summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Doc/lib/libnetrc.tex
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorAnthony Baxter <anthonybaxter@gmail.com>2007-04-18 03:35:45 (GMT)
committerAnthony Baxter <anthonybaxter@gmail.com>2007-04-18 03:35:45 (GMT)
commitef57abdb6012c9c97cdd22b7bb1f82a645ae3141 (patch)
treece679280cc036337a39cb0e8c8305e912684a142 /Doc/lib/libnetrc.tex
parent87b5d9196ece21916d5663928bfb8f69169b16b6 (diff)
downloadcpython-2.5.1.zip
cpython-2.5.1.tar.gz
cpython-2.5.1.tar.bz2
2.5.1 finalv2.5.1
Diffstat (limited to 'Doc/lib/libnetrc.tex')
0 files changed, 0 insertions, 0 deletions
='#n91'>91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 528 529 530 531 532 533 534 535 536 537 538 539 540 541 542 543 544 545 546 547 548 549 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 580 581 582 583 584 585 586 587 588 589 590 591 592 593 594 595 596 597 598 599 600 601 602 603 604 605 606 607 608 609 610 611 612 613 614 615 616 617 618 619 620 621 622 623 624 625 626 627 628 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 649 650 651 652 653 654 655 656 657 658 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 669 670 671 672 673 674 675 676 677 678 679 680 681 682 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 723 724 725 726 727 728 729 730 731 732 733 734 735 736 737 738 739 740 741 742 743 744 745 746 747 748 749 750 751 752 753 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 780 781 782 783 784 785 786 787 788 789 790 791 792 793 794 795 796 797 798 799 800 801 802 803 804 805 806 807 808 809 810 811 812 813 814 815 816 817 818 819 820 821 822 823 824 825 826 827 828 829 830 831 832 833 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 860 861 862 863 864 865 866 867 868 869 870 871 872 873 874 875 876 877 878 879 880 881 882 883 884 885 886 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 900 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 908 909 910 911 912 913 914 915 916 917 918 919 920 921 922 923 924 925 926 927 928 929 930 931 932 933 934 935 936 937 938 939 940 941 942 943 944 945 946 947 948 949 950 951 952 953 954 955 956 957 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 970 971 972 973 974 975 976 977 978 979 980 981 982 983 984 985 986 987 988 989 990 991 992 993 994 995 996 997 998 999 1000 1001 1002 1003 1004 1005 1006 1007 1008 1009 1010 1011 1012 1013 1014 1015 1016 1017 1018 1019 1020 1021 1022 1023 1024 1025 1026 1027 1028 1029 1030 1031 1032 1033 1034 1035 1036 1037 1038 1039 1040 1041 1042 1043 1044 1045 1046 1047 1048 1049 1050 1051 1052 1053 1054 1055 1056 1057 1058 1059 1060 1061 1062 1063 1064 1065 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 1078 1079 1080 1081 1082 1083 1084 1085 1086 1087 1088 1089 1090 1091 1092 1093 1094 1095 1096 1097 1098 1099 1100 1101 1102 1103 1104 1105 1106 1107 1108 1109 1110 1111 1112 1113 1114 1115 1116 1117 1118 1119 1120 1121 1122 1123 1124 1125 1126 1127 1128 1129 1130 1131 1132 1133 1134 1135 1136 1137 1138 1139 1140 1141 1142 1143 1144 1145 1146 1147 1148 1149 1150 1151 1152 1153 1154 1155 1156 1157 1158 1159 1160 1161 1162 1163 1164 1165 1166 1167 1168 1169 1170 1171 1172 1173 1174 1175 1176 1177 1178 1179 1180 1181 1182 1183 1184 1185 1186 1187 1188 1189 1190 1191 1192 1193 1194 1195 1196 1197 1198 1199 1200 1201 1202 1203
\section{Built-in Functions \label{built-in-funcs}}

The Python interpreter has a number of functions built into it that
are always available.  They are listed here in alphabetical order.


\setindexsubitem{(built-in function)}

\begin{funcdesc}{__import__}{name\optional{, globals\optional{, locals\optional{, fromlist}}}}
  This function is invoked by the \keyword{import}\stindex{import}
  statement.  It mainly exists so that you can replace it with another
  function that has a compatible interface, in order to change the
  semantics of the \keyword{import} statement.  For examples of why
  and how you would do this, see the standard library modules
  \module{ihooks}\refstmodindex{ihooks} and
  \refmodule{rexec}\refstmodindex{rexec}.  See also the built-in
  module \refmodule{imp}\refbimodindex{imp}, which defines some useful
  operations out of which you can build your own
  \function{__import__()} function.

