EPYDOC(1)EPYDOC(1)NAMEepydoc - generate API documentation from Python docstrings
SYNOPSISepydoc [action] [options] names...
DESCRIPTIONepydoc generates API documentation for Python modules and packages,
based on their docstrings. A lightweight markup language called epy‐
text can be used to format docstrings, and to add information about
specific fields, such as parameters and instance variables. Epydoc
also understands docstrings written in ReStructuredText, Javadoc, and
plaintext. Currently, epydoc supports two basic output formats: HTML
and LaTeX.
The HTML API documentation produced by epydoc consists of a set of HTML
files, including: an API documentation page for each class and module;
a syntax-highlighted source code page for each module; an identifier
index page; a help page; and a frames-based table of contents. When
appropriate, epydoc will also generate index pages for bugs, defined
terms, and to-do items; a class hierarchy page; and a package hierarchy
page.
The LaTeX API documentation produced by epydoc consists of a main LaTeX
file, and a LaTeX file for each module. If you use --dvi, --ps, or
--pdf , then epydoc will invoke external commands to convert the LaTeX
output to the requested format. Note that the LaTeX files containing
the documentation for individual modules can be included as chapters or
sections of other LaTeX documents, using the LaTeX \include command.
If you wish to include individual classes in other LaTeX documents,
then use the --separate-classes option to produce a separate LaTeX file
for each class.
epydoc can also be used to check the completeness of the API documenta‐
tion. By default, it checks that every public package, module, class,
method, and function has a docstring description. The --tests option
can be used to specify additional tests to perform.
OPTIONS
Epydoc's options are divided into six categories: basic options,
actions, generation options, output options, graph options, and return
value options.
BASIC OPTIONS
names...
The list of objects that should be documented. Objects can
be specified using Python dotted names (such as os.path),
filenames (such as epydoc/epytext.py), or directory names
(such as epydoc/). Directory names specify packages, and
are expanded to include all sub-modules and sub-packages.
If you wish to exclude certain sub-modules or sub-packages,
use the --exclude option (described below).
--config file
A configuration file, specifying additional option‐
sand/ornames. This option may be repeated.
--q, --quiet, --v, --verbose
Produce quite (or verbose) output. If used multiple times,
this option produces successively more quiet (or verbose)
output.
--debug
Show full tracebacks for internal errors.
--simple-term
Do not try to use color or cursor control when displaying
the progress bar, warnings, or errors.
ACTIONS
--html Write HTML output. [default]
--latex Write LaTeX output.
--dvi Write DVI output.
--ps Write Postscript output.
--pdf Write Adobe Acrobat (pdf) output.
--check Perform completeness checks on the documentation.
--pickle Write the documentation to a pickle file.
GENERATION OPTIONS
--docformat format
Set the default value for __docformat__ to format. __doc‐
format__ is a module variable that specifies the markup lan‐
guage for the docstrings in a module. Its value consists of
the name of a markup language, optionally followed by a lan‐
guage code (such as en for English). For a list of the
markup languages currently recognized by epydoc, run epydoc--help docformat.
--parse-only
Gather all information about the documented objects by pars‐
ing the relevant Python source code; in particular, do not
use introspection to gather information about the documented
objects. This option should be used when epydoc is run on
untrusted code; or on code that can not be introspected
because of missing dependencies, or because importing it
would cause undesired side-effects.
--introspect-only
Gather all information about the documented objects by
introspection; in particular, do not gather information by
parsing the object's Python source code.
--exclude PATTERN
Do not document any object whose name matches the given reg‐
ular expression pattern.
--exclude-introspect PATTERN
Do not use introspection to gather information about any
object whose name matches the given regular expression.
--exclude-parse PATTERN
Do not use Python source code parsing to gather information
about any object whose name matches the given regular
expression.
--inheritance format
The format that should be used to display inherited methods,
variables, and properties in the generated "summary" tables.
If format is "grouped," then inherited objects are gathered
into groups, based on which class that they are inherited
from. If format is "listed," then inherited objects are
listed in a short list at the end of the summary table. If
format is "included," then inherited objects are mixed in
with non-inherited objects. The default format for HTML
output is "grouped."
