The third and final doc-string sweep by Ka-Ping Yee.

The attached patches update the standard library so that all modules
have docstrings beginning with one-line summaries.

A new docstring was added to formatter.  The docstring for os.py
was updated to mention nt, os2, ce in addition to posix, dos, mac.

Lib/quopri.py

 #! /usr/bin/env python
 
-# Conversions to/from quoted-printable transport encoding as per RFC-1521
+"""Conversions to/from quoted-printable transport encoding as per RFC-1521."""
+
 # (Dec 1991 version).
 
 ESCAPE = '='
@@ -8,11 +9,15 @@ MAXLINESIZE = 76
 HEX = '0123456789ABCDEF'
 
 def needsquoting(c, quotetabs):
+	"""Decide whether a particular character needs to be quoted.
+
+	The 'quotetabs' flag indicates whether tabs should be quoted."""
 	if c == '\t':
 		return not quotetabs
 	return c == ESCAPE or not(' ' <= c <= '~')
 
 def quote(c):
+	"""Quote a single character."""
 	if c == ESCAPE:
 		return ESCAPE * 2
 	else:
@@ -20,6 +25,10 @@ def quote(c):
 		return ESCAPE + HEX[i/16] + HEX[i%16]
 
 def encode(input, output, quotetabs):
+	"""Read 'input', apply quoted-printable encoding, and write to 'output'.
+
+	'input' and 'output' are files with readline() and write() methods.
+	The 'quotetabs' flag indicates whether tabs should be quoted."""
 	while 1:
 		line = input.readline()
 		if not line: break
@@ -42,6 +51,9 @@ def encode(input, output, quotetabs):
 			output.write(new + '\n')
 
 def decode(input, output):
+	"""Read 'input', apply quoted-printable decoding, and write to 'output'.
+
+	'input' and 'output' are files with readline() and write() methods."""
 	new = ''
 	while 1:
 		line = input.readline()
@@ -73,9 +85,11 @@ def decode(input, output):
 		output.write(new)
 
 def ishex(c):
+	"""Return true if the character 'c' is a hexadecimal digit."""
 	return '0' <= c <= '9' or 'a' <= c <= 'f' or 'A' <= c <= 'F'
 
 def unhex(s):
+	"""Get the integer value of a hexadecimal number."""
 	bits = 0
 	for c in s:
 		if '0' <= c <= '9':

Lib/random.py

-#	R A N D O M   V A R I A B L E   G E N E R A T O R S
-#
-#	distributions on the real line:
-#	------------------------------
-#	       normal (Gaussian)
-#	       lognormal
-#	       negative exponential
-#	       gamma
-#	       beta
-#
-#	distributions on the circle (angles 0 to 2pi)
-#	---------------------------------------------
-#	       circular uniform
-#	       von Mises
-
-# Translated from anonymously contributed C/C++ source.
-
-# Multi-threading note: the random number generator used here is not
-# thread-safe; it is possible that two calls return the same random
-# value.  See whrandom.py for more info.
+"""Random variable generators.
+
+    distributions on the real line:
+    ------------------------------
+           normal (Gaussian)
+           lognormal
+           negative exponential
+           gamma
+           beta
+
+    distributions on the circle (angles 0 to 2pi)
+    ---------------------------------------------
+           circular uniform
+           von Mises
+
+Translated from anonymously contributed C/C++ source.
+
+Multi-threading note: the random number generator used here is not
+thread-safe; it is possible that two calls return the same random
+value.  See whrandom.py for more info.
+"""
 
 import whrandom
 from whrandom import random, uniform, randint, choice, randrange # For export!

Lib/regex_syntax.py

-# These bits are passed to regex.set_syntax() to choose among
-# alternative regexp syntaxes.
+"""Constants for selecting regexp syntaxes for the obsolete regex module.
+
+This module is only for backward compatibility.  "regex" has now
+been replaced by the new regular expression module, "re".
+
+These bits are passed to regex.set_syntax() to choose among
+alternative regexp syntaxes.
+"""
 
 # 1 means plain parentheses serve as grouping, and backslash
 #   parentheses are needed for literal searching.

Lib/regsub.py

-# Regular expression subroutines:
-# sub(pat, repl, str): replace first occurrence of pattern in string
-# gsub(pat, repl, str): replace all occurrences of pattern in string
-# split(str, pat, maxsplit): split string using pattern as delimiter
-# splitx(str, pat, maxsplit): split string using pattern as delimiter plus
-#			      return delimiters
+"""Regexp-based split and replace using the obsolete regex module.
 
+This module is only for backward compatibility.  These operations
+are now provided by the new regular expression module, "re".
+
+sub(pat, repl, str):        replace first occurrence of pattern in string
+gsub(pat, repl, str):       replace all occurrences of pattern in string
+split(str, pat, maxsplit):  split string using pattern as delimiter
+splitx(str, pat, maxsplit): split string using pattern as delimiter plus
+                            return delimiters
+"""
 
 import regex
 

Lib/repr.py

-# Redo the `...` (representation) but with limits on most sizes.
+"""Redo the `...` (representation) but with limits on most sizes."""
 
 import string
 

Lib/sgmllib.py

-# A parser for SGML, using the derived class as static DTD.
+"""A parser for SGML, using the derived class as a static DTD."""
 