  For example, the statement \samp{import spam} results in the
  following call: \code{__import__('spam',} \code{globals(),}
  \code{locals(), [])}; the statement \samp{from spam.ham import eggs}
  results in \samp{__import__('spam.ham', globals(), locals(),
  ['eggs'])}.  Note that even though \code{locals()} and
  \code{['eggs']} are passed in as arguments, the
  \function{__import__()} function does not set the local variable
  named \code{eggs}; this is done by subsequent code that is generated
  for the import statement.  (In fact, the standard implementation
  does not use its \var{locals} argument at all, and uses its
  \var{globals} only to determine the package context of the
  \keyword{import} statement.)

  When the \var{name} variable is of the form \code{package.module},
  normally, the top-level package (the name up till the first dot) is
  returned, \emph{not} the module named by \var{name}.  However, when
  a non-empty \var{fromlist} argument is given, the module named by
  \var{name} is returned.  This is done for compatibility with the
  bytecode generated for the different kinds of import statement; when
  using \samp{import spam.ham.eggs}, the top-level package \module{spam}
  must be placed in the importing namespace, but when using \samp{from
  spam.ham import eggs}, the \code{spam.ham} subpackage must be used
  to find the \code{eggs} variable.  As a workaround for this
  behavior, use \function{getattr()} to extract the desired
  components.  For example, you could define the following helper:

\begin{verbatim}
def my_import(name):
    mod = __import__(name)
    components = name.split('.')
    for comp in components[1:]:
        mod = getattr(mod, comp)
    return mod
\end{verbatim}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{abs}{x}
  Return the absolute value of a number.  The argument may be a plain
  or long integer or a floating point number.  If the argument is a
  complex number, its magnitude is returned.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{basestring}{}
  This abstract type is the superclass for \class{str} and \class{unicode}.
  It cannot be called or instantiated, but it can be used to test whether
  an object is an instance of \class{str} or \class{unicode}.
  \code{isinstance(obj, basestring)} is equivalent to
  \code{isinstance(obj, (str, unicode))}.
  \versionadded{2.3}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{bool}{\optional{x}}
  Convert a value to a Boolean, using the standard truth testing
  procedure.  If \var{x} is false or omitted, this returns
  \constant{False}; otherwise it returns \constant{True}.
  \class{bool} is also a class, which is a subclass of \class{int}.
  Class \class{bool} cannot be subclassed further.  Its only instances
  are \constant{False} and \constant{True}.

  \indexii{Boolean}{type}
  \versionadded{2.2.1}
  \versionchanged[If no argument is given, this function returns
                  \constant{False}]{2.3}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{callable}{object}
  Return true if the \var{object} argument appears callable, false if
  not.  If this returns true, it is still possible that a call fails,
  but if it is false, calling \var{object} will never succeed.  Note
  that classes are callable (calling a class returns a new instance);
  class instances are callable if they have a \method{__call__()}
  method.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{chr}{i}
  Return a string of one character whose \ASCII{} code is the integer
  \var{i}.  For example, \code{chr(97)} returns the string \code{'a'}.
  This is the inverse of \function{ord()}.  The argument must be in
  the range [0..255], inclusive; \exception{ValueError} will be raised
  if \var{i} is outside that range.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{classmethod}{function}
  Return a class method for \var{function}.

  A class method receives the class as implicit first argument,
  just like an instance method receives the instance.
  To declare a class method, use this idiom:

\begin{verbatim}
class C:
    @classmethod
    def f(cls, arg1, arg2, ...): ...
\end{verbatim}

  The \code{@classmethod} form is a function decorator -- see the description
  of function definitions in chapter 7 of the
  \citetitle[../ref/ref.html]{Python Reference Manual} for details.

  It can be called either on the class (such as \code{C.f()}) or on an
  instance (such as \code{C().f()}).  The instance is ignored except for
  its class.
  If a class method is called for a derived class, the derived class
  object is passed as the implied first argument.

  Class methods are different than \Cpp{} or Java static methods.
  If you want those, see \function{staticmethod()} in this section.
  \versionadded{2.2}
  \versionchanged[Function decorator syntax added]{2.4}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{cmp}{x, y}
  Compare the two objects \var{x} and \var{y} and return an integer
  according to the outcome.  The return value is negative if \code{\var{x}
  < \var{y}}, zero if \code{\var{x} == \var{y}} and strictly positive if
  \code{\var{x} > \var{y}}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{compile}{string, filename, kind\optional{,
                          flags\optional{, dont_inherit}}}
  Compile the \var{string} into a code object.  Code objects can be
  executed by an \keyword{exec} statement or evaluated by a call to
  \function{eval()}.  The \var{filename} argument should
  give the file from which the code was read; pass some recognizable value
  if it wasn't read from a file (\code{'<string>'} is commonly used).
  The \var{kind} argument specifies what kind of code must be
  compiled; it can be \code{'exec'} if \var{string} consists of a
  sequence of statements, \code{'eval'} if it consists of a single
  expression, or \code{'single'} if it consists of a single
  interactive statement (in the latter case, expression statements
  that evaluate to something else than \code{None} will be printed).

  When compiling multi-line statements, two caveats apply: line
  endings must be represented by a single newline character
  (\code{'\e n'}), and the input must be terminated by at least one
  newline character.  If line endings are represented by
  \code{'\e r\e n'}, use the string \method{replace()} method to
  change them into \code{'\e n'}.

  The optional arguments \var{flags} and \var{dont_inherit}
  (which are new in Python 2.2) control which future statements (see
  \pep{236}) affect the compilation of \var{string}.  If neither is
  present (or both are zero) the code is compiled with those future
  statements that are in effect in the code that is calling compile.
  If the \var{flags} argument is given and \var{dont_inherit} is not
  (or is zero) then the future statements specified by the \var{flags}
  argument are used in addition to those that would be used anyway.
  If \var{dont_inherit} is a non-zero integer then the \var{flags}
  argument is it -- the future statements in effect around the call to
  compile are ignored.

  Future statemants are specified by bits which can be bitwise or-ed
  together to specify multiple statements.  The bitfield required to
  specify a given feature can be found as the \member{compiler_flag}
  attribute on the \class{_Feature} instance in the
  \module{__future__} module.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{complex}{\optional{real\optional{, imag}}}
  Create a complex number with the value \var{real} + \var{imag}*j or
  convert a string or number to a complex number.  If the first
  parameter is a string, it will be interpreted as a complex number
  and the function must be called without a second parameter.  The
  second parameter can never be a string.
  Each argument may be any numeric type (including complex).
  If \var{imag} is omitted, it defaults to zero and the function
  serves as a numeric conversion function like \function{int()},
  \function{long()} and \function{float()}.  If both arguments
  are omitted, returns \code{0j}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{delattr}{object, name}
  This is a relative of \function{setattr()}.  The arguments are an
  object and a string.  The string must be the name
  of one of the object's attributes.  The function deletes
  the named attribute, provided the object allows it.  For example,
  \code{delattr(\var{x}, '\var{foobar}')} is equivalent to
  \code{del \var{x}.\var{foobar}}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{dict}{\optional{mapping-or-sequence}}
  Return a new dictionary initialized from an optional positional
  argument or from a set of keyword arguments.
  If no arguments are given, return a new empty dictionary.
  If the positional argument is a mapping object, return a dictionary
  mapping the same keys to the same values as does the mapping object.
  Otherwise the positional argument must be a sequence, a container that
  supports iteration, or an iterator object.  The elements of the argument
  must each also be of one of those kinds, and each must in turn contain
  exactly two objects.  The first is used as a key in the new dictionary,
  and the second as the key's value.  If a given key is seen more than
  once, the last value associated with it is retained in the new
  dictionary.

  If keyword arguments are given, the keywords themselves with their
  associated values are added as items to the dictionary. If a key
  is specified both in the positional argument and as a keyword argument,
  the value associated with the keyword is retained in the dictionary.
  For example, these all return a dictionary equal to
  \code{\{"one": 2, "two": 3\}}:

  \begin{itemize}
    \item \code{dict(\{'one': 2, 'two': 3\})}
    \item \code{dict(\{'one': 2, 'two': 3\}.items())}
    \item \code{dict(\{'one': 2, 'two': 3\}.iteritems())}
    \item \code{dict(zip(('one', 'two'), (2, 3)))}
    \item \code{dict([['two', 3], ['one', 2]])}
    \item \code{dict(one=2, two=3)}
    \item \code{dict([(['one', 'two'][i-2], i) for i in (2, 3)])}
  \end{itemize}

  \versionadded{2.2}
  \versionchanged[Support for building a dictionary from keyword
                  arguments added]{2.3}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{dir}{\optional{object}}
  Without arguments, return the list of names in the current local
  symbol table.  With an argument, attempts to return a list of valid
  attributes for that object.  This information is gleaned from the
  object's \member{__dict__} attribute, if defined, and from the class
  or type object.  The list is not necessarily complete.
  If the object is a module object, the list contains the names of the
  module's attributes.
  If the object is a type or class object,
  the list contains the names of its attributes,
  and recursively of the attributes of its bases.
  Otherwise, the list contains the object's attributes' names,
  the names of its class's attributes,
  and recursively of the attributes of its class's base classes.
  The resulting list is sorted alphabetically.
  For example:

\begin{verbatim}
>>> import struct
>>> dir()
['__builtins__', '__doc__', '__name__', 'struct']
>>> dir(struct)
['__doc__', '__name__', 'calcsize', 'error', 'pack', 'unpack']
\end{verbatim}

