python online help?
Thomas A. Bryan
tbryan at python.net
Fri Feb 18 23:19:20 EST 2000
Benyang Tang wrote:
>
> Is there a online help in python? Say something like
> help print
> would give document of the print command.
Docstrings. Not all classes/modules/methods have them, but
many do.
For example,
>>> import string
>>> print string.__doc__
Common string manipulations.
Public module variables:
whitespace -- a string containing all characters considered whitespace
lowercase -- a string containing all characters considered lowercase letters
uppercase -- a string containing all characters considered uppercase letters
letters -- a string containing all characters considered letters
digits -- a string containing all characters considered decimal digits
hexdigits -- a string containing all characters considered hexadecimal digits
octdigits -- a string containing all characters considered octal digits
>>> print string.find.__doc__
find(s, sub [,start [,end]]) -> in
Return the lowest index in s where substring sub is found,
such that sub is contained within s[start,end]. Optional
arguments start and end are interpreted as in slice notation.
Return -1 on failure.
>>>
When you write your own code, you can include docstrings too:
>>> class Foo:
... """A class docstring"""
... def bar(self):
... """A method docstring"""
... pass
...
>>> print Foo.__doc__
A class docstring
>>> f = Foo()
>>> print f.bar.__doc__
A method docstring
---Tom
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