Fred Drake | 1a87e9d | 1998-05-12 16:50:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | THIS IS A *TEST* RELEASE. It includes a significantly revised |
| 2 | directory organization for the documentation, and much of the |
| 3 | formatting process has been adjusted. The documentation itself is not |
| 4 | necessarily consistent with any released version of Python. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | The only purpose for this release is to test the usability of the new |
| 7 | directory structure. Please attempt to *format* the documentation to |
| 8 | determine if the new processes are suitable for your purposes; the |
| 9 | basic targets have been extensively tested, but variations may require |
| 10 | some work. Please let us know if there are any problems with the new |
| 11 | organization or processes; send email to: |
| 12 | |
| 13 | python-docs@python.org |
| 14 | |
| 15 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 16 | Python main documentation -- in LaTeX |
Guido van Rossum | cd7bf39 | 1992-04-05 15:06:03 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 17 | ------------------------------------- |
| 18 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 19 | This directory contains the LaTeX sources to the Python documentation. |
| 20 | They now require LaTeX2e (LaTeX 2.09 compatibility is dropped). |
Guido van Rossum | 7f777ed | 1990-08-09 14:25:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 21 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 22 | If you don't have LaTeX, or if you'd rather not format the |
| 23 | documentation yourself, you can ftp a tar file containing HTML, PDF, |
| 24 | or PostScript versions of all documents. Additional formats may be |
| 25 | available. These should be in the same place where you fetched the |
Fred Drake | 71472a5 | 1998-03-04 15:21:02 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 26 | main Python distribution (try <http://www.python.org> or |
| 27 | <ftp://ftp.python.org>). |
Guido van Rossum | f1245a8 | 1995-03-20 13:00:53 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 28 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 29 | The following are the LaTeX source files: |
Guido van Rossum | 7f777ed | 1990-08-09 14:25:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 30 | |
Fred Drake | 099b76c | 1998-05-11 16:31:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 31 | api/*.tex Python/C API Reference Manual |
| 32 | ext/*.tex Extending and Embedding the Python Interpreter |
| 33 | lib/*.tex Python Library Reference |
| 34 | ref/*.tex Python Reference Manual |
| 35 | tut/*.tex Python Tutorial |
Guido van Rossum | 7f777ed | 1990-08-09 14:25:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 36 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 37 | All use the "manual" document class and "python" package, derived from |
| 38 | the old "myformat.sty" style file. These contains many macro |
| 39 | definitions useful in documenting Python, and set some style parameters. |
Guido van Rossum | 7f777ed | 1990-08-09 14:25:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 40 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 41 | There's a Makefile to call LaTeX and the other utilities in the right |
Guido van Rossum | f1245a8 | 1995-03-20 13:00:53 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 42 | order and the right number of times. This will produce DVI files for |
| 43 | each document made; to preview them, use xdvi. PostScript is produced |
| 44 | by the same Makefile target that produces the DVI files. This uses |
Fred Drake | 71472a5 | 1998-03-04 15:21:02 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 45 | the dvips tool. Printing depends on local conventions; at our site, |
| 46 | we use lpr. For example: |
Guido van Rossum | 7f777ed | 1990-08-09 14:25:15 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 47 | |
Fred Drake | 099b76c | 1998-05-11 16:31:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 48 | make lib # create lib.dvi and lib.ps |
| 49 | xdvi lib # preview lib.dvi |
| 50 | lpr lib.ps # print on default printer |
Guido van Rossum | cd7bf39 | 1992-04-05 15:06:03 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 51 | |
Guido van Rossum | f1245a8 | 1995-03-20 13:00:53 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 52 | |
Fred Drake | 71472a5 | 1998-03-04 15:21:02 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 53 | What if I find a bug? |
| 54 | --------------------- |
| 55 | |
| 56 | First, check that the bug is present in the online version of the |
| 57 | documentation at <http://www.python.org/docs/>; we may have already |
| 58 | fixed it. |
| 59 | |
| 60 | If we haven't, tell us about it. We'd like the documentation to be |
| 61 | complete and accurate, but have limited time. If you discover any |
| 62 | inconsistencies between the documentation and implementation, or just |
| 63 | have suggestions as to how to improve the documentation, let is know! |
| 64 | Send comments and patches to the Python Documentation Team: |
| 65 | |
| 66 | python-docs@python.org |
| 67 | |
| 68 | Thanks! |