--show-private, --no-private
These options control whether documentation is generated for
private objects. By default, the generated documentation
includes private objects, and users can choose whether to
view private objects or not, by clicking on "show private"
and "hide private" links. But if you want to discourage
users from directly accessing private objects, then you may
prefer not to generate documentation for private objects.
--show-imports, --no-imports
These options control whether module imports are included in
the generated documentation. By default, imports are not
included.
--show-sourcecode, --no-sourcecode
These options control whether or not epydoc should generate
syntax-highlighted pages containing the souce code of each
module in the HTML output. By default, the sourcecode pages
are generated.
--include-log
Generate an HTML page epydoc-log.html containing all error
and warning messages that are generated by epydoc, and
include it in the generated output.
OUTPUT OPTIONS
-o dir, --output dir
The output directory. If dir does not exist, then it will
be created. If no output directory is specified, then the
action name (e.g., html or pdf). html
-c sheet, --css sheet
CSS stylesheet for HTML output files. If sheet is a file,
then the stylesheet is copied from that file; otherwise,
sheet is taken to be the name of a built-in stylesheet. For
a list of the built-in stylesheets, run epydoc--help css.
If a CSS stylesheet is not specified, then the default
stylesheet is used.
-n name, --name name
The name of the project whose documentation is being gener‐
ated.
-u url, --url url
The URL of the project's homepage.
--navlink html
HTML code for the homepage link on the HTML navi‐
gation bar. If this HTML code contains any
hyperlinks (<a href=...>), then it will be
inserted verbatim. If it does not contain any
hyperlinks, and a project url is specified (with
--url), then a hyperlink to the specified URL is
added to the link.
--help-file file
An alternate help file. file should contain the
body of an HTML file -- navigation bars will be
added to it.
--show-frames, --no-frames
These options control whether HMTL output will
include a frames-base table of contents page. By
default, the frames-based table of contents is
included.
--separate-classes
In the LaTeX output, describe each class in a
separate section of the documentation, instead of
including them in the documentation for their
modules. This creates a separate LaTeX file for
each class, so it can also be useful if you want
to include the documentation for one or two
classes as sections of your own LaTeX document.
GRAPH OPTIONS
--graph graphtype
Include graphs of type graphtype in the generated
output. Graphs are generated using the Graphviz
dot executable. If this executable is not on the
path, then use --dotpath to specify its location.
This option may be repeated to include multiple
graph types in the output. graphtype should be
one of: all, classtree, callgraph, or uml‐
classtree.
--dotpath path
The path to the Graphviz dot executable.
--graph-font font
The name of the font used to generate Graphviz
graphs. (e.g., helvetica or times).
--graph-font-size size
The size of the font used to generate Graphviz
graphs, in points.
--pstat file
A pstat output file, to be used in generating
call graphs.
RETURN VALUE OPTIONS
--fail-on-error
Return a non-zero exit status, indicating fail‐
ure, if any errors are encountered.
--fail-on-warning
Return a non-zero exit status, indicating fail‐
ure, if any errors or warnings are encountered
(not including docstring warnings).
--fail-on-docstring-warning
Return a non-zero exit status, indicating fail‐
ure, if any errors or warnings are encountered
(including docstring warnings).
HTML FILES
The HTML API documentation produced by epydoc consists of
the following files:
OBJECT DOCUMENTATION PAGES
index.html
The standard entry point for the documentation.
Normally, index.html is a copy of the frames file
(frames.html). But if the --no-frames option is
used, then index.html is a copy of the API docu‐
mentation home page, which is normally the docu‐
mentation page for the top-level package or mod‐
ule (or the trees page if there is no top-level
package or module).
module-module.html
The API documentation for a module. module is
the complete dotted name of the module, such as
sys or epydoc.epytext.
class-class.html
The API documentation for a class, exception, or
type. class is the complete dotted name of the
class, such as epydoc.epytext.Token or
array.ArrayType.
module-pysrc.html
A syntax-highlighted page containing the Python
source code for module. This page includes links
back to the API documentation pages.
module-tree.html
The module hierarchy.
class-tree.html
The class hierarchy. This page is only generated
if at least one class is documented.
