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doc/ext/tutorial.rst
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.. _exttut:
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Tutorial: Writing a simple extension
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====================================
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This section is intended as a walkthrough for the creation of custom extensions.
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It covers the basics of writing and activating an extensions, as well as
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commonly used features of extensions.
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As an example, we will cover a "todo" extension that adds capabilities to
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include todo entries in the documentation, and collecting these in a central
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place. (A similar "todo" extension is distributed with Sphinx.)
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Build Phases
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------------
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One thing that is vital in order to understand extension mechanisms is the way
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in which a Sphinx project is built: this works in several phases.
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**Phase 0: Initialization**
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In this phase, almost nothing interesting for us happens. The source
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directory is searched for source files, and extensions are initialized.
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Should a stored build environment exist, it is loaded, otherwise a new one is
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created.
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**Phase 1: Reading**
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In Phase 1, all source files (and on subsequent builds, those that are new or
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changed) are read and parsed. This is the phase where directives and roles
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are encountered by the docutils, and the corresponding functions are called.
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The output of this phase is a *doctree* for each source files, that is a tree
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of docutils nodes. For document elements that aren't fully known until all
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existing files are read, temporary nodes are created.
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During reading, the build environment is updated with all meta- and cross
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reference data of the read documents, such as labels, the names of headings,
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described Python objects and index entries. This will later be used to
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replace the temporary nodes.
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The parsed doctrees are stored on the disk, because it is not possible to
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hold all of them in memory.
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**Phase 2: Consistency checks**
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Some checking is done to ensure no surprises in the built documents.
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**Phase 3: Resolving**
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Now that the metadata and cross-reference data of all existing documents is
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known, all temporary nodes are replaced by nodes that can be converted into
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output. For example, links are created for object references that exist, and
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simple literal nodes are created for those that don't.
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**Phase 4: Writing**
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This phase converts the resolved doctrees to the desired output format, such
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as HTML or LaTeX. This happens via a so-called docutils writer that visits
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the individual nodes of each doctree and produces some output in the process.
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.. note::
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Some builders deviate from this general build plan, for example, the builder
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that checks external links does not need anything more than the parsed
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doctrees and therefore does not have phases 2--4.
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Extension Design
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----------------
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We want the extension to add the following to Sphinx:
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* A "todo" directive, containing some content that is marked with "TODO", and
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only shown in the output if a new config value is set. (Todo entries should
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not be in the output by default.)
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* A "todolist" directive that creates a list of all todo entries throughout the
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documentation.
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For that, we will need to add the following elements to Sphinx:
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* New directives, called ``todo`` and ``todolist``.
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* New document tree nodes to represent these directives, conventionally also
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called ``todo`` and ``todolist``. We wouldn't need new nodes if the new
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directives only produced some content representable by existing nodes.
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* A new config value ``todo_include_todos`` (config value names should start
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with the extension name, in order to stay unique) that controls whether todo
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entries make it into the output.
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* New event handlers: one for the :event:`doctree-resolved` event, to replace
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the todo and todolist nodes, and one for :event:`env-purge-doc` (the reason
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for that will be covered later).
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The Setup Function
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------------------
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.. currentmodule:: sphinx.application
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The new elements are added in the extension's setup function. Let us create a
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new Python module called :file:`todo.py` and add the setup function::
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def setup(app):
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app.add_config_value('todo_include_todos', False, False)
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app.add_node(todolist)
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app.add_node(todo,
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html=(visit_todo_node, depart_todo_node),
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latex=(visit_todo_node, depart_todo_node),
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text=(visit_todo_node, depart_todo_node))
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app.add_directive('todo', todo_directive, 1, (0, 0, 1))
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app.add_directive('todolist', todolist_directive, 0, (0, 0, 0))
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app.connect('doctree-resolved', process_todo_nodes)
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app.connect('env-purge-doc', purge_todos)
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The calls in this function refer to classes and functions not yet written. What
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the individual calls do is the following:
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* :meth:`~Sphinx.add_config_value` lets Sphinx know that it should recognize the
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new *config value* ``todo_include_todos``, whose default value should be
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``False`` (this also tells Sphinx that it is a boolean value).
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If the third argument was ``True``, all documents would be re-read if the
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config value changed its value. This is needed for config values that
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influence reading (build phase 1).