| 69 | |
| 70 | |
Fred Drake | 4190fae | 1998-05-11 19:05:36 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 71 | What happened to the Macintosh chapter of the Python Library Reference? |
| 72 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 73 | |
| 74 | The directory mac/ contains the LaTeX sources for the "Macintosh |
| 75 | Library Modules" manual; this is not currently included in the build |
| 76 | system. To build, do the following: |
| 77 | |
| 78 | cd Doc/mac |
| 79 | ../tools/mkhowto.sh --ps --pdf --html mac |
| 80 | |
| 81 | (Any combination of --ps, --pdf, and --html may be used depending on |
| 82 | your needs; the default is --pdf.) |
| 83 | |
| 84 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 85 | What tools do I need? |
| 86 | --------------------- |
Guido van Rossum | a417b66 | 1997-12-08 20:51:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 87 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 88 | You need to install Python; some of the scripts used to produce the |
| 89 | documentation are written in Python. |
Guido van Rossum | a417b66 | 1997-12-08 20:51:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 90 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 91 | The simplest way to get the rest of the tools in the configuration we |
Fred Drake | 099b76c | 1998-05-11 16:31:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 92 | used is to install the teTeX TeX distribution, version 0.4 or 0.9. More |
Fred Drake | 71472a5 | 1998-03-04 15:21:02 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 93 | information is available on teTeX at <http://www.tug.org/tetex/>. |
Fred Drake | 6355bd4 | 1998-03-27 05:17:21 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 94 | This is a UNIX-only TeX distribution at this time. Note that the 0.9 |
| 95 | release is still in testing; this documentation release was tested |
Fred Drake | 099b76c | 1998-05-11 16:31:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 96 | with the 21 Apr 1998 release. We'll be upgrading to the final version |
| 97 | when it becomes available. Except for the PDF generation, it also works |
| 98 | with the (stable) teTeX 0.4 release. |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 99 | |
Fred Drake | 099b76c | 1998-05-11 16:31:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 100 | If you don't want to get teTeX, here is what you'll need: |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 101 | |
| 102 | To create DVI, PDF, or PostScript files: |
| 103 | |
| 104 | - LaTeX2e, 1995/12/01 or newer. Older versions are likely to |
| 105 | choke. |
| 106 | |
| 107 | - makeindex. This is used to produce the indexes for the |
| 108 | library reference and Python/C API reference. |
| 109 | |
| 110 | To create PDF files: |
| 111 | |
| 112 | - pdflatex. We used the one in the teTeX 0.9 distribution |
Fred Drake | 099b76c | 1998-05-11 16:31:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 113 | (version 0.12h at the time of this writing). Versions even |
| 114 | a couple of patchlevels earlier are highly likely to fail |
| 115 | due to syntax changes for some of the pdftex primitives. |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 116 | |
| 117 | To create PostScript files: |
| 118 | |
| 119 | - dvips. Most TeX installations include this. If you don't |
Fred Drake | 71472a5 | 1998-03-04 15:21:02 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 120 | have one, check CTAN (<ftp://ctan.tug.org/tex-archive/>). |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 121 | |
| 122 | To create info files: |
| 123 | |
Fred Drake | 45084ed | 1998-04-09 15:19:41 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 124 | (Note that info is not currently supported. If you need it, |
| 125 | please fix or replace tools/partparse.py and send the new |
| 126 | version to python-docs@python.org. We'll be glad to provide |
| 127 | free copies of the info files to anyone who can support the |
| 128 | process. ;-) |
| 129 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 130 | - makeinfo. This is available from any GNU mirror. |
| 131 | |
Fred Drake | 45084ed | 1998-04-09 15:19:41 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 132 | - emacs or xemacs. Emacs is available from the same place as |
| 133 | makeinfo, and xemacs is available from ftp.xemacs.org. |
| 134 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 135 | To create HTML files: |
| 136 | |
Fred Drake | 71472a5 | 1998-03-04 15:21:02 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 137 | - Perl 5.004_04 or newer. Find the software at |
| 138 | <http://language.perl.com/info/software.html>. |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 139 | |
Fred Drake | e0a0fcd | 1998-05-15 17:03:00 +0000 | [diff] [blame^] | 140 | - LaTeX2HTML 98.1p5 or newer. Older version will fail with |
| 141 | the new directory layout. Releases are available at |
| 142 | <http://dc-server.cdc.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de/~latex2html/>. |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 143 | |
| 144 | |
| 145 | What if Times fonts are not available? |