INDICES
identifier-index.html
An index of all documented identifiers. If the
identifier index contains more than 3,000
entries, then it will be split into separate
pages for each letter, named identifier-index-
a.html, identifier-index-b.html, etc.
term-index.html
An index of all explicitly marked definitional
terms. This page is only generated if at least
one definition term is marked in a formatted doc‐
string.
bug-index.html
An index of all explicitly marked @bug fields.
This page is only generated if at least one @bug
field is listed in a formatted docstring.
todo-index.html
An index of all explicitly marked @todo fields.
This page is only generated if at least one @todo
field is listed in a formatted docstring.
changed-index.html
An index of all explicitly marked @changed
fields. This page is only generated if at least
one @changed field is listed in a formatted doc‐
string.
deprecated-index.html
An index of all explicitly marked @deprecated
fields. This page is only generated if at least
one @deprecated field is listed in a formatted
docstring.
since-index.html
An index of all explicitly marked @since fields.
This page is only generated if at least one
@since field is listed in a formatted docstring.
FRAMES-BASED TABLE OF CONTENTS
frames.html
The main frames file. Two frames on the left
side of the window contain a table of contents,
and the main frame on the right side of the win‐
dow contains API documentation pages.
toc.html
The top-level table of contents page. This page
is displayed in the upper-left frame of
frames.html, and provides links to the toc-every‐
thing.html and toc-module-module.html pages.
toc-everything.html
The table of contents for the entire project.
This page is displayed in the lower-left frame of
frames.html, and provides links to every class,
type, exception, function, and variable defined
by the project.
toc-module-module.html
The table of contents for a module. This page is
displayed in the lower-left frame of frames.html,
and provides links to every class, type, excep‐
tion, function, and variable defined by the mod‐
ule. module is the complete dotted name of the
module, such as sys or epydoc.epytext.
OTHER PAGES
help.html
The help page for the project. This page
explains how to use and navigate the webpage pro‐
duced by epydoc.
redirect.html
This page uses javascript to translate dotted
names to their corresponding URLs. For example,
in epydoc's documentation, loading the page <re‐
direct.html#epydoc.apidoc.DottedName> will auto‐
matically redirect the browser to <epydoc.apidoc-
module.html#DottedName>.
epydoc.css
The CSS stylesheet used to display all HTML
pages.
epydoc.js
A javascript file used to define javascript func‐
tions used by epydoc.
epydoc-log.html
A page containing a log of all warnings and
errors that were generated by epydoc, along with
a table listing all of the options that were
used.
LATEX FILES
The LaTeX API documentation produced by epydoc consists of
the following files:
api.pdf
An Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file containing the com‐
plete API documentation. This file is only gen‐
erated if you use the --pdf option.
api.tex
The top-level LaTeX file. This file imports the
other LaTeX files, to create a single unified
document.
api.dvi
A dvi file containing the complete API documenta‐
tion. This file is only generated if you use the
--dvi option, the --ps option, or the --pdf
option.
api.ps A postscript file containing the complete API
documentation. This file is only generated if
you use the --ps option or the --pdf option.
module-module.tex
The API documentation for a module. module is
the complete dotted name of the module, such as
sys or epydoc.epytext.
class-class.tex
The API documentation for a class, exception, or
type. class is the complete dotted name of the
class, such as epydoc.epytext.Token or
array.ArrayType. These class documentation files
are only created if the --separate-classes option
is used; otherwise, the documentation for each
class is included in its module's documentation
file.
DIAGNOSTICS
EPYTEXT MARKUP WARNING MESSAGES
Epytext errors are caused by epytext docstrings that
contain invalid markup. Whenever an epytext error is
detected, the docstring in question is treated as a
plaintext docstring. Epydoc can generate the following
epytext errors:
Bad link target.
The target specified for an inline link contruc‐
tion (L{...}) is not well-formed. Link targets
must be valid python identifiers.
Bad uri target.
The target specified for an inline uri contruc‐
tion (U{...}) is not well-formed. This typically
occurs if inline markup is nested inside the URI
target.
Fields must be at the top level.
The list of fields (@param, etc.) is contained
by some other block structure (such as a list or
a section).
Fields must be the final elements.