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* :meth:`~Sphinx.add_node` adds a new *node class* to the build system. It also
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can specify visitor functions for each supported output format. These visitor
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functions are needed when the new nodes stay until phase 4 -- since the
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``todolist`` node is always replaced in phase 3, it doesn't need any.
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We need to create the two node classes ``todo`` and ``todolist`` later.
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* :meth:`~Sphinx.add_directive` adds a new *directive*, given by name, handler
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function and two arguments that specify if the directive has content and how
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many arguments it accepts.
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The handler functions are created later.
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* Finally, :meth:`~Sphinx.connect` adds an *event handler* to the event whose
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name is given by the first argument. The event handler function is called
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with several arguments which are documented with the event.
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The Node Classes
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----------------
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Let's start with the node classes::
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from docutils import nodes
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class todo(nodes.Admonition, nodes.Element):
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pass
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class todolist(nodes.General, nodes.Element):
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pass
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def visit_todo_node(self, node):
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self.visit_admonition(node)
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def depart_todo_node(self, node):
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self.depart_admonition(node)
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Node classes usually don't have to do anything except inherit from the standard
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docutils classes defined in :mod:`docutils.nodes`. ``todo`` inherits from
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``Admonition`` because it should be handled like a note or warning, ``todolist``
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is just a "general" node.
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The Directive Handlers
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----------------------
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A directive handler is a function with a host of arguments, covered in detail in
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the docutils documentation. It must return a list of nodes.
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The ``todolist`` directive is quite simple::
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def todolist_directive(name, arguments, options, content, lineno,
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content_offset, block_text, state, state_machine):
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return [todolist('')]
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An instance of our ``todolist`` node class is created and returned. The
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todolist directive has neither content nor arguments that need to be handled.
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The ``todo`` directive function looks like this::
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from sphinx.util.compat import make_admonition
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def todo_directive(name, arguments, options, content, lineno,
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content_offset, block_text, state, state_machine):
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env = state.document.settings.env
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targetid = "todo-%s" % env.index_num
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env.index_num += 1
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targetnode = nodes.target('', '', ids=[targetid])
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ad = make_admonition(todo, name, [_('Todo')], options, content, lineno,
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content_offset, block_text, state, state_machine)
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if not hasattr(env, 'todo_all_todos'):
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env.todo_all_todos = []
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env.todo_all_todos.append({
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'docname': env.docname,
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'lineno': lineno,
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'todo': ad[0].deepcopy(),
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'target': targetnode,
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})
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return [targetnode] + ad
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Several important things are covered here. First, as you can see, you can refer
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to the build environment instance using ``state.document.settings.env``.
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Then, to act as a link target (from the todolist), the todo directive needs to
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return a target node in addition to the todo node. The target ID (in HTML, this
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will be the anchor name) is generated by using ``env.index_num`` which is
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persistent between directive calls and therefore leads to unique target names.
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The target node is instantiated without any text (the first two arguments).
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An admonition is created using a standard docutils function (wrapped in Sphinx
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for docutils cross-version compatibility). The first argument gives the node
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class, in our case ``todo``. The third argument gives the admonition title (use
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``arguments`` here to let the user specify the title). A list of nodes is
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returned from ``make_admonition``.
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Then, the todo node is added to the environment. This is needed to be able to
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create a list of all todo entries throughout the documentation, in the place
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where the author puts a ``todolist`` directive. For this case, the environment
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attribute ``todo_all_todos`` is used (again, the name should be unique, so it is
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prefixed by the extension name). It does not exist when a new environment is
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created, so the directive must check and create it if necessary. Various
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information about the todo entry's location are stored along with a copy of the
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node.
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In the last line, the nodes that should be put into the doctree are returned:
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the target node and the admonition node.
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The Event Handlers
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------------------
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Finally, let's look at the event handlers. First, the one for the
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:event:`env-purge-doc` event::
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def purge_todos(app, env, docname):
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if not hasattr(env, 'todo_all_todos'):
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return
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env.todo_all_todos = [todo for todo in env.todo_all_todos
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if todo['docname'] != docname]
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Since we store information from source files in the environment, which is
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persistent, it may become out of date when the source file changes. Therefore,
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before each source file is read, the environment's records of it are cleared,
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and the :event:`env-purge-doc` event gives extensions a chance to do the same.
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Here we clear out all todos whose docname matches the given one from the
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``todo_all_todos`` list. If there are todos left in the document, they will be
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added again during parsing.
