Merged revisions 85572-85573,85606,85609-85622,85624,85626-85627,85629,85631,85633,85635-85636,85638-85639,85641-85642 via svnmerge from

svn+ssh://svn.python.org/python/branches/py3k

........
  r85572 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-16 20:51:05 +0200 (Sa, 16 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #10122: typo fix.
........
  r85573 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-16 20:53:08 +0200 (Sa, 16 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #10124: typo fix.
........
  r85606 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 08:32:59 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #10058: tweak wording about exception returns.
........
  r85609 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 11:19:03 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #8556: use less confusing mapping key in example.
........
  r85610 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 11:23:05 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #8686: remove potentially confusing wording that does not add any value.
........
  r85611 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 11:33:24 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #8811: small fixes to sqlite3 docs.
........
  r85612 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 11:37:54 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #8855: add shelve security warning.
........
  r85613 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 11:43:35 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  Fix hmac docs: it takes and returns bytes, except for hexdigest().
........
  r85614 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 11:46:11 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #8968: add actual name of token constants.
........
  r85615 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:05:13 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #459007: merge info from PC/getpathp.c and using/windows.rst to document the forming of sys.path under Windows.
........
  r85616 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:07:29 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  Fix copy-paste error in example.
........
  r85617 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:09:06 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #5212: md5 weaknesses do not affect hmac, so remove the note about that.
........
  r85618 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:14:38 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #9086: correct wrong terminology about linking with pythonXY.dll.
........
  r85619 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:15:50 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  Make file names consistent.
........
  r85620 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:22:28 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  Remove second parser module example; it referred to non-readily-available example files, and this kind of discovery is much better done with the AST nowadays anyway.
........
  r85621 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:24:54 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #9105: move pickle warning to a bit more prominent location.
........
  r85622 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:28:04 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #9112: document error() and exit() methods of ArgumentParser.
........
  r85624 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:34:28 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  Some markup and style fixes in argparse docs.
........
  r85626 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:38:20 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #9117: fix syntax for class definition.
........
  r85627 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:44:11 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #9138: reword introduction to classes in Python.
........
  r85629 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:51:45 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #5962: clarify sys.exit() vs. threads.
........
  r85631 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:53:54 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  Fix capitalization.
........
  r85633 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 12:59:41 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #9204: remove mentions of removed types in the types module.
........
  r85635 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 13:03:22 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #5121: fix claims about default values leading to segfaults.
........
  r85636 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 13:06:14 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #9237: document sys.call_tracing().
........
  r85638 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 13:13:37 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  Port changes to pickle docs apparently lost in py3k.
........
  r85639 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 13:23:56 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  Make twisted example a bit more logical.
........
  r85641 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 13:29:07 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  Fix documentation of dis.opmap direction.
........
  r85642 | georg.brandl | 2010-10-17 13:36:28 +0200 (So, 17 Okt 2010) | 1 line

  #9730: fix example.
........

1 files changed, 42 insertions, 17 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/using/windows.rst b/Doc/using/windows.rst
index 9571a18..12378b3 100644
--- a/Doc/using/windows.rst
+++ b/Doc/using/windows.rst
@@ -156,23 +156,48 @@ installation directory.  So, if you had installed Python to
 :file:`C:\\Python\\Lib\\` and third-party modules should be stored in
 :file:`C:\\Python\\Lib\\site-packages\\`.
 
-.. `` this fixes syntax highlighting errors in some editors due to the \\ hackery
-
-You can add folders to your search path to make Python's import mechanism search
-in these directories as well.  Use :envvar:`PYTHONPATH`, as described in
-:ref:`using-on-envvars`, to modify :data:`sys.path`.  On Windows, paths are
-separated by semicolons, though, to distinguish them from drive identifiers
-(:file:`C:\\` etc.).
-
-.. ``
-
-Modifying the module search path can also be done through the Windows registry
-under the key :file:`HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Python\\PythonCore\\{version}\\PythonPath`.
-Subkeys which have semicolon-delimited path strings as their default value will
-cause each path to be searched.  Multiple subkeys can be created and are
-appended to the path in alphabetical order.  A convenient registry editor is
-:program:`regedit` (start it by typing "regedit" into :menuselection:`Start -->
-Run`).
+This is how :data:`sys.path` is populated on Windows:
+
+* An empty entry is added at the start, which corresponds to the current
+  directory.
+
+* If the environment variable :envvar:`PYTHONPATH` exists, as described in
+  :ref:`using-on-envvars`, its entries are added next.  Note that on Windows,
+  paths in this variable must be separated by semicolons, to distinguish them
+  from the colon used in drive identifiers (``C:\`` etc.).
+
+* Additional "application paths" can be added in the registry as subkeys of
+  :samp:`\\SOFTWARE\\Python\\PythonCore\\{version}\\PythonPath` under both the
+  ``HKEY_CURRENT_USER`` and ``HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE`` hives.  Subkeys which have
+  semicolon-delimited path strings as their default value will cause each path
+  to be added to :data:`sys.path`.  (Note that all known installers only use
+  HKLM, so HKCU is typically empty.)
+
+* If the environment variable :envvar:`PYTHONHOME` is set, it is assumed as
+  "Python Home".  Otherwise, the path of the main Python executable is used to
+  locate a "landmark file" (``Lib\os.py``) to deduce the "Python Home".  If a
+  Python home is found, the relevant sub-directories added to :data:`sys.path`
+  (``Lib``, ``plat-win``, etc) are based on that folder.  Otherwise, the core
+  Python path is constructed from the PythonPath stored in the registry.
+
+* If the Python Home cannot be located, no :envvar:`PYTHONPATH` is specified in
+  the environment, and no registry entries can be found, a default path with
+  relative entries is used (e.g. ``.\Lib;.\plat-win``, etc).
+
+The end result of all this is:
+
+* When running :file:`python.exe`, or any other .exe in the main Python
+  directory (either an installed version, or directly from the PCbuild
+  directory), the core path is deduced, and the core paths in the registry are
+  ignored.  Other "application paths" in the registry are always read.
+
+* When Python is hosted in another .exe (different directory, embedded via COM,
+  etc), the "Python Home" will not be deduced, so the core path from the
+  registry is used.  Other "application paths" in the registry are always read.
+
+* If Python can't find its home and there is no registry (eg, frozen .exe, some
+  very strange installation setup) you get a path with some default, but
+  relative, paths.
 
 
 Executing scripts