 # XXX This only supports those SGML features used by HTML.
 

Lib/shlex.py

+"""A lexical analyzer class for simple shell-like syntaxes."""
+
 # Module and documentation by Eric S. Raymond, 21 Dec 1998 
 
 import sys

Lib/shutil.py

-"""Utility functions for copying files.
+"""Utility functions for copying files and directory trees.
 
 XXX The functions here don't copy the resource fork or other metadata on Mac.
 

Lib/stat.py

-# Module 'stat'
-#
-# Defines constants and functions for interpreting stat/lstat struct
-# as returned by os.stat() and os.lstat() (if it exists).
-#
-# Suggested usage: from stat import *
-#
+"""Constants/functions for interpreting results of os.stat() and os.lstat().
+
+Suggested usage: from stat import *
+"""
+
 # XXX Strictly spoken, this module may have to be adapted for each POSIX
 # implementation; in practice, however, the numeric constants used by
 # stat() are almost universal (even for stat() emulations on non-UNIX

Lib/statcache.py

-# Module 'statcache'
-#
-# Maintain a cache of file stats.
-# There are functions to reset the cache or to selectively remove items.
+"""Maintain a cache of file stats.
+There are functions to reset the cache or to selectively remove items.
+"""
 
 import os
 from stat import *
@@ -12,42 +11,37 @@ from stat import *
 cache = {}
 
 
-# Stat a file, possibly out of the cache.
-#
 def stat(path):
+	"""Stat a file, possibly out of the cache."""
 	if cache.has_key(path):
 		return cache[path]
 	cache[path] = ret = os.stat(path)
 	return ret
 
 
-# Reset the cache completely.
-#
 def reset():
+	"""Reset the cache completely."""
 	global cache
 	cache = {}
 
 
-# Remove a given item from the cache, if it exists.
-#
 def forget(path):
+	"""Remove a given item from the cache, if it exists."""
 	if cache.has_key(path):
 		del cache[path]
 
 
-# Remove all pathnames with a given prefix.
-#
 def forget_prefix(prefix):
+	"""Remove all pathnames with a given prefix."""
 	n = len(prefix)
 	for path in cache.keys():
 		if path[:n] == prefix:
 			del cache[path]
 
 
-# Forget about a directory and all entries in it, but not about
-# entries in subdirectories.
-#
 def forget_dir(prefix):
+	"""Forget about a directory and all entries in it, but not about
+	entries in subdirectories."""
 	if prefix[-1:] == '/' and prefix <> '/':
 		prefix = prefix[:-1]
 	forget(prefix)
@@ -62,19 +56,17 @@ def forget_dir(prefix):
 				del cache[path]
 
 
-# Remove all pathnames except with a given prefix.
-# Normally used with prefix = '/' after a chdir().
-#
 def forget_except_prefix(prefix):
+	"""Remove all pathnames except with a given prefix.
+	Normally used with prefix = '/' after a chdir()."""
 	n = len(prefix)
 	for path in cache.keys():
 		if path[:n] <> prefix:
 			del cache[path]
 
 
-# Check for directory.
-#
 def isdir(path):
+	"""Check for directory."""
 	try:
 		st = stat(path)
 	except os.error:

Lib/statvfs.py

-# Module 'statvfs'
-#
-# Defines constants for interpreting statvfs struct as returned
-# by os.statvfs() and os.fstatvfs() (if they exist).
-#
+"""Constants for interpreting the results of os.statvfs() and os.fstatvfs()."""
 
 # Indices for statvfs struct members in the tuple returned by
 # os.statvfs() and os.fstatvfs().

Lib/string.py

-# module 'string' -- A collection of string operations
+"""A collection of string operations (most are no longer used in Python 1.6).
 
-# Warning: most of the code you see here isn't normally used nowadays.  With
-# Python 1.6, many of these functions are implemented as methods on the
-# standard string object. They used to be implemented by a built-in module
-# called strop, but strop is now obsolete itself.
-
-"""Common string manipulations.
+Warning: most of the code you see here isn't normally used nowadays.  With
+Python 1.6, many of these functions are implemented as methods on the
+standard string object. They used to be implemented by a built-in module
+called strop, but strop is now obsolete itself.
 
 Public module variables:
 