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The other handler belongs to the :event:`doctree-resolved` event. This event is
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emitted at the end of phase 3 and allows custom resolving to be done::
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def process_todo_nodes(app, doctree, fromdocname):
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if not app.config.todo_include_todos:
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for node in doctree.traverse(todo_node):
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node.parent.remove(node)
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# Replace all todolist nodes with a list of the collected todos.
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# Augment each todo with a backlink to the original location.
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env = app.builder.env
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for node in doctree.traverse(todolist):
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if not app.config.todo_include_todos:
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node.replace_self([])
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continue
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content = []
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for todo_info in env.todo_all_todos:
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para = nodes.paragraph()
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filename = env.doc2path(todo_info['docname'], base=None)
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description = (
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_('(The original entry is located in %s, line %d and can be found ') %
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(filename, todo_info['lineno']))
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para += nodes.Text(description, description)
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# Create a reference
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newnode = nodes.reference('', '')
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innernode = nodes.emphasis(_('here'), _('here'))
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newnode['refdocname'] = todo_info['docname']
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newnode['refuri'] = app.builder.get_relative_uri(
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fromdocname, todo_info['docname'])
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newnode['refuri'] += '#' + todo_info['target']['refid']
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newnode.append(innernode)
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para += newnode
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para += nodes.Text('.)', '.)')
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# Insert into the todolist
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content.append(todo_info['todo'])
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content.append(para)
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node.replace_self(content)
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It is a bit more involved. If our new "todo_include_todos" config value is
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false, all todo and todolist nodes are removed from the documents.
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If not, todo nodes just stay where and how they are. Todolist nodes are
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replaced by a list of todo entries, complete with backlinks to the location
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where they come from. The list items are composed of the nodes from the todo
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entry and docutils nodes created on the fly: a paragraph for each entry,
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containing text that gives the location, and a link (reference node containing
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an italic node) with the backreference. The reference URI is built by
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``app.builder.get_relative_uri`` which creates a suitable URI depending on the
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used builder, and appending the todo node's (the target's) ID as the anchor
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name.
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@ -9,17 +9,25 @@ Sphinx Extensions
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Since many projects will need special features in their documentation, Sphinx is
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designed to be extensible on several levels.
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First, you can add new :term:`builder`\s to support new output formats or
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actions on the parsed documents. Then, it is possible to register custom
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reStructuredText roles and directives, extending the markup. And finally, there
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are so-called "hook points" at strategic places throughout the build process,
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where an extension can register a hook and run specialized code.
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This is what you can do in an extension: First, you can add new
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:term:`builder`\s to support new output formats or actions on the parsed
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documents. Then, it is possible to register custom reStructuredText roles and
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directives, extending the markup. And finally, there are so-called "hook
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points" at strategic places throughout the build process, where an extension can
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register a hook and run specialized code.
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The configuration file itself can be an extension, see the :confval:`extensions`
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configuration value docs.
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An extension is simply a Python module. When an extension is loaded, Sphinx
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imports this module and executes its ``setup()`` function, which in turn
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notifies Sphinx of everything the extension offers -- see the extension tutorial
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for examples.
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The configuration file itself can be treated as an extension if it contains a
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``setup()`` function. All other extensions to load must be listed in the
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:confval:`extensions` configuration value.
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.. toctree::
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ext/tutorial
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ext/appapi
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ext/builderapi
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@ -48,4 +56,27 @@ Third-party extensions
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There are several extensions that are not (yet) maintained in the Sphinx
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distribution. The `Wiki at BitBucket`_ maintains a list of those.
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If you write an extension that you think others will find useful, please write
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to the project mailing list (sphinx-dev@googlegroups.com) and we'll find the
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proper way of including or hosting it for the public.
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.. _Wiki at BitBucket: http://www.bitbucket.org/birkenfeld/sphinx/wiki/Home
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Where to put your own extensions?
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Extensions local to a project should be put within the project's directory
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structure. Set Python's module search path, ``sys.path``, accordingly so that
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Sphinx can find them.
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E.g., if your extension ``foo.py`` lies in the ``exts`` subdirectory of the
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project root, put into :file:`conf.py`::
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import sys, os
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sys.path.append(os.path.abspath('exts'))
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extensions = ['foo']
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You can also install extensions anywhere else on ``sys.path``, e.g. in the
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``site-packages`` directory.
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