Doc/lib/libpyclbr.tex

   1 \section{\module{pyclbr} ---
   2          Python class browser support}
   3
   4 \declaremodule{standard}{pyclbr}
   5 \modulesynopsis{Supports information extraction for a Python class
   6                 browser.}
   7 \sectionauthor{Fred L. Drake, Jr.}{fdrake@acm.org}
   8
   9
  10 The \module{pyclbr} can be used to determine some limited information
  11 about the classes, methods and top-level functions
  12 defined in a module.  The information
  13 provided is sufficient to implement a traditional three-pane class
  14 browser.  The information is extracted from the source code rather
  15 than by importing the module, so this module is safe to use with
  16 untrusted source code.  This restriction makes it impossible to use
  17 this module with modules not implemented in Python, including many
  18 standard and optional extension modules.
  19
  20
  21 \begin{funcdesc}{readmodule}{module\optional{, path}}
  22   % The 'inpackage' parameter appears to be for internal use only....
  23   Read a module and return a dictionary mapping class names to class
  24   descriptor objects.  The parameter \var{module} should be the name
  25   of a module as a string; it may be the name of a module within a
  26   package.  The \var{path} parameter should be a sequence, and is used
  27   to augment the value of \code{sys.path}, which is used to locate
  28   module source code.
  29 \end{funcdesc}
  30
  31 \begin{funcdesc}{readmodule_ex}{module\optional{, path}}
  32   % The 'inpackage' parameter appears to be for internal use only....
  33   Like \function{readmodule()}, but the returned dictionary, in addition
  34   to mapping class names to class descriptor objects, also maps
  35   top-level function names to function descriptor objects.  Moreover, if
  36   the module being read is a package, the key \code{'__path__'} in the
  37   returned dictionary has as its value a list which contains the package
  38   search path.
  39 \end{funcdesc}
  40
  41
  42 \subsection{Class Descriptor Objects \label{pyclbr-class-objects}}
  43
  44 The class descriptor objects used as values in the dictionary returned
  45 by \function{readmodule()} and \function{readmodule_ex()}
  46 provide the following data members:
  47
  48
  49 \begin{memberdesc}[class descriptor]{module}
  50   The name of the module defining the class described by the class
  51   descriptor.
  52 \end{memberdesc}
  53
  54 \begin{memberdesc}[class descriptor]{name}
  55   The name of the class.
  56 \end{memberdesc}
  57
  58 \begin{memberdesc}[class descriptor]{super}
  59   A list of class descriptors which describe the immediate base
  60   classes of the class being described.  Classes which are named as
  61   superclasses but which are not discoverable by
  62   \function{readmodule()} are listed as a string with the class name
  63   instead of class descriptors.
  64 \end{memberdesc}
  65
  66 \begin{memberdesc}[class descriptor]{methods}
  67   A dictionary mapping method names to line numbers.
  68 \end{memberdesc}
  69
  70 \begin{memberdesc}[class descriptor]{file}
  71   Name of the file containing the \code{class} statement defining the class.
  72 \end{memberdesc}
  73
  74 \begin{memberdesc}[class descriptor]{lineno}
  75   The line number of the \code{class} statement within the file named by
  76   \member{file}.
  77 \end{memberdesc}
  78
  79 \subsection{Function Descriptor Objects \label{pyclbr-function-objects}}
  80
  81 The function descriptor objects used as values in the dictionary returned
  82 by \function{readmodule_ex()} provide the following data members:
  83
  84
  85 \begin{memberdesc}[function descriptor]{module}
  86   The name of the module defining the function described by the function
  87   descriptor.
  88 \end{memberdesc}
  89
  90 \begin{memberdesc}[function descriptor]{name}
  91   The name of the function.
  92 \end{memberdesc}
  93
  94 \begin{memberdesc}[function descriptor]{file}
  95   Name of the file containing the \code{def} statement defining the function.
  96 \end{memberdesc}
  97
  98 \begin{memberdesc}[function descriptor]{lineno}
  99   The line number of the \code{def} statement within the file named by
 100   \member{file}.
 101 \end{memberdesc}