Lib/sunau.py

-# Stuff to parse Sun and NeXT audio files.
-#
-# An audio consists of a header followed by the data.  The structure
-# of the header is as follows.
-#
-#	+---------------+
-#	| magic word    |
-#	+---------------+
-#	| header size   |
-#	+---------------+
-#	| data size     |
-#	+---------------+
-#	| encoding      |
-#	+---------------+
-#	| sample rate   |
-#	+---------------+
-#	| # of channels |
-#	+---------------+
-#	| info          |
-#	|               |
-#	+---------------+
-#
-# The magic word consists of the 4 characters '.snd'.  Apart from the
-# info field, all header fields are 4 bytes in size.  They are all
-# 32-bit unsigned integers encoded in big-endian byte order.
-#
-# The header size really gives the start of the data.
-# The data size is the physical size of the data.  From the other
-# parameter the number of frames can be calculated.
-# The encoding gives the way in which audio samples are encoded.
-# Possible values are listed below.
-# The info field currently consists of an ASCII string giving a
-# human-readable description of the audio file.  The info field is
-# padded with NUL bytes to the header size.
-#
-# Usage.
-#
-# Reading audio files:
-#	f = sunau.open(file, 'r')
-# where file is either the name of a file or an open file pointer.
-# The open file pointer must have methods read(), seek(), and close().
-# When the setpos() and rewind() methods are not used, the seek()
-# method is not  necessary.
-#
-# This returns an instance of a class with the following public methods:
-#	getnchannels()	-- returns number of audio channels (1 for
-#			   mono, 2 for stereo)
-#	getsampwidth()	-- returns sample width in bytes
-#	getframerate()	-- returns sampling frequency
-#	getnframes()	-- returns number of audio frames
-#	getcomptype()	-- returns compression type ('NONE' or 'ULAW')
-#	getcompname()	-- returns human-readable version of
-#			   compression type ('not compressed' matches 'NONE')
-#	getparams()	-- returns a tuple consisting of all of the
-#			   above in the above order
-#	getmarkers()	-- returns None (for compatibility with the
-#			   aifc module)
-#	getmark(id)	-- raises an error since the mark does not
-#			   exist (for compatibility with the aifc module)
-#	readframes(n)	-- returns at most n frames of audio
-#	rewind()	-- rewind to the beginning of the audio stream
-#	setpos(pos)	-- seek to the specified position
-#	tell()		-- return the current position
-#	close()		-- close the instance (make it unusable)
-# The position returned by tell() and the position given to setpos()
-# are compatible and have nothing to do with the actual postion in the
-# file.
-# The close() method is called automatically when the class instance
-# is destroyed.
-#
-# Writing audio files:
-#	f = sunau.open(file, 'w')
-# where file is either the name of a file or an open file pointer.
-# The open file pointer must have methods write(), tell(), seek(), and
-# close().
-#
-# This returns an instance of a class with the following public methods:
-#	setnchannels(n)	-- set the number of channels
-#	setsampwidth(n)	-- set the sample width
-#	setframerate(n)	-- set the frame rate
-#	setnframes(n)	-- set the number of frames
-#	setcomptype(type, name)
-#			-- set the compression type and the
-#			   human-readable compression type
-#	setparams(tuple)-- set all parameters at once
-#	tell()		-- return current position in output file
-#	writeframesraw(data)
-#			-- write audio frames without pathing up the
-#			   file header
-#	writeframes(data)
-#			-- write audio frames and patch up the file header
-#	close()		-- patch up the file header and close the
-#			   output file
-# You should set the parameters before the first writeframesraw or
-# writeframes.  The total number of frames does not need to be set,
-# but when it is set to the correct value, the header does not have to
-# be patched up.
-# It is best to first set all parameters, perhaps possibly the
-# compression type, and then write audio frames using writeframesraw.
-# When all frames have been written, either call writeframes('') or
-# close() to patch up the sizes in the header.
-# The close() method is called automatically when the class instance
-# is destroyed.
+"""Stuff to parse Sun and NeXT audio files.
+
+An audio consists of a header followed by the data.  The structure
+of the header is as follows.
+
+        +---------------+
+        | magic word    |
+        +---------------+
+        | header size   |
+        +---------------+
+        | data size     |
+        +---------------+
+        | encoding      |
+        +---------------+
+        | sample rate   |
+        +---------------+
+        | # of channels |
+        +---------------+
+        | info          |
+        |               |
+        +---------------+
+
+The magic word consists of the 4 characters '.snd'.  Apart from the
+info field, all header fields are 4 bytes in size.  They are all
+32-bit unsigned integers encoded in big-endian byte order.
+
+The header size really gives the start of the data.
+The data size is the physical size of the data.  From the other
+parameter the number of frames can be calculated.
+The encoding gives the way in which audio samples are encoded.
+Possible values are listed below.
+The info field currently consists of an ASCII string giving a
+human-readable description of the audio file.  The info field is
+padded with NUL bytes to the header size.
+
+Usage.
+
+Reading audio files:
+        f = sunau.open(file, 'r')
+where file is either the name of a file or an open file pointer.
+The open file pointer must have methods read(), seek(), and close().
+When the setpos() and rewind() methods are not used, the seek()
+method is not  necessary.
+
+This returns an instance of a class with the following public methods:
+        getnchannels()	-- returns number of audio channels (1 for
+        		   mono, 2 for stereo)
+        getsampwidth()	-- returns sample width in bytes
+        getframerate()	-- returns sampling frequency
+        getnframes()	-- returns number of audio frames
+        getcomptype()	-- returns compression type ('NONE' or 'ULAW')
+        getcompname()	-- returns human-readable version of
+        		   compression type ('not compressed' matches 'NONE')
+        getparams()	-- returns a tuple consisting of all of the
+        		   above in the above order
+        getmarkers()	-- returns None (for compatibility with the
+        		   aifc module)
+        getmark(id)	-- raises an error since the mark does not
+        		   exist (for compatibility with the aifc module)
+        readframes(n)	-- returns at most n frames of audio
+        rewind()	-- rewind to the beginning of the audio stream
+        setpos(pos)	-- seek to the specified position
+        tell()		-- return the current position
+        close()		-- close the instance (make it unusable)
+The position returned by tell() and the position given to setpos()
+are compatible and have nothing to do with the actual postion in the
+file.
+The close() method is called automatically when the class instance
+is destroyed.
+
+Writing audio files:
+        f = sunau.open(file, 'w')
+where file is either the name of a file or an open file pointer.
+The open file pointer must have methods write(), tell(), seek(), and
+close().
+
+This returns an instance of a class with the following public methods:
+        setnchannels(n)	-- set the number of channels
+        setsampwidth(n)	-- set the sample width
+        setframerate(n)	-- set the frame rate
+        setnframes(n)	-- set the number of frames
+        setcomptype(type, name)
+        		-- set the compression type and the
+        		   human-readable compression type
+        setparams(tuple)-- set all parameters at once
+        tell()		-- return current position in output file
+        writeframesraw(data)
+        		-- write audio frames without pathing up the
+        		   file header
+        writeframes(data)
+        		-- write audio frames and patch up the file header
+        close()		-- patch up the file header and close the
+        		   output file
+You should set the parameters before the first writeframesraw or
+writeframes.  The total number of frames does not need to be set,
+but when it is set to the correct value, the header does not have to
+be patched up.
+It is best to first set all parameters, perhaps possibly the
+compression type, and then write audio frames using writeframesraw.
+When all frames have been written, either call writeframes('') or
+close() to patch up the sizes in the header.
+The close() method is called automatically when the class instance
+is destroyed.
+"""
 
 # from <multimedia/audio_filehdr.h>
 AUDIO_FILE_MAGIC = 0x2e736e64

Lib/sunaudio.py

-# Module 'sunaudio' -- interpret sun audio headers
+"""Interpret sun audio headers."""
 
 MAGIC = '.snd'
 
 error = 'sunaudio sound header conversion error'
 
 
-# convert a 4-char value to integer
-
 def get_long_be(s):
+	"""Convert a 4-char value to integer."""
 	return (ord(s[0])<<24) | (ord(s[1])<<16) | (ord(s[2])<<8) | ord(s[3])
 
 
-# read a sound header from an open file
-
 def gethdr(fp):
+	"""Read a sound header from an open file."""
 	if fp.read(4) <> MAGIC:
 		raise error, 'gethdr: bad magic word'
 	hdr_size = get_long_be(fp.read(4))
@@ -31,9 +29,8 @@ def gethdr(fp):
 	return (data_size, encoding, sample_rate, channels, info)
 
 
-# read and print the sound header of a named file
-
 def printhdr(file):
+	"""Read and print the sound header of a named file."""
 	hdr = gethdr(open(file, 'r'))
 	data_size, encoding, sample_rate, channels, info = hdr
 	while info[-1:] == '\0':

Lib/symbol.py

 #! /usr/bin/env python
-#
-#  Non-terminal symbols of Python grammar (from "graminit.h")
-#
+
+"""Non-terminal symbols of Python grammar (from "graminit.h")."""
+
 #  This file is automatically generated; please don't muck it up!
 #
 #  To update the symbols in this file, 'cd' to the top directory of

Lib/tempfile.py

-# Temporary file name allocation
-#
+"""Temporary files and filenames."""
+
 # XXX This tries to be not UNIX specific, but I don't know beans about
 # how to choose a temp directory or filename on MS-DOS or other
 # systems so it may have to be changed...
@@ -14,9 +14,8 @@ tempdir = None
 template = None
 
 
-# Function to calculate the directory to use
-
 def gettempdir():
+    """Function to calculate the directory to use."""
     global tempdir
     if tempdir is not None:
         return tempdir
@@ -58,11 +57,10 @@ def gettempdir():
     return tempdir
 
 
-# Function to calculate a prefix of the filename to use
-
 _pid = None
 
 def gettempprefix():
+    """Function to calculate a prefix of the filename to use."""
     global template, _pid
     if os.name == 'posix' and _pid and _pid != os.getpid():
         # Our pid changed; we must have forked -- zap the template
@@ -85,9 +83,8 @@ def gettempprefix():
 counter = 0
 
 
-# User-callable function to return a unique temporary file name
-
 def mktemp(suffix=""):
+    """User-callable function to return a unique temporary file name."""
     global counter
     dir = gettempdir()
     pre = gettempprefix()
@@ -126,6 +123,7 @@ class TemporaryFileWrapper:
 
 
 def TemporaryFile(mode='w+b', bufsize=-1, suffix=""):
+    """Create and return a temporary file (opened read-write by default)."""
     name = mktemp(suffix)
     if os.name == 'posix':
         # Unix -- be very careful

Lib/threading.py

-# threading.py:
-# Proposed new threading module, emulating a subset of Java's threading model
+"""Proposed new threading module, emulating a subset of Java's threading model."""
 
 import sys
 import time

Lib/toaiff.py

-# Convert "arbitrary" sound files to AIFF files (Apple and SGI's audio format).
-# Input may be compressed.
-# Uncompressed file type may be AIFF, WAV, VOC, 8SVX, NeXT/Sun, and others.
-# An exception is raised if the file is not of a recognized type.
-# Returned filename is either the input filename or a temporary filename;
-# in the latter case the caller must ensure that it is removed.
-# Other temporary files used are removed by the function.
+"""Convert "arbitrary" sound files to AIFF (Apple and SGI's audio format).
+
+Input may be compressed.
+Uncompressed file type may be AIFF, WAV, VOC, 8SVX, NeXT/Sun, and others.
+An exception is raised if the file is not of a recognized type.
+Returned filename is either the input filename or a temporary filename;
+in the latter case the caller must ensure that it is removed.
+Other temporary files used are removed by the function.
+"""
 
 import os
 import tempfile

Lib/token.py

 #! /usr/bin/env python
-#
-#  Tokens (from "token.h")
-#
+
+"""Token constants (from "token.h")."""
+
 #  This file is automatically generated; please don't muck it up!
 #
 #  To update the symbols in this file, 'cd' to the top directory of

Lib/traceback.py

-# Format and print Python stack traces
+"""Extract, format and print information about Python stack traces."""
 
 import linecache
 import string
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ def _print(file, str='', terminator='\n'):
 
 
 def print_list(extracted_list, file=None):
+	"""Print the list of tuples as returned by extract_tb() or
+	extract_stack() as a formatted stack trace to the given file."""
 	if not file:
 		file = sys.stderr
 	for filename, lineno, name, line in extracted_list:
@@ -19,6 +21,12 @@ def print_list(extracted_list, file=None):
 			_print(file, '    %s' % string.strip(line))
 
 def format_list(extracted_list):
+	"""Given a list of tuples as returned by extract_tb() or
+	extract_stack(), return a list of strings ready for printing.
+	Each string in the resulting list corresponds to the item with
+	the same index in the argument list.  Each string ends in a
+	newline; the strings may contain internal newlines as well, for
+	those items whose source text line is not None."""
 	list = []
 	for filename, lineno, name, line in extracted_list:
 		item = '  File "%s", line %d, in %s\n' % (filename,lineno,name)
@@ -29,6 +37,10 @@ def format_list(extracted_list):
 	
 
 def print_tb(tb, limit=None, file=None):
+	"""Print up to 'limit' stack trace entries from the traceback 'tb'.
+	If 'limit' is omitted or None, all entries are printed.  If 'file' is
+	omitted or None, the output goes to sys.stderr; otherwise 'file'
+	should be an open file or file-like object with a write() method."""
 	if not file:
 		file = sys.stderr
 	if limit is None:
@@ -49,9 +61,18 @@ def print_tb(tb, limit=None, file=None):
 		n = n+1
 
 def format_tb(tb, limit = None):
+	"""A shorthand for 'format_list(extract_stack(f, limit))."""
 	return format_list(extract_tb(tb, limit))
 
 def extract_tb(tb, limit = None):
+	"""Return a list of up to 'limit' pre-processed stack trace entries
+	extracted from the traceback object 'traceback'.  This is useful for
+	alternate formatting of stack traces.  If 'limit' is omitted or None,
+	all entries are extracted.  A pre-processed stack trace entry is a
+	quadruple (filename, line number, function name, text) representing
+	the information that is usually printed for a stack trace.  The text
+	is a string with leading and trailing whitespace stripped; if the
+	source is not available it is None."""
 	if limit is None:
 		if hasattr(sys, 'tracebacklimit'):
 			limit = sys.tracebacklimit
@@ -73,6 +94,14 @@ def extract_tb(tb, limit = None):
 
 
 def print_exception(etype, value, tb, limit=None, file=None):
+	"""Print exception information and up to 'limit' stack trace entries
+	from the traceback 'tb' to 'file'.  This differs from print_tb() in
+	the following ways: (1) if traceback is not None, it prints a header
+	"Traceback (innermost last):"; (2) it prints the exception type and
+	value after the stack trace; (3) if type is SyntaxError and value has
+	the appropriate format, it prints the line where the syntax error
+	occurred with a caret on the next line indicating the approximate
+	position of the error."""
 	if not file:
 		file = sys.stderr
 	if tb:
@@ -84,6 +113,12 @@ def print_exception(etype, value, tb, limit=None, file=None):
 	_print(file, lines[-1], '')
 
 def format_exception(etype, value, tb, limit = None):
+	"""Format a stack trace and the exception information.  The arguments
+	have the same meaning as the corresponding arguments to
+	print_exception().  The return value is a list of strings, each
+	ending in a newline and some containing internal newlines.  When 
+	these lines are contatenated and printed, exactly the same text is
+	printed as does print_exception()."""
 	if tb:
 		list = ['Traceback (innermost last):\n']
 		list = list + format_tb(tb, limit)
@@ -93,6 +128,14 @@ def format_exception(etype, value, tb, limit = None):
 	return list
 
 def format_exception_only(etype, value):
+	"""Format the exception part of a traceback.  The arguments are the
+	exception type and value such as given by sys.last_type and
+	sys.last_value. The return value is a list of strings, each ending
+	in a newline.  Normally, the list contains a single string;
+	however, for SyntaxError exceptions, it contains several lines that
+	(when printed) display detailed information about where the syntax
+	error occurred.  The message indicating which exception occurred is
+	the always last string in the list."""
 	list = []
 	if type(etype) == types.ClassType:
 		stype = etype.__name__
@@ -128,6 +171,10 @@ def format_exception_only(etype, value):
 