| 146 | -------------------------------------- |
| 147 | |
| 148 | As distributed, the LaTeX documents use PostScript Times fonts. This |
| 149 | is done since they are much better looking and produce smaller |
| 150 | PostScript files. If, however, your TeX installation does not support |
Fred Drake | 4912beb | 1998-03-11 17:07:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 151 | them, they may be easily disabled. Edit the file |
| 152 | texiinputs/manual.cls and comment out the line that starts |
| 153 | "\RequirePackage{times}" using a "%" character at the beginning of the |
| 154 | line. An alternative is to install the right fonts and LaTeX style |
| 155 | file. |
| 156 | |
| 157 | |
| 158 | What if I want to use A4 paper? |
| 159 | ------------------------------- |
| 160 | |
Fred Drake | 099b76c | 1998-05-11 16:31:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 161 | Instead of building the PostScript by giving the command "make", give |
| 162 | the command "make PAPER=a4"; the output will be produced in the |
| 163 | paper-a4/ subdirectory. |
Guido van Rossum | a417b66 | 1997-12-08 20:51:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 164 | |
| 165 | |
Guido van Rossum | f1245a8 | 1995-03-20 13:00:53 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 166 | Making HTML files |
| 167 | ----------------- |
| 168 | |
Fred Drake | 34eefe5 | 1998-03-03 21:41:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 169 | The LaTeX documents can be converted to HTML using Nikos Drakos' |
| 170 | LaTeX2HTML converter. See the Makefile; after some twiddling, "make |
Guido van Rossum | a417b66 | 1997-12-08 20:51:26 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 171 | l2h" should do the trick. |
Guido van Rossum | f1245a8 | 1995-03-20 13:00:53 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 172 | |
Fred Drake | 4912beb | 1998-03-11 17:07:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 173 | |
Fred Drake | 6355bd4 | 1998-03-27 05:17:21 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 174 | What else is in here? |
| 175 | --------------------- |
| 176 | |
| 177 | There is a new LaTeX document class called "howto". This is used for |
| 178 | the new series of Python HOWTO documents which is being coordinated by |
| 179 | Andrew Kuchling <amk@acm.org>. The file howto.tex is a commented |
Fred Drake | 099b76c | 1998-05-11 16:31:32 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 180 | example which may be used a template. A script to "do the right |
Fred Drake | 6355bd4 | 1998-03-27 05:17:21 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 181 | thing" to format a howto document is included as tools/mkhowto.sh. |
| 182 | Support for this document class is still new, but is expected to |
Fred Drake | 16a19c4 | 1998-04-03 05:41:38 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 183 | evolve rapidly. Use "mkhowto.sh --help" for information on using the |
| 184 | formatting tool. |
Fred Drake | 6355bd4 | 1998-03-27 05:17:21 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 185 | |
| 186 | |
Fred Drake | 4912beb | 1998-03-11 17:07:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 187 | Copyright notice |
| 188 | ================ |
| 189 | |
| 190 | The Python source is copyrighted, but you can freely use and copy it |
| 191 | as long as you don't change or remove the copyright notice: |
| 192 | |
| 193 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 194 | Copyright 1991-1995 by Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam, |
| 195 | The Netherlands. |
| 196 | |
| 197 | All Rights Reserved |
| 198 | |
| 199 | Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its |
| 200 | documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, |
| 201 | provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that |
| 202 | both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in |
| 203 | supporting documentation, and that the names of Stichting Mathematisch |
| 204 | Centrum or CWI or Corporation for National Research Initiatives or |
| 205 | CNRI not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to |
| 206 | distribution of the software without specific, written prior |
| 207 | permission. |
| 208 | |
| 209 | While CWI is the initial source for this software, a modified version |
| 210 | is made available by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives |
| 211 | (CNRI) at the Internet address ftp://ftp.python.org. |
| 212 | |
| 213 | STICHTING MATHEMATISCH CENTRUM AND CNRI DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES WITH |
| 214 | REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF |
| 215 | MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL STICHTING MATHEMATISCH |
| 216 | CENTRUM OR CNRI BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL |
| 217 | DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR |
| 218 | PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER |
| 219 | TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR |
| 220 | PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. |
| 221 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |