:mod:`pyclbr` --- Python class browser support

==============================================

.. module:: pyclbr

   :synopsis: Supports information extraction for a Python class browser.

.. sectionauthor:: Fred L. Drake, Jr. <fdrake@acm.org>

The :mod:`pyclbr` module can be used to determine some limited information

about the classes, methods and top-level functions defined in a module.  The

information provided is sufficient to implement a traditional three-pane

class browser.  The information is extracted from the source code rather

than by importing the module, so this module is safe to use with untrusted

code.  This restriction makes it impossible to use this module with modules

not implemented in Python, including all standard and optional extension

modules.

.. function:: readmodule(module[, path=None])

   Read a module and return a dictionary mapping class names to class

   descriptor objects.  The parameter *module* should be the name of a

   module as a string; it may be the name of a module within a package.  The

   *path* parameter should be a sequence, and is used to augment the value

   of ``sys.path``, which is used to locate module source code.

.. function:: readmodule_ex(module[, path=None])

   Like :func:`readmodule`, but the returned dictionary, in addition to

   mapping class names to class descriptor objects, also maps top-level

   function names to function descriptor objects.  Moreover, if the module

   being read is a package, the key ``'__path__'`` in the returned

   dictionary has as its value a list which contains the package search

   path.

.. _pyclbr-class-objects:

Class Objects

-------------

The :class:`Class` objects used as values in the dictionary returned by

:func:`readmodule` and :func:`readmodule_ex` provide the following data

members:

.. attribute:: Class.module

   The name of the module defining the class described by the class descriptor.

.. attribute:: Class.name

   The name of the class.

.. attribute:: Class.super

   A list of :class:`Class` objects which describe the immediate base

   classes of the class being described.  Classes which are named as

   superclasses but which are not discoverable by :func:`readmodule` are

   listed as a string with the class name instead of as :class:`Class`

   objects.

.. attribute:: Class.methods

   A dictionary mapping method names to line numbers.

.. attribute:: Class.file

   Name of the file containing the ``class`` statement defining the class.

.. attribute:: Class.lineno

   The line number of the ``class`` statement within the file named by

   :attr:`file`.

.. _pyclbr-function-objects:

Function Objects

----------------

The :class:`Function` objects used as values in the dictionary returned by

:func:`readmodule_ex` provide the following data members:

.. attribute:: Function.module

   The name of the module defining the function described by the function

   descriptor.

.. attribute:: Function.name

   The name of the function.

.. attribute:: Function.file

   Name of the file containing the ``def`` statement defining the function.

.. attribute:: Function.lineno

   The line number of the ``def`` statement within the file named by

   :attr:`file`.