 
 def print_exc(limit=None, file=None):
+	"""This is a shorthand for 'print_exception(sys.exc_type,
+	sys.exc_value, sys.exc_traceback, limit, file)'.
+	(In fact, it uses sys.exc_info() to retrieve the same information
+	in a thread-safe way.)"""
 	if not file:
 		file = sys.stderr
 	try:
@@ -137,6 +184,8 @@ def print_exc(limit=None, file=None):
 	    etype = value = tb = None
 
 def print_last(limit=None, file=None):
+	"""This is a shorthand for 'print_exception(sys.last_type,
+	sys.last_value, sys.last_traceback, limit, file)'."""
 	if not file:
 		file = sys.stderr
 	print_exception(sys.last_type, sys.last_value, sys.last_traceback,
@@ -144,6 +193,10 @@ def print_last(limit=None, file=None):
 
 
 def print_stack(f=None, limit=None, file=None):
+	"""This function prints a stack trace from its invocation point.
+	The optional 'f' argument can be used to specify an alternate stack
+	frame at which to start. The optional 'limit' and 'file' arguments
+	have the same meaning as for print_exception()."""
 	if f is None:
 		try:
 			raise ZeroDivisionError
@@ -152,6 +205,7 @@ def print_stack(f=None, limit=None, file=None):
 	print_list(extract_stack(f, limit), file)
 
 def format_stack(f=None, limit=None):
+	"""A shorthand for 'format_list(extract_stack(f, limit))'."""
 	if f is None:
 		try:
 			raise ZeroDivisionError
@@ -160,6 +214,12 @@ def format_stack(f=None, limit=None):
 	return format_list(extract_stack(f, limit))
 
 def extract_stack(f=None, limit = None):
+	"""Extract the raw traceback from the current stack frame.  The
+	return value has the same format as for extract_tb().  The optional
+	'f' and 'limit' arguments have the same meaning as for print_stack(). 
+	Each item in the list is a quadruple (filename, line number,
+	function name, text), and the entries are in order from outermost
+	to innermost stack frame."""
 	if f is None:
 		try:
 			raise ZeroDivisionError
@@ -184,13 +244,14 @@ def extract_stack(f=None, limit = None):
 	list.reverse()
 	return list
 
-# Calculate the correct line number of the traceback given in tb (even
-# with -O on).
-# Coded by Marc-Andre Lemburg from the example of PyCode_Addr2Line()
-# in compile.c.
-# Revised version by Jim Hugunin to work with JPython too.
-
 def tb_lineno(tb):
+	"""Calculate the correct line number of the traceback given in tb
+	(even with -O on)."""
+
+	# Coded by Marc-Andre Lemburg from the example of PyCode_Addr2Line()
+	# in compile.c.
+	# Revised version by Jim Hugunin to work with JPython too.
+
 	c = tb.tb_frame.f_code
 	if not hasattr(c, 'co_lnotab'):
 		return tb.tb_lineno

Lib/tty.py

-# tty.py -- Terminal utilities.
+"""Terminal utilities."""
+
 # Author: Steen Lumholt.
 
 from TERMIOS import *
@@ -13,8 +14,8 @@ ISPEED = 4
 OSPEED = 5
 CC = 6
 
-# Put terminal into a raw mode.
 def setraw(fd, when=TCSAFLUSH):
+	"""Put terminal into a raw mode."""
 	mode = tcgetattr(fd)
 	mode[IFLAG] = mode[IFLAG] & ~(BRKINT | ICRNL | INPCK | ISTRIP | IXON)
 	mode[OFLAG] = mode[OFLAG] & ~(OPOST)
@@ -25,8 +26,8 @@ def setraw(fd, when=TCSAFLUSH):
 	mode[CC][VTIME] = 0
 	tcsetattr(fd, when, mode)
 
-# Put terminal into a cbreak mode.
 def setcbreak(fd, when=TCSAFLUSH):
+	"""Put terminal into a cbreak mode."""
 	mode = tcgetattr(fd)
 	mode[LFLAG] = mode[LFLAG] & ~(ECHO | ICANON)
 	mode[CC][VMIN] = 1

Lib/types.py

-# Define names for all type symbols known in the standard interpreter.
-# Types that are part of optional modules (e.g. array) are not listed.
+"""Define names for all type symbols known in the standard interpreter.
+
+Types that are part of optional modules (e.g. array) are not listed.
+"""
 
 import sys
 

Lib/tzparse.py

-# Parse a timezone specification.
+"""Parse a timezone specification."""
+
 # XXX Unfinished.
 # XXX Only the typical form "XXXhhYYY;ddd/hh,ddd/hh" is currently supported.
 
