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pydoc-basic-command

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Pydoc can be used to access the doc for python modules or classes easily. We will show the basic command for the pydoc.

  1. Show help for pydoc

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    pydoc -h

    pydoc - the Python documentation tool

    pydoc <name> ...
        Show text documentation on something.  <name> may be the name of a
        Python keyword, topic, function, module, or package, or a dotted
        reference to a class or function within a module or module in a
        package.  If <name> contains a '/', it is used as the path to a
        Python source file to document. If name is 'keywords', 'topics',
        or 'modules', a listing of these things is displayed.

    pydoc -k <keyword>
        Search for a keyword in the synopsis lines of all available modules.

    pydoc -p <port>
        Start an HTTP server on the given port on the local machine.  Port
        number 0 can be used to get an arbitrary unused port.

    pydoc -g
        Pop up a graphical interface for finding and serving documentation.

    pydoc -w <name> ...
        Write out the HTML documentation for a module to a file in the current
        directory.  If <name> contains a '/', it is treated as a filename; if
        it names a directory, documentation is written for all the contents.

  2. Show document for a python module.

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    python -m pydoc pow

    Help on built-in function pow in module __builtin__:

    pow(...)
        pow(x, y[, z]) -> number

        With two arguments, equivalent to x**y.  With three arguments,
        equivalent to (x**y) % z, but may be more efficient (e.g. for longs).

  3. Search python modules with specific keyword

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    # Find python modules which name contains "json"
    python -m pydoc -k json

    json - JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) <http://json.org> is a subset of
    json.decoder - Implementation of JSONDecoder
    json.encoder - Implementation of JSONEncoder
    json.scanner - JSON token scanner
    json.tests

  4. Start an HTTP server for pydoc on the given port

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    python -m pydoc -p 4000
    # Open the browser and visit "http://localhost:4000" to view the documents for all your local python modules.

  1. Start an HTTP server for pydoc on a free port

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    python -m pydoc -g

  2. Write out the HTML documentation for a module

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    python -m pydoc -w json
    # We will get json.html in current folder.