 +235,15 @@
.. method:: FTP.retrlines(cmd, callback=None)
- Retrieve a file or directory listing in ASCII transfer mode. *cmd*
- should be an appropriate ``RETR`` command (see :meth:`retrbinary`) or a
- command such as ``LIST``, ``NLST`` or ``MLSD`` (usually just the string
- ``'LIST'``). The *callback* function is called for each line with a
- string argument containing the line with the trailing CRLF stripped.
- The default *callback* prints the line to ``sys.stdout``.
+ Retrieve a file or directory listing in ASCII transfer mode. *cmd* should be
+ an appropriate ``RETR`` command (see :meth:`retrbinary`) or a command such as
+ ``LIST``, ``NLST`` or ``MLSD`` (usually just the string ``'LIST'``).
+ ``LIST`` retrieves a list of files and information about those files.
+ ``NLST`` retrieves a list of file names. On some servers, ``MLSD`` retrieves
+ a machine readable list of files and information about those files. The
+ *callback* function is called for each line with a string argument containing
+ the line with the trailing CRLF stripped. The default *callback* prints the
+ line to ``sys.stdout``.
.. method:: FTP.set_pasv(boolean)
@@ -295,10 +305,10 @@
.. method:: FTP.nlst(argument[, ...])
- Return a list of files as returned by the ``NLST`` command. The optional
- *argument* is a directory to list (default is the current server directory).
- Multiple arguments can be used to pass non-standard options to the ``NLST``
- command.
+ Return a list of file names as returned by the ``NLST`` command. The
+ optional *argument* is a directory to list (default is the current server
+ directory). Multiple arguments can be used to pass non-standard options to
+ the ``NLST`` command.
.. method:: FTP.dir(argument[, ...])