@@ -8,6 +9,12 @@ tzpat = ('^([A-Z][A-Z][A-Z])([-+]?[0-9]+)([A-Z][A-Z][A-Z]);'
 tzprog = None
 
 def tzparse(tzstr):
+	"""Given a timezone spec, return a tuple of information
+	(tzname, delta, dstname, daystart, hourstart, dayend, hourend),
+	where 'tzname' is the name of the timezone, 'delta' is the offset
+	in hours from GMT, 'dstname' is the name of the daylight-saving
+	timezone, and 'daystart'/'hourstart' and 'dayend'/'hourend'
+	specify the starting and ending points for daylight saving time."""
 	global tzprog
 	if tzprog == None:
 		import re
@@ -24,6 +31,9 @@ def tzparse(tzstr):
 	return (tzname, delta, dstname, daystart, hourstart, dayend, hourend)
 
 def tzlocaltime(secs, params):
+	"""Given a Unix time in seconds and a tuple of information about
+	a timezone as returned by tzparse(), return the local time in the
+	form (year, month, day, hour, min, sec, yday, wday, tzname)."""
 	import time
 	(tzname, delta, dstname, daystart, hourstart, dayend, hourend) = params
 	year, month, days, hours, mins, secs, yday, wday, isdst = \
@@ -34,6 +44,7 @@ def tzlocaltime(secs, params):
 	return year, month, days, hours, mins, secs, yday, wday, tzname
 
 def tzset():
+	"""Determine the current timezone from the "TZ" environment variable."""
 	global tzparams, timezone, altzone, daylight, tzname
 	import os
 	tzstr = os.environ['TZ']
@@ -44,6 +55,8 @@ def tzset():
 	tzname = tzparams[0], tzparams[2]
 
 def isdst(secs):
+	"""Return true if daylight-saving time is in effect for the given
+	Unix time in the current timezone."""
 	import time
 	(tzname, delta, dstname, daystart, hourstart, dayend, hourend) = \
 		tzparams
@@ -54,6 +67,7 @@ def isdst(secs):
 tzset()
 
 def localtime(secs):
+	"""Get the local time in the current timezone."""
 	return tzlocaltime(secs, tzparams)
 
 def test():

Lib/urllib2.py

-"""An extensible library for opening URLs using a variety protocols
+"""An extensible library for opening URLs using a variety of protocols
 
 The simplest way to use this module is to call the urlopen function,
 which accepts a string containing a URL or a Request object (described 

Lib/urlparse.py

-# Parse (absolute and relative) URLs.  See RFC 1808: "Relative Uniform
-# Resource Locators", by R. Fielding, UC Irvine, June 1995.
+"""Parse (absolute and relative) URLs.
+
+See RFC 1808: "Relative Uniform Resource Locators", by R. Fielding,
+UC Irvine, June 1995.
+"""
 
 # Standard/builtin Python modules
 import string
@@ -39,12 +42,12 @@ def clear_cache():
     _parse_cache = {}
 
 
-# Parse a URL into 6 components:
-# <scheme>://<netloc>/<path>;<params>?<query>#<fragment>
-# Return a 6-tuple: (scheme, netloc, path, params, query, fragment).
-# Note that we don't break the components up in smaller bits
-# (e.g. netloc is a single string) and we don't expand % escapes.
 def urlparse(url, scheme = '', allow_fragments = 1):
+	"""Parse a URL into 6 components:
+	<scheme>://<netloc>/<path>;<params>?<query>#<fragment>
+	Return a 6-tuple: (scheme, netloc, path, params, query, fragment).
+	Note that we don't break the components up in smaller bits
+	(e.g. netloc is a single string) and we don't expand % escapes."""
 	key = url, scheme, allow_fragments
 	cached = _parse_cache.get(key, None)
 	if cached:
@@ -107,11 +110,11 @@ def urlparse(url, scheme = '', allow_fragments = 1):
 	_parse_cache[key] = tuple
 	return tuple
 
-# Put a parsed URL back together again.  This may result in a slightly
-# different, but equivalent URL, if the URL that was parsed originally
-# had redundant delimiters, e.g. a ? with an empty query (the draft
-# states that these are equivalent).
 def urlunparse((scheme, netloc, url, params, query, fragment)):
+	"""Put a parsed URL back together again.  This may result in a
+	slightly different, but equivalent URL, if the URL that was parsed
+	originally had redundant delimiters, e.g. a ? with an empty query
+	(the draft states that these are equivalent)."""
 	if netloc or (scheme in uses_netloc and url[:2] == '//'):
 		if url[:1] != '/': url = '/' + url
 		url = '//' + (netloc or '') + url
@@ -125,9 +128,9 @@ def urlunparse((scheme, netloc, url, params, query, fragment)):
 		url = url + '#' + fragment
 	return url
 
-# Join a base URL and a possibly relative URL to form an absolute
-# interpretation of the latter.
 def urljoin(base, url, allow_fragments = 1):
+	"""Join a base URL and a possibly relative URL to form an absolute
+	interpretation of the latter."""
 	if not base:
 		return url
 	bscheme, bnetloc, bpath, bparams, bquery, bfragment = \

Lib/uu.py

@@ -23,11 +23,12 @@
 #   between ascii and binary. This results in a 1000-fold speedup. The C
 #   version is still 5 times faster, though.
 # - Arguments more compliant with python standard
-#
-# This file implements the UUencode and UUdecode functions.
 