  \note{Because \function{dir()} is supplied primarily as a convenience
  for use at an interactive prompt,
  it tries to supply an interesting set of names more than it tries to
  supply a rigorously or consistently defined set of names,
  and its detailed behavior may change across releases.}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{divmod}{a, b}
  Take two (non complex) numbers as arguments and return a pair of numbers
  consisting of their quotient and remainder when using long division.  With
  mixed operand types, the rules for binary arithmetic operators apply.  For
  plain and long integers, the result is the same as
  \code{(\var{a} / \var{b}, \var{a} \%{} \var{b})}.
  For floating point numbers the result is \code{(\var{q}, \var{a} \%{}
  \var{b})}, where \var{q} is usually \code{math.floor(\var{a} /
  \var{b})} but may be 1 less than that.  In any case \code{\var{q} *
  \var{b} + \var{a} \%{} \var{b}} is very close to \var{a}, if
  \code{\var{a} \%{} \var{b}} is non-zero it has the same sign as
  \var{b}, and \code{0 <= abs(\var{a} \%{} \var{b}) < abs(\var{b})}.

  \versionchanged[Using \function{divmod()} with complex numbers is
                  deprecated]{2.3}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{enumerate}{iterable}
  Return an enumerate object. \var{iterable} must be a sequence, an
  iterator, or some other object which supports iteration.  The
  \method{next()} method of the iterator returned by
  \function{enumerate()} returns a tuple containing a count (from
  zero) and the corresponding value obtained from iterating over
  \var{iterable}.  \function{enumerate()} is useful for obtaining an
  indexed series: \code{(0, seq[0])}, \code{(1, seq[1])}, \code{(2,
  seq[2])}, \ldots.
  \versionadded{2.3}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{eval}{expression\optional{, globals\optional{, locals}}}
  The arguments are a string and optional globals and locals.  If provided,
  \var{globals} must be a dictionary.  If provided, \var{locals} can be
  any mapping object.  \versionchanged[formerly \var{locals} was required
  to be a dictionary]{2.4}

  The \var{expression} argument is parsed and evaluated as a Python
  expression (technically speaking, a condition list) using the
  \var{globals} and \var{locals} dictionaries as global and local name
  space.  If the \var{globals} dictionary is present and lacks
  '__builtins__', the current globals are copied into \var{globals} before
  \var{expression} is parsed.  This means that \var{expression}
  normally has full access to the standard
  \refmodule[builtin]{__builtin__} module and restricted environments
  are propagated.  If the \var{locals} dictionary is omitted it defaults to
  the \var{globals} dictionary.  If both dictionaries are omitted, the
  expression is executed in the environment where \keyword{eval} is
  called.  The return value is the result of the evaluated expression.
  Syntax errors are reported as exceptions.  Example:

\begin{verbatim}
>>> x = 1
>>> print eval('x+1')
2
\end{verbatim}

  This function can also be used to execute arbitrary code objects
  (such as those created by \function{compile()}).  In this case pass
  a code object instead of a string.  The code object must have been
  compiled passing \code{'eval'} as the \var{kind} argument.

  Hints: dynamic execution of statements is supported by the
  \keyword{exec} statement.  Execution of statements from a file is
  supported by the \function{execfile()} function.  The
  \function{globals()} and \function{locals()} functions returns the
  current global and local dictionary, respectively, which may be
  useful to pass around for use by \function{eval()} or
  \function{execfile()}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{execfile}{filename\optional{, globals\optional{, locals}}}
  This function is similar to the
  \keyword{exec} statement, but parses a file instead of a string.  It
  is different from the \keyword{import} statement in that it does not
  use the module administration --- it reads the file unconditionally
  and does not create a new module.\footnote{It is used relatively
  rarely so does not warrant being made into a statement.}

  The arguments are a file name and two optional dictionaries.  The file is
  parsed and evaluated as a sequence of Python statements (similarly to a
  module) using the \var{globals} and \var{locals} dictionaries as global and
  local namespace. If provided, \var{locals} can be any mapping object.
  \versionchanged[formerly \var{locals} was required to be a dictionary]{2.4}
  If the \var{locals} dictionary is omitted it defaults to the \var{globals}
  dictionary. If both dictionaries are omitted, the expression is executed in
  the environment where \function{execfile()} is called.  The return value is
  \code{None}.

