diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew21.tex | 92 |
1 files changed, 51 insertions, 41 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew21.tex b/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew21.tex index 7ce734e..d6ccbf7 100644 --- a/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew21.tex +++ b/Doc/whatsnew/whatsnew21.tex @@ -1,9 +1,11 @@ \documentclass{howto} +% XXX difflib.py, doctest.py added + % $Id$ \title{What's New in Python 2.1} -\release{0.05} +\release{0.06} \author{A.M. Kuchling} \authoraddress{\email{amk1@bigfoot.com}} \begin{document} @@ -436,6 +438,54 @@ operations will now be processed at the C level.} \end{seealso} %====================================================================== +\section{New and Improved Modules} + +\begin{itemize} + +\item \module{curses.panel}, a wrapper for the panel library, part of +ncurses and of SYSV curses, was contributed by Thomas Gellekum. The +panel library provides windows with the additional feature of depth. +Windows can be moved higher or lower in the depth ordering, and the +panel library figures out where panels overlap and which sections are +visible. + +\item The PyXML package has gone through a few releases since Python +2.0, and Python 2.1 includes an updated version of the \module{xml} +package. Some of the noteworthy changes include support for Expat +1.2, the ability for Expat parsers to handle files in any encoding +supported by Python, and various bugfixes for SAX, DOM, and the +\module{minidom} module. + +\item Various functions in the \module{time} module, such as +\function{asctime()} and \function{localtime()}, require a floating +point argument containing the time in seconds since the epoch. The +most common use of these functions is to work with the current time, +so the floating point argument has been made optional; when a value +isn't provided, the current time will be used. For example, log file +entries usually need a string containing the current time; in Python +2.1, \code{time.asctime()} can be used, instead of the lengthier +\code{time.asctime(time.localtime(time.time()))} that was previously +required. + +This change was proposed and implemented by Thomas Wouters. + +\item The \module{ftplib} module now defaults to retrieving files in +passive mode, because passive mode is more likely to work from behind +a firewall. This request came from the Debian bug tracking system, +since other Debian packages use \module{ftplib} to retrieve files and +then don't work from behind a firewall. It's deemed unlikely that +this will cause problems for anyone, because Netscape defaults to +passive mode and few people complain, but if passive mode is +unsuitable for your application or network setup, call +\method{set_pasv(0)} on FTP objects to disable passive mode. + +\item Support for raw socket access has been added to the +\module{socket} module, contributed by Grant Edwards. + + +\end{itemize} + +%====================================================================== \section{Minor Changes and Fixes} There were relatively few smaller changes made in Python 2.1 due to @@ -480,13 +530,6 @@ pair from the dictionary and returns it as a 2-tuple. This was implemented mostly by Tim Peters and Guido van Rossum, after a suggestion and preliminary patch by Moshe Zadka. -\item \module{curses.panel}, a wrapper for the panel library, part of -ncurses and of SYSV curses, was contributed by Thomas Gellekum. The -panel library provides windows with the additional feature of depth. -Windows can be moved higher or lower in the depth ordering, and the -panel library figures out where panels overlap and which sections are -visible. - \item Modules can now control which names are imported when \code{from \var{module} import *} is used, by defining an \code{__all__} attribute containing a list of names that will be imported. One @@ -504,26 +547,6 @@ A stricter version of this patch was first suggested and implemented by Ben Wolfson, but after some python-dev discussion, a weaker final version was checked in. -\item The PyXML package has gone through a few releases since Python -2.0, and Python 2.1 includes an updated version of the \module{xml} -package. Some of the noteworthy changes include support for Expat -1.2, the ability for Expat parsers to handle files in any encoding -supported by Python, and various bugfixes for SAX, DOM, and the -\module{minidom} module. - -\item Various functions in the \module{time} module, such as -\function{asctime()} and \function{localtime()}, require a floating -point argument containing the time in seconds since the epoch. The -most common use of these functions is to work with the current time, -so the floating point argument has been made optional; when a value -isn't provided, the current time will be used. For example, log file -entries usually need a string containing the current time; in Python -2.1, \code{time.asctime()} can be used, instead of the lengthier -\code{time.asctime(time.localtime(time.time()))} that was previously -required. - -This change was proposed and implemented by Thomas Wouters. - \item Applying \function{repr()} to strings previously used octal escapes for non-printable characters; for example, a newline was \code{'\e 012'}. This was a vestigial trace of Python's C ancestry, but @@ -532,19 +555,6 @@ using hex escapes instead of octal ones, and using the \code{\e n}, \code{\e t}, \code{\e r} escapes for the appropriate characters, and implemented this new formatting. -\item The \module{ftplib} module now defaults to retrieving files in -passive mode, because passive mode is more likely to work from behind -a firewall. This request came from the Debian bug tracking system, -since other Debian packages use \module{ftplib} to retrieve files and -then don't work from behind a firewall. It's deemed unlikely that -this will cause problems for anyone, because Netscape defaults to -passive mode and few people complain, but if passive mode is -unsuitable for your application or network setup, call -\method{set_pasv(0)} on FTP objects to disable passive mode. - -\item Support for raw socket access has been added to the -\module{socket} module, contributed by Grant Edwards. - \item Syntax errors detected at compile-time can now raise exceptions containing the filename and line number of the error, a pleasant side effect of the compiler reorganization done by Jeremy Hylton. |