-# encode(in_file, out_file [,name, mode])
-# decode(in_file [, out_file, mode])
+"""Implementation of the UUencode and UUdecode functions.
+
+encode(in_file, out_file [,name, mode])
+decode(in_file [, out_file, mode])
+"""
 
 import binascii
 import os

Lib/whrandom.py

-#	WICHMANN-HILL RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR
-#
-#	Wichmann, B. A. & Hill, I. D. (1982)
-#	Algorithm AS 183: 
-#	An efficient and portable pseudo-random number generator
-#	Applied Statistics 31 (1982) 188-190
-#
-#	see also: 
-#		Correction to Algorithm AS 183
-#		Applied Statistics 33 (1984) 123  
-#
-#		McLeod, A. I. (1985)
-#		A remark on Algorithm AS 183 
-#		Applied Statistics 34 (1985),198-200
-#
-#
-#	USE:
-#	whrandom.random()	yields double precision random numbers 
-#				uniformly distributed between 0 and 1.
-#
-#	whrandom.seed(x, y, z)	must be called before whrandom.random()
-#				to seed the generator
-#
-#	There is also an interface to create multiple independent
-#	random generators, and to choose from other ranges.
-
-
-#	Translated by Guido van Rossum from C source provided by
-#	Adrian Baddeley.
-
-
-# Multi-threading note: the random number generator used here is not
-# thread-safe; it is possible that nearly simultaneous calls in
-# different theads return the same random value.  To avoid this, you
-# have to use a lock around all calls.  (I didn't want to slow this
-# down in the serial case by using a lock here.)
+"""Wichman-Hill random number generator.
 
+Wichmann, B. A. & Hill, I. D. (1982)
+Algorithm AS 183: 
+An efficient and portable pseudo-random number generator
+Applied Statistics 31 (1982) 188-190
+
+see also: 
+        Correction to Algorithm AS 183
+        Applied Statistics 33 (1984) 123  
+
+        McLeod, A. I. (1985)
+        A remark on Algorithm AS 183 
+        Applied Statistics 34 (1985),198-200
+
+
+USE:
+whrandom.random()       yields double precision random numbers 
+                        uniformly distributed between 0 and 1.
+
+whrandom.seed(x, y, z)  must be called before whrandom.random()
+                        to seed the generator
+
+There is also an interface to create multiple independent
+random generators, and to choose from other ranges.
+
+
+Translated by Guido van Rossum from C source provided by
+Adrian Baddeley.
+
+
+
+Multi-threading note: the random number generator used here is not
+thread-safe; it is possible that nearly simultaneous calls in
+different theads return the same random value.  To avoid this, you
+have to use a lock around all calls.  (I didn't want to slow this
+down in the serial case by using a lock here.)
+"""
 
 class whrandom:
-	#
-	# Initialize an instance.
-	# Without arguments, initialize from current time.
-	# With arguments (x, y, z), initialize from them.
-	#
 	def __init__(self, x = 0, y = 0, z = 0):
+		"""Initialize an instance.
+		Without arguments, initialize from current time.
+		With arguments (x, y, z), initialize from them."""
 		self.seed(x, y, z)
-	#
-	# Set the seed from (x, y, z).
-	# These must be integers in the range [0, 256).
-	#
+
 	def seed(self, x = 0, y = 0, z = 0):
+		"""Set the seed from (x, y, z).
+		These must be integers in the range [0, 256)."""
 		if not type(x) == type(y) == type(z) == type(0):
 			raise TypeError, 'seeds must be integers'
 		if not (0 <= x < 256 and 0 <= y < 256 and 0 <= z < 256):
@@ -63,10 +61,9 @@ class whrandom:
 			t, z = divmod(t, 256)
 		# Zero is a poor seed, so substitute 1
 		self._seed = (x or 1, y or 1, z or 1)
-	#
-	# Get the next random number in the range [0.0, 1.0).
-	#
+
 	def random(self):
+		"""Get the next random number in the range [0.0, 1.0)."""
 		# This part is thread-unsafe:
 		# BEGIN CRITICAL SECTION
 		x, y, z = self._seed
@@ -79,30 +76,25 @@ class whrandom:
 		# END CRITICAL SECTION
 		#
 		return (x/30269.0 + y/30307.0 + z/30323.0) % 1.0
-	#
-	# Get a random number in the range [a, b).
-	#
+
 	def uniform(self, a, b):
+		"""Get a random number in the range [a, b)."""
 		return a + (b-a) * self.random()
-	#
-	# Get a random integer in the range [a, b] including both end points.
-	# (Deprecated; use randrange below.)
-	#
+
 	def randint(self, a, b):
+		"""Get a random integer in the range [a, b] including both end points.
+		(Deprecated; use randrange below.)"""
 		return self.randrange(a, b+1)
-	#
-	# Choose a random element from a non-empty sequence.
-	#
+
 	def choice(self, seq):
+		"""Choose a random element from a non-empty sequence."""
 		return seq[int(self.random() * len(seq))]
-	#
-	# Choose a random item from range([start,] step[, stop]).
-	# This fixes the problem with randint() which includes the
-	# endpoint; in Python this is usually not what you want.
-	#
-	def randrange(self, start, stop=None, step=1,
-		      # Do not supply the following arguments
-		      int=int, default=None):
+
+	def randrange(self, start, stop=None, step=1, int=int, default=None):
+		"""Choose a random item from range([start,] step[, stop]).
+		This fixes the problem with randint() which includes the
+		endpoint; in Python this is usually not what you want.
+	    Do not supply the 'int' and 'default' arguments."""
 		# This code is a bit messy to make it fast for the
 		# common case while still doing adequate error checking
 		istart = int(start)
@@ -136,7 +128,6 @@ class whrandom:
 
 
 # Initialize from the current time
-#
 _inst = whrandom()
 seed = _inst.seed
 random = _inst.random