  \warning{The default \var{locals} act as described for function
  \function{locals()} below:  modifications to the default \var{locals}
  dictionary should not be attempted.  Pass an explicit \var{locals}
  dictionary if you need to see effects of the code on \var{locals} after
  function \function{execfile()} returns.  \function{execfile()} cannot
  be used reliably to modify a function's locals.}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{file}{filename\optional{, mode\optional{, bufsize}}}
  Return a new file object (described in
  section~\ref{bltin-file-objects}, ``\ulink{File
  Objects}{bltin-file-objects.html}'').
  The first two arguments are the same as for \code{stdio}'s
  \cfunction{fopen()}: \var{filename} is the file name to be opened,
  \var{mode} indicates how the file is to be opened: \code{'r'} for
  reading, \code{'w'} for writing (truncating an existing file), and
  \code{'a'} opens it for appending (which on \emph{some} \UNIX{}
  systems means that \emph{all} writes append to the end of the file,
  regardless of the current seek position).

  Modes \code{'r+'}, \code{'w+'} and \code{'a+'} open the file for
  updating (note that \code{'w+'} truncates the file).  Append
  \code{'b'} to the mode to open the file in binary mode, on systems
  that differentiate between binary and text files (else it is
  ignored).  If the file cannot be opened, \exception{IOError} is
  raised.

  In addition to the standard \cfunction{fopen()} values \var{mode}
  may be \code{'U'} or \code{'rU'}. If Python is built with universal
  newline support (the default) the file is opened as a text file, but
  lines may be terminated by any of \code{'\e n'}, the Unix end-of-line
  convention,
  \code{'\e r'}, the Macintosh convention or \code{'\e r\e n'}, the Windows
  convention. All of these external representations are seen as
  \code{'\e n'}
  by the Python program. If Python is built without universal newline support
  \var{mode} \code{'U'} is the same as normal text mode.  Note that
  file objects so opened also have an attribute called
  \member{newlines} which has a value of \code{None} (if no newlines
  have yet been seen), \code{'\e n'}, \code{'\e r'}, \code{'\e r\e n'},
  or a tuple containing all the newline types seen.

  If \var{mode} is omitted, it defaults to \code{'r'}.  When opening a
  binary file, you should append \code{'b'} to the \var{mode} value
  for improved portability.  (It's useful even on systems which don't
  treat binary and text files differently, where it serves as
  documentation.)
  \index{line-buffered I/O}\index{unbuffered I/O}\index{buffer size, I/O}
  \index{I/O control!buffering}
  The optional \var{bufsize} argument specifies the
  file's desired buffer size: 0 means unbuffered, 1 means line
  buffered, any other positive value means use a buffer of
  (approximately) that size.  A negative \var{bufsize} means to use
  the system default, which is usually line buffered for tty
  devices and fully buffered for other files.  If omitted, the system
  default is used.\footnote{
    Specifying a buffer size currently has no effect on systems that
    don't have \cfunction{setvbuf()}.  The interface to specify the
    buffer size is not done using a method that calls
    \cfunction{setvbuf()}, because that may dump core when called
    after any I/O has been performed, and there's no reliable way to
    determine whether this is the case.}

  The \function{file()} constructor is new in Python 2.2.  The previous
  spelling, \function{open()}, is retained for compatibility, and is an
  alias for \function{file()}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{filter}{function, list}
  Construct a list from those elements of \var{list} for which
  \var{function} returns true.  \var{list} may be either a sequence, a
  container which supports iteration, or an iterator,  If \var{list}
  is a string or a tuple, the result also has that type; otherwise it
  is always a list.  If \var{function} is \code{None}, the identity
  function is assumed, that is, all elements of \var{list} that are false
  (zero or empty) are removed.

  Note that \code{filter(function, \var{list})} is equivalent to
  \code{[item for item in \var{list} if function(item)]} if function is
  not \code{None} and \code{[item for item in \var{list} if item]} if
  function is \code{None}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{float}{\optional{x}}
  Convert a string or a number to floating point.  If the argument is a
  string, it must contain a possibly signed decimal or floating point
  number, possibly embedded in whitespace. Otherwise, the argument may be a plain
  or long integer or a floating point number, and a floating point
  number with the same value (within Python's floating point
  precision) is returned.  If no argument is given, returns \code{0.0}.