The list of fields (@param, etc.) is not at the
end of a docstring.
Headings must occur at top level.
The heading is contianed in some other block
structure (such as a list).
Improper doctest block indentation.
The doctest block dedents past the indentation of
its initial prompt line.
Improper heading indentation.
The heading for a section is not left-aligned
with the paragraphs in the section that contains
it.
Improper paragraph indentation.
The paragraphs within a block are not left-
aligned. This error is often generated when
plaintext docstrings are parsed using epytext.
Invalid escape.
An unknown escape sequence was used with the
inline escape construction (E{...}).
Lists must be indented.
An unindented line immediately following a para‐
graph starts with a list bullet. Epydoc is not
sure whether you meant to start a new list item,
or meant for a paragraph to include a word that
looks like a bullet. If you intended the former,
then indent the list. If you intended the lat‐
ter, then change the word-wrapping of the para‐
graph, or escape the first character of the word
that looks like a bullet.
Unbalanced '{'.
The docstring contains unbalanced braces. Epy‐
text requires that all braces must be balanced.
To include a single unbalanced brace, use the
escape sequences E{lb} (left brace) and E{rb}
(right brace).
Unbalanced '}'.
The docstring contains unbalanced braces. Epy‐
text requires that all braces must be balanced.
To include a single unbalanced brace, use the
escape sequences E{lb} (left brace) and E{rb}
(right brace).
Unknown inline markup tag.
An unknown tag was used with the inline markup
construction ( x{...} ).
Wrong underline character for heading.
The underline character used for this section
heading does not indicate an appopriate section
level. The "=" character should be used to
underline sections; "-" for subsections; and "~"
for subsubsections.
Possible mal-formatted field item.
Epytext detected a line that looks like a field
item, but is not correctly formatted. This typi‐
cally occurs when the trailing colon (":") is not
included in the field tag.
Possible heading typo.
Epytext detected a pair of lines that looks like
a heading, but the number of underline characters
does not match the number of characters in the
heading. The number of characters in these two
lines must match exactly for them to be consid‐
ered a heading.
FIELD WARNINGS
Field warnings are caused by docstrings containing
invalid fields. The contents of the invalid field are
generally ignored. Epydoc can generate the following
field warnings:
@param for unknown parameter param.
A @param field was used to specify the type for a
parameter that is not included in the function's
signature. This is typically caused by a typo in
the parameter name.
tag did not expect an argument.
The field tag tag was used with an argument, but
it does not take one.
tag expected an argument.
The field tag tag was used without an argument,
but it requires one.
@type for unknown parameter param.
A @type field was used to specify the type for a
parameter that is not included in the function's
signature. This is typically caused by a typo in
the parameter name.
@type for unknown variable var.
A @type field was used to specify the type for a
variable, but no other information is known about
the variable. This is typically caused by a typo
in the variable name.
Unknown field tag tag.
A docstring contains a field with the unknown tag
tag.
Redefinition of field.
Multiple field tags define the value of field in
the same docstring, but field can only take a
single value.
EXAMPLESepydoc-nepydoc-u http://epydoc.sf.net epydoc/
Generate the HTML API documentation for the epydoc
package and all of its submodules, and write the out‐
put to the html directory. In the headers and foot‐
ers, use epydoc as the project name, and http://epy‐
doc.sf.net as the project URL.
epydoc--pdf -n epydoc epydoc/
Generate the LaTeX API documentation for the epydoc
package and all of its submodules, and write the out‐
put to the latex directory.
EXIT STATUS
0 Successful program execution.
1 Usage error.
2 Epydoc generated an error or warning, and one of the
options --fail-on-error, --fail-on-warning, or
--fail-on-docstring-warning was specified.
other Internal error (Python exception).
AUTHOR
Epydoc was written by Edward Loper. This man page was orig‐
inally written by Moshe Zadka, and is currently maintained
by Edward Loper.
BUGS
Report bugs to <edloper@users.sourceforge.net>.
SEE ALSOepydocgui(1)
The epydoc webpage
<http://epydoc.sourceforge.net>
The epytext markup language manual
<http://epydoc.sourceforge.net/epytext.html>
EPYDOC(1)
