[New-bugs-announce] [issue4156] Docs for BaseHandler.protocol_xxx methods are unclear

[Kent Johnson]

New submission from Kent Johnson <kent at kentsjohnson.com>:

In the docs for urllib2.BaseHandler previous to Python 2.6, the names of
the protocol_xxx() methods were spelled with 'protocol' in italics to
indicate that it is a placeholder; the actual method name is e.g.
http_opener().
http://www.python.org/doc/2.5.2/lib/base-handler-objects.html

In the Python 2.6 docs this typographic distinction has been lost
http://docs.python.org/library/urllib2.html#basehandler-objects
so it is not so clear that e.g. protocol_open() is not an actual method.

I suggest either restoring the italics or using a spelling such as
<protocol>_open() for the method names. If this is difficult then the
body of the descriptions should be rewritten to make it clear that the
'given protocol' is indicated by the name of the method.

----------
assignee: georg.brandl
components: Documentation
messages: 75023
nosy: georg.brandl, kjohnson
severity: normal
status: open
title: Docs for BaseHandler.protocol_xxx methods are unclear
versions: Python 2.6

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Python tracker <report at bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue4156>
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