  \note{When passing in a string, values for NaN\index{NaN}
  and Infinity\index{Infinity} may be returned, depending on the
  underlying C library.  The specific set of strings accepted which
  cause these values to be returned depends entirely on the C library
  and is known to vary.}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{frozenset}{\optional{iterable}}
  Return a frozenset object whose elements are taken from \var{iterable}.
  Frozensets are sets that have no update methods but can be hashed and
  used as members of other sets or as dictionary keys.  The elements of
  a frozenset must be immutable themselves.  To represent sets of sets,
  the inner sets should also be \class{frozenset} objects.  If
  \var{iterable} is not specified, returns a new empty set,
  \code{frozenset([])}.
  \versionadded{2.4}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{getattr}{object, name\optional{, default}}
  Return the value of the named attributed of \var{object}.  \var{name}
  must be a string.  If the string is the name of one of the object's
  attributes, the result is the value of that attribute.  For example,
  \code{getattr(x, 'foobar')} is equivalent to \code{x.foobar}.  If the
  named attribute does not exist, \var{default} is returned if provided,
  otherwise \exception{AttributeError} is raised.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{globals}{}
  Return a dictionary representing the current global symbol table.
  This is always the dictionary of the current module (inside a
  function or method, this is the module where it is defined, not the
  module from which it is called).
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{hasattr}{object, name}
  The arguments are an object and a string.  The result is \code{True} if the
  string is the name of one of the object's attributes, \code{False} if not.
  (This is implemented by calling \code{getattr(\var{object},
  \var{name})} and seeing whether it raises an exception or not.)
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{hash}{object}
  Return the hash value of the object (if it has one).  Hash values
  are integers.  They are used to quickly compare dictionary
  keys during a dictionary lookup.  Numeric values that compare equal
  have the same hash value (even if they are of different types, as is
  the case for 1 and 1.0).
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{help}{\optional{object}}
  Invoke the built-in help system.  (This function is intended for
  interactive use.)  If no argument is given, the interactive help
  system starts on the interpreter console.  If the argument is a
  string, then the string is looked up as the name of a module,
  function, class, method, keyword, or documentation topic, and a
  help page is printed on the console.  If the argument is any other
  kind of object, a help page on the object is generated.
  \versionadded{2.2}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{hex}{x}
  Convert an integer number (of any size) to a hexadecimal string.
  The result is a valid Python expression.
  \versionchanged[Formerly only returned an unsigned literal.]{2.4}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{id}{object}
  Return the ``identity'' of an object.  This is an integer (or long
  integer) which is guaranteed to be unique and constant for this
  object during its lifetime.  Two objects with non-overlapping lifetimes
  may have the same \function{id()} value.  (Implementation
  note: this is the address of the object.)
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{input}{\optional{prompt}}
  Equivalent to \code{eval(raw_input(\var{prompt}))}.
  \warning{This function is not safe from user errors!  It
  expects a valid Python expression as input; if the input is not
  syntactically valid, a \exception{SyntaxError} will be raised.
  Other exceptions may be raised if there is an error during
  evaluation.  (On the other hand, sometimes this is exactly what you
  need when writing a quick script for expert use.)}

  If the \refmodule{readline} module was loaded, then
  \function{input()} will use it to provide elaborate line editing and
  history features.

