4 -------------------------------------------------
5 Markup Syntax and Parser Component of Docutils_
6 -------------------------------------------------
12 reStructuredText is an easy-to-read, what-you-see-is-what-you-get
13 plaintext markup syntax and parser system. It is useful for in-line
14 program documentation (such as Python docstrings), for quickly
15 creating simple web pages, and for standalone documents.
16 reStructuredText is designed for extensibility for specific
17 application domains. The reStructuredText parser is a component of
18 Docutils_. reStructuredText is a revision and reinterpretation of the
19 StructuredText_ and Setext_ lightweight markup systems.
21 The primary goal of reStructuredText is to define and implement a
22 markup syntax for use in Python docstrings and other documentation
23 domains, that is readable and simple, yet powerful enough for
24 non-trivial use. The intended purpose of the markup is the conversion
25 of reStructuredText documents into useful structured data formats.
27 See statemachine.py_ for an example of a Python module fully
28 documented using reStructuredText.
34 - `A ReStructuredText Primer`__ (HTML file, or `text source`__).
35 - `Quick reStructuredText`__ (user reference)
36 - `reStructuredText Cheat Sheet`__ (text only; 1 page for syntax, 1
37 page directive & role reference)
39 Users who have questions or need assistance with Docutils or
40 reStructuredText should post a message to the Docutils-users_ mailing
43 __ docs/user/rst/quickstart.html
44 __ docs/user/rst/quickstart.txt
45 __ docs/user/rst/quickref.html
46 __ docs/user/rst/cheatsheet.txt
47 .. _Docutils-users: docs/user/mailing-lists.html#docutils-users
50 Reference Documentation
51 =======================
53 - `An Introduction to reStructuredText`__ (includes the Goals__ and
54 History__ of reStructuredText)
55 - `reStructuredText Markup Specification`__
56 - `reStructuredText Directives`__
57 - `reStructuredText Interpreted Text Roles`__
59 __ docs/ref/rst/introduction.html
60 __ docs/ref/rst/introduction.html#goals
61 __ docs/ref/rst/introduction.html#history
62 __ docs/ref/rst/restructuredtext.html
63 __ docs/ref/rst/directives.html
64 __ docs/ref/rst/roles.html
67 Developer Documentation
68 =======================
70 - `A Record of reStructuredText Syntax Alternatives`__
71 - `Problems With StructuredText`__
73 __ docs/dev/rst/alternatives.html
74 __ docs/dev/rst/problems.html
80 - `Creating reStructuredText Directives`__
81 - `Creating reStructuredText Interpreted Text Roles`__
83 __ docs/howto/rst-directives.html
84 __ docs/howto/rst-roles.html
90 The following testimonials are excerpts from unsolicited posts to
91 mailing lists and the comp.lang.python newsgroup. Being excerpts,
92 there's often context missing, which sometimes tones down the message.
94 `Ueli Schlaepfer on Doc-SIG, 2002-03-28`__:
96 __ http://mail.python.org/pipermail/doc-sig/2002-March/002526.html
98 I have adopted reST as my tool of choice for producing notes while
99 doing lab work (mostly in a matlab environment). Since then, the
100 quality of such documentation has increased noticeably, mostly for
103 - I no longer need to switch to another tool, so the threshold has
104 fallen to very low. Note that "another tool" means Winword...
105 - Still, I have a powerful set of markup constructs at my
106 fingertips that let me create the kind of documents I need with
107 more ease than any other tool I can think of.
109 Thanks to reST/DPS [now Docutils --ed], I'll soon be able to go
110 ahead and apply the same tools for extracting documentation out of
111 my Python code. Hey, that's a printable and a browsable version
112 *for free*! Personally, I consider this a large benefit.
114 ... All essential constructs for everyday use are there, and much
117 `Guido van Rossum, enthusiastic about PEP 287 but a bit hasty (see the
118 follow-ups) on Python-Dev, 2002-04-02`__:
120 __ http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-April/022131.html
122 Good PEP, David! What's the next step? Should the processing
123 code be incorporated in the standard library? Should we start
124 converting the standard library docs to reStructuredText?
126 `Timothy Delaney on comp.lang.python, 2002-04-03`__:
128 __ http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2002-April/096013.html
130 I read through all the reStructuredText docs, comparing the text
131 versions to the html versions. I found the text versions to be
132 *very* easy to read, whilst making it obvious in most cases when
133 something was "special".
135 I particularly like the system of doing hyperlinks...
137 Definitely +1 from me ... I would really like a standard, clean
138 docstring format. Might make it easier to get my next project
141 `Guido van Rossum on Python-Dev, 2002-04-03`__:
143 __ http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-April/022212.html
145 I think that reStructuredText is a good format for marking up
146 docstrings; it's probably as good as it gets given the
147 requirements (a fairly elaborate feature set, yet more readable
148 "in the raw" than HTML).
150 `Richard Jones on comp.lang.python, 2002-04-03`__:
152 __ http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2002-April/096117.html
154 How I see it is that ReST is a middle ground between markup and
155 non-. It has markup, and you can use it to the extreme. Or you
156 can follow some simple conventions (the most basic form of markup)
157 and not worry about all the finer detail stuff. The difference
160 @section{The Section Title}
167 Is pretty clearly to me that the second doesn't *look* like
168 markup, even though it is.
170 `Guido van Rossum on Python-Dev, 2002-04-04`__:
172 __ http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-April/022247.html
174 Structured text is really a great idea for certain situations;
175 reST is a much better implementation of the idea than any versions
178 `Max M on comp.lang.python, 2002-04-05`__:
180 __ http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2002-April/096656.html
182 Any programmer can learn the basics in 15 minutes or less.
184 And it really is very very easy to write documents in it. I do
185 belive that if I were ever to write a book (again) I would write
188 And as far as I can tell from the specs, ReST solves most of the
189 problems I have had with structured text. A few things gets a
190 little more complicated and some get simpler. All in all a good
193 I would certainly use it. I also hope that it gets integrated
196 `David Abrahams on Python-Dev, 2002-04-06`__:
198 __ http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-April/022443.html
200 Incidentally, I'm really excited about reST. I've been looking
201 for a tolerable markup for C++ comments, and reST looks like it
204 `Eric Jones on Python-Dev, 2002-08-01`__:
206 __ http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2002-August/027198.html
208 I would very much like to see reStructuredText, or some minor
209 variation on it, move forward as a "standard" for doc-strings very
210 soon. I have long lamented not having a prescribed format *and*
211 an associated processing tool suite included in the standard
212 library. Even if the format isn't perfect (I think it looks very
213 good), it is time to pick a reasonable candidate and go.
215 This being the Internet, there were plenty of people opposed to the
216 idea of reStructuredText, some vehemently. Discovering *those* gems
217 is left as an exercise for the reader.
219 .. _Docutils: index.html
221 http://dev.zope.org/Members/jim/StructuredTextWiki/FrontPage/
222 .. _Setext: mirror/setext.html
223 .. _statemachine.py: docutils/statemachine.py
225 .. |reStructuredText| image:: rst.png
231 indent-tabs-mode: nil
232 sentence-end-double-space: t