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-rw-r--r--Doc/library/filecmp.rst32
1 files changed, 24 insertions, 8 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/library/filecmp.rst b/Doc/library/filecmp.rst
index 8a88f8c..8471a72 100644
--- a/Doc/library/filecmp.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/filecmp.rst
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ The :mod:`filecmp` module defines the following functions:
Note that no external programs are called from this function, giving it
portability and efficiency.
+ This function uses a cache for past comparisons and the results,
+ with a cache invalidation mechanism relying on stale signatures
+ or by explicitly calling :func:`clear_cache`.
+
.. function:: cmpfiles(dir1, dir2, common, shallow=True)
@@ -48,6 +52,15 @@ The :mod:`filecmp` module defines the following functions:
one of the three returned lists.
+.. function:: clear_cache()
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.4
+
+ Clear the filecmp cache. This may be useful if a file is compared so quickly
+ after it is modified that it is within the mtime resolution of
+ the underlying filesystem.
+
+
.. _dircmp-objects:
The :class:`dircmp` class
@@ -55,28 +68,25 @@ The :class:`dircmp` class
.. class:: dircmp(a, b, ignore=None, hide=None)
- Construct a new directory comparison object, to compare the directories *a* and
- *b*. *ignore* is a list of names to ignore, and defaults to ``['RCS', 'CVS',
- 'tags']``. *hide* is a list of names to hide, and defaults to ``[os.curdir,
- os.pardir]``.
+ Construct a new directory comparison object, to compare the directories *a*
+ and *b*. *ignore* is a list of names to ignore, and defaults to
+ :attr:`filecmp.DEFAULT_IGNORES`. *hide* is a list of names to hide, and
+ defaults to ``[os.curdir, os.pardir]``.
The :class:`dircmp` class compares files by doing *shallow* comparisons
as described for :func:`filecmp.cmp`.
The :class:`dircmp` class provides the following methods:
-
.. method:: report()
Print (to :data:`sys.stdout`) a comparison between *a* and *b*.
-
.. method:: report_partial_closure()
Print a comparison between *a* and *b* and common immediate
subdirectories.
-
.. method:: report_full_closure()
Print a comparison between *a* and *b* and common subdirectories
@@ -133,7 +143,7 @@ The :class:`dircmp` class
.. attribute:: common_files
- Files in both *a* and *b*
+ Files in both *a* and *b*.
.. attribute:: common_funny
@@ -164,6 +174,12 @@ The :class:`dircmp` class
A dictionary mapping names in :attr:`common_dirs` to :class:`dircmp`
objects.
+.. attribute:: DEFAULT_IGNORES
+
+ .. versionadded:: 3.4
+
+ List of directories ignored by :class:`dircmp` by default.
+
Here is a simplified example of using the ``subdirs`` attribute to search
recursively through two directories to show common different files::