  Consider using the \function{raw_input()} function for general input
  from users.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{int}{\optional{x\optional{, radix}}}
  Convert a string or number to a plain integer.  If the argument is a
  string, it must contain a possibly signed decimal number
  representable as a Python integer, possibly embedded in whitespace.
  The \var{radix} parameter gives the base for the
  conversion and may be any integer in the range [2, 36], or zero.  If
  \var{radix} is zero, the proper radix is guessed based on the
  contents of string; the interpretation is the same as for integer
  literals.  If \var{radix} is specified and \var{x} is not a string,
  \exception{TypeError} is raised.
  Otherwise, the argument may be a plain or
  long integer or a floating point number.  Conversion of floating
  point numbers to integers truncates (towards zero).
  If the argument is outside the integer range a long object will
  be returned instead.  If no arguments are given, returns \code{0}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{isinstance}{object, classinfo}
  Return true if the \var{object} argument is an instance of the
  \var{classinfo} argument, or of a (direct or indirect) subclass
  thereof.  Also return true if \var{classinfo} is a type object and
  \var{object} is an object of that type.  If \var{object} is not a
  class instance or an object of the given type, the function always
  returns false.  If \var{classinfo} is neither a class object nor a
  type object, it may be a tuple of class or type objects, or may
  recursively contain other such tuples (other sequence types are not
  accepted).  If \var{classinfo} is not a class, type, or tuple of
  classes, types, and such tuples, a \exception{TypeError} exception
  is raised.
  \versionchanged[Support for a tuple of type information was added]{2.2}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{issubclass}{class, classinfo}
  Return true if \var{class} is a subclass (direct or indirect) of
  \var{classinfo}.  A class is considered a subclass of itself.
  \var{classinfo} may be a tuple of class objects, in which case every
  entry in \var{classinfo} will be checked. In any other case, a
  \exception{TypeError} exception is raised.
  \versionchanged[Support for a tuple of type information was added]{2.3}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{iter}{o\optional{, sentinel}}
  Return an iterator object.  The first argument is interpreted very
  differently depending on the presence of the second argument.
  Without a second argument, \var{o} must be a collection object which
  supports the iteration protocol (the \method{__iter__()} method), or
  it must support the sequence protocol (the \method{__getitem__()}
  method with integer arguments starting at \code{0}).  If it does not
  support either of those protocols, \exception{TypeError} is raised.
  If the second argument, \var{sentinel}, is given, then \var{o} must
  be a callable object.  The iterator created in this case will call
  \var{o} with no arguments for each call to its \method{next()}
  method; if the value returned is equal to \var{sentinel},
  \exception{StopIteration} will be raised, otherwise the value will
  be returned.
  \versionadded{2.2}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{len}{s}
  Return the length (the number of items) of an object.  The argument
  may be a sequence (string, tuple or list) or a mapping (dictionary).
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{list}{\optional{sequence}}
  Return a list whose items are the same and in the same order as
  \var{sequence}'s items.  \var{sequence} may be either a sequence, a
  container that supports iteration, or an iterator object.  If
  \var{sequence} is already a list, a copy is made and returned,
  similar to \code{\var{sequence}[:]}.  For instance,
  \code{list('abc')} returns \code{['a', 'b', 'c']} and \code{list(
  (1, 2, 3) )} returns \code{[1, 2, 3]}.  If no argument is given,
  returns a new empty list, \code{[]}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{locals}{}
  Update and return a dictionary representing the current local symbol table.
  \warning{The contents of this dictionary should not be modified;
  changes may not affect the values of local variables used by the
  interpreter.}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{long}{\optional{x\optional{, radix}}}
  Convert a string or number to a long integer.  If the argument is a
  string, it must contain a possibly signed number of
  arbitrary size, possibly embedded in whitespace. The
  \var{radix} argument is interpreted in the same way as for
  \function{int()}, and may only be given when \var{x} is a string.
  Otherwise, the argument may be a plain or
  long integer or a floating point number, and a long integer with
  the same value is returned.    Conversion of floating
  point numbers to integers truncates (towards zero).  If no arguments
  are given, returns \code{0L}.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{map}{function, list, ...}
  Apply \var{function} to every item of \var{list} and return a list
  of the results.  If additional \var{list} arguments are passed,
  \var{function} must take that many arguments and is applied to the
  items of all lists in parallel; if a list is shorter than another it
  is assumed to be extended with \code{None} items.  If \var{function}
  is \code{None}, the identity function is assumed; if there are
  multiple list arguments, \function{map()} returns a list consisting
  of tuples containing the corresponding items from all lists (a kind
  of transpose operation).  The \var{list} arguments may be any kind
  of sequence; the result is always a list.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{max}{s\optional{, args...}\optional{key}}
  With a single argument \var{s}, return the largest item of a
  non-empty sequence (such as a string, tuple or list).  With more
  than one argument, return the largest of the arguments.

  The optional \var{key} argument specifies a one-argument ordering
  function like that used for \method{list.sort()}.  The \var{key}
  argument, if supplied, must be in keyword form (for example,
  \samp{max(a,b,c,key=func)}).
  \versionchanged[Added support for the optional \var{key} argument]{2.5}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{min}{s\optional{, args...}}
  With a single argument \var{s}, return the smallest item of a
  non-empty sequence (such as a string, tuple or list).  With more
  than one argument, return the smallest of the arguments.

  The optional \var{key} argument specifies a one-argument ordering
  function like that used for \method{list.sort()}.  The \var{key}
  argument, if supplied, must be in keyword form (for example,
  \samp{min(a,b,c,key=func)}).
  \versionchanged[Added support for the optional \var{key} argument]{2.5}           
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{object}{}
  Return a new featureless object.  \function{object()} is a base
  for all new style classes.  It has the methods that are common
  to all instances of new style classes.
  \versionadded{2.2}

  \versionchanged[This function does not accept any arguments.
  Formerly, it accepted arguments but ignored them]{2.3}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{oct}{x}
  Convert an integer number (of any size) to an octal string.  The
  result is a valid Python expression.
  \versionchanged[Formerly only returned an unsigned literal.]{2.4}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{open}{filename\optional{, mode\optional{, bufsize}}}
  An alias for the \function{file()} function above.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{ord}{c}
  Return the \ASCII{} value of a string of one character or a Unicode
  character.  E.g., \code{ord('a')} returns the integer \code{97},
  \code{ord(u'\e u2020')} returns \code{8224}.  This is the inverse of
  \function{chr()} for strings and of \function{unichr()} for Unicode
  characters.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{pow}{x, y\optional{, z}}
  Return \var{x} to the power \var{y}; if \var{z} is present, return
  \var{x} to the power \var{y}, modulo \var{z} (computed more
  efficiently than \code{pow(\var{x}, \var{y}) \%\ \var{z}}).  The
  arguments must have numeric types.  With mixed operand types, the
  coercion rules for binary arithmetic operators apply.  For int and
  long int operands, the result has the same type as the operands
  (after coercion) unless the second argument is negative; in that
  case, all arguments are converted to float and a float result is
  delivered.  For example, \code{10**2} returns \code{100}, but
  \code{10**-2} returns \code{0.01}.  (This last feature was added in
  Python 2.2.  In Python 2.1 and before, if both arguments were of integer
  types and the second argument was negative, an exception was raised.)
  If the second argument is negative, the third argument must be omitted.
  If \var{z} is present, \var{x} and \var{y} must be of integer types,
  and \var{y} must be non-negative.  (This restriction was added in
  Python 2.2.  In Python 2.1 and before, floating 3-argument \code{pow()}
  returned platform-dependent results depending on floating-point
  rounding accidents.)
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{property}{\optional{fget\optional{, fset\optional{,
                           fdel\optional{, doc}}}}}
  Return a property attribute for new-style classes (classes that
  derive from \class{object}).

