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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">pydoc – Online help for Python modules</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#plain-text-help">Plain Text Help</a></li>
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<div class="section" id="module-pydoc">
<span id="pydoc-online-help-for-python-modules"></span><h1>pydoc – Online help for Python modules<a class="headerlink" href="#module-pydoc" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<table class="docutils field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Purpose:</th><td class="field-body">Generates help for Python modules and classes from the code.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Python Version:</th><td class="field-body">2.1 and later</td>
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<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="#module-pydoc" title="pydoc: Online help for Python modules"><tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">pydoc</span></tt></a> module imports a Python module and uses the contents
to generate help text at runtime. The output includes docstrings for
any objects that have them, and all of the documentable contents of
the module are described.</p>
<div class="section" id="plain-text-help">
<h2>Plain Text Help<a class="headerlink" href="#plain-text-help" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Running:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ pydoc atexit</pre>
</div>
<p>Produces plaintext help on the console, using your pager if one is
configured.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="html-help">
<h2>HTML Help<a class="headerlink" href="#html-help" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>You can also cause <a class="reference internal" href="#module-pydoc" title="pydoc: Online help for Python modules"><tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">pydoc</span></tt></a> to generate HTML output, either
writing a static file to a local directory or starting a web server to
browse documentation online.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ pydoc -w atexit</pre>
</div>
<p>Creates <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">atexit.html</span></tt> in the current directory.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ pydoc -p 5000</pre>
</div>
<p>Starts a web server listening at <a class="reference external" href="http://localhost:5000/">http://localhost:5000/</a>. The server
generates documentation as you browse through the available modules.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="interactive-help">
<h2>Interactive Help<a class="headerlink" href="#interactive-help" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>pydoc also adds a function <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">help()</span></tt> to the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">__builtins__</span></tt> so you
can access the same information from the Python interpreter prompt.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python
Python 2.6.2 (r262:71600, Apr 16 2009, 09:17:39)
[GCC 4.0.1 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 5250)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> help('atexit')
Help on module atexit:
NAME
atexit
FILE
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/lib/python2.6/atexit.py
...</pre>
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<div class="admonition-see-also admonition seealso">
<p class="first admonition-title">See also</p>
<dl class="last docutils">
<dt><a class="reference external" href="http://docs.python.org/library/pydoc.html">pydoc</a></dt>
<dd>The standard library documentation for this module.</dd>
<dt><a class="reference internal" href="../about.html#motw-cli"><em>The motw Command Line Interface</em></a></dt>
<dd>Accessing the Module of the Week articles from the command line.</dd>
<dt><a class="reference internal" href="../about.html#motw-interactive"><em>Using PyMOTW with the Interactive Interpreter</em></a></dt>
<dd>Accessing the Module of the Week articles from the interactive interpreter.</dd>
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