  \var{fget} is a function for getting an attribute value, likewise
  \var{fset} is a function for setting, and \var{fdel} a function
  for del'ing, an attribute.  Typical use is to define a managed attribute x:

\begin{verbatim}
class C(object):
    def getx(self): return self.__x
    def setx(self, value): self.__x = value
    def delx(self): del self.__x
    x = property(getx, setx, delx, "I'm the 'x' property.")
\end{verbatim}

  \versionadded{2.2}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{range}{\optional{start,} stop\optional{, step}}
  This is a versatile function to create lists containing arithmetic
  progressions.  It is most often used in \keyword{for} loops.  The
  arguments must be plain integers.  If the \var{step} argument is
  omitted, it defaults to \code{1}.  If the \var{start} argument is
  omitted, it defaults to \code{0}.  The full form returns a list of
  plain integers \code{[\var{start}, \var{start} + \var{step},
  \var{start} + 2 * \var{step}, \ldots]}.  If \var{step} is positive,
  the last element is the largest \code{\var{start} + \var{i} *
  \var{step}} less than \var{stop}; if \var{step} is negative, the last
  element is the largest \code{\var{start} + \var{i} * \var{step}}
  greater than \var{stop}.  \var{step} must not be zero (or else
  \exception{ValueError} is raised).  Example:

\begin{verbatim}
>>> range(10)
[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
>>> range(1, 11)
[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
>>> range(0, 30, 5)
[0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25]
>>> range(0, 10, 3)
[0, 3, 6, 9]
>>> range(0, -10, -1)
[0, -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, -9]
>>> range(0)
[]
>>> range(1, 0)
[]
\end{verbatim}
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{raw_input}{\optional{prompt}}
  If the \var{prompt} argument is present, it is written to standard output
  without a trailing newline.  The function then reads a line from input,
  converts it to a string (stripping a trailing newline), and returns that.
  When \EOF{} is read, \exception{EOFError} is raised. Example:

\begin{verbatim}
>>> s = raw_input('--> ')
--> Monty Python's Flying Circus
>>> s
"Monty Python's Flying Circus"
\end{verbatim}

  If the \refmodule{readline} module was loaded, then
  \function{raw_input()} will use it to provide elaborate
  line editing and history features.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{reduce}{function, sequence\optional{, initializer}}
  Apply \var{function} of two arguments cumulatively to the items of
  \var{sequence}, from left to right, so as to reduce the sequence to
  a single value.  For example, \code{reduce(lambda x, y: x+y, [1, 2,
  3, 4, 5])} calculates \code{((((1+2)+3)+4)+5)}.  The left argument,
  \var{x}, is the accumulated value and the right argument, \var{y},
  is the update value from the \var{sequence}.  If the optional
  \var{initializer} is present, it is placed before the items of the
  sequence in the calculation, and serves as a default when the
  sequence is empty.  If \var{initializer} is not given and
  \var{sequence} contains only one item, the first item is returned.
\end{funcdesc}

\begin{funcdesc}{reload}{module}
  Reload a previously imported \var{module}.  The
  argument must be a module object, so it must have been successfully
  imported before.  This is useful if you have edited the module
  source file using an external editor and want to try out the new
  version without leaving the Python interpreter.  The return value is
  the module object (the same as the \var{module} argument).

  When \code{reload(module)} is executed:

\begin{itemize}

    \item Python modules' code is recompiled and the module-level code
    reexecuted, defining a new set of objects which are bound to names in
    the module's dictionary.  The \code{init} function of extension
    modules is not called a second time.

    \item As with all other objects in Python the old objects are only
    reclaimed after their reference counts drop to zero.

    \item The names in the module namespace are updated to point to
    any new or changed objects.

    \item Other references to the old objects (such as names external
    to the module) are not rebound to refer to the new objects and
    must be updated in each namespace where they occur if that is
    desired.

\end{itemize}