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authorDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-05-04 11:31:33 +0000
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+.. highlight:: rst
+
+.. _rst-primer:
+
+=======================
+reStructuredText Primer
+=======================
+
+reStructuredText is the default plaintext markup language used by Sphinx. This
+section is a brief introduction to reStructuredText (reST) concepts and syntax,
+intended to provide authors with enough information to author documents
+productively. Since reST was designed to be a simple, unobtrusive markup
+language, this will not take too long.
+
+.. seealso::
+
+ The authoritative `reStructuredText User Documentation
+ <https://docutils.sourceforge.io/rst.html>`_. The "ref" links in this
+ document link to the description of the individual constructs in the reST
+ reference.
+
+
+Paragraphs
+----------
+
+The paragraph (:duref:`ref <paragraphs>`) is the most basic block in a reST
+document. Paragraphs are simply chunks of text separated by one or more blank
+lines. As in Python, indentation is significant in reST, so all lines of the
+same paragraph must be left-aligned to the same level of indentation.
+
+
+.. _rst-inline-markup:
+
+Inline markup
+-------------
+
+The standard reST inline markup is quite simple: use
+
+* one asterisk: ``*text*`` for emphasis (italics),
+* two asterisks: ``**text**`` for strong emphasis (boldface), and
+* backquotes: ````text```` for code samples.
+
+If asterisks or backquotes appear in running text and could be confused with
+inline markup delimiters, they have to be escaped with a backslash.
+
+Be aware of some restrictions of this markup:
+
+* it may not be nested,
+* content may not start or end with whitespace: ``* text*`` is wrong,
+* it must be separated from surrounding text by non-word characters. Use a
+ backslash escaped space to work around that: ``thisis\ *one*\ word``.
+
+These restrictions may be lifted in future versions of the docutils.
+
+It is also possible to replace or expand upon some of this inline markup with
+roles. Refer to :ref:`rst-roles-alt` for more information.
+
+
+Lists and Quote-like blocks
+---------------------------
+
+List markup (:duref:`ref <bullet-lists>`) is natural: just place an asterisk at
+the start of a paragraph and indent properly. The same goes for numbered
+lists; they can also be autonumbered using a ``#`` sign::
+
+ * This is a bulleted list.
+ * It has two items, the second
+ item uses two lines.
+
+ 1. This is a numbered list.
+ 2. It has two items too.
+
+ #. This is a numbered list.
+ #. It has two items too.
+
+Nested lists are possible, but be aware that they must be separated from the
+parent list items by blank lines::
+
+ * this is
+ * a list
+
+ * with a nested list
+ * and some subitems
+
+ * and here the parent list continues
+
+Definition lists (:duref:`ref <definition-lists>`) are created as follows::
+
+ term (up to a line of text)
+ Definition of the term, which must be indented
+
+ and can even consist of multiple paragraphs
+
+ next term
+ Description.
+
+Note that the term cannot have more than one line of text.
+
+Quoted paragraphs (:duref:`ref <block-quotes>`) are created by just indenting
+them more than the surrounding paragraphs.
+
+Line blocks (:duref:`ref <line-blocks>`) are a way of preserving line breaks::
+
+ | These lines are
+ | broken exactly like in
+ | the source file.
+
+There are also several more special blocks available:
+
+* field lists (:duref:`ref <field-lists>`, with caveats noted in
+ :ref:`rst-field-lists`)
+* option lists (:duref:`ref <option-lists>`)
+* quoted literal blocks (:duref:`ref <quoted-literal-blocks>`)
+* doctest blocks (:duref:`ref <doctest-blocks>`)
+
+
+.. _rst-literal-blocks:
+
+Literal blocks
+--------------
+
+Literal code blocks (:duref:`ref <literal-blocks>`) are introduced by ending a
+paragraph with the special marker ``::``. The literal block must be indented
+(and, like all paragraphs, separated from the surrounding ones by blank
+lines)::
+
+ This is a normal text paragraph. The next paragraph is a code sample::
+
+ It is not processed in any way, except
+ that the indentation is removed.
+
+ It can span multiple lines.
+
+ This is a normal text paragraph again.
+
+The handling of the ``::`` marker is smart:
+
+* If it occurs as a paragraph of its own, that paragraph is completely left out
+ of the document.
+* If it is preceded by whitespace, the marker is removed.
+* If it is preceded by non-whitespace, the marker is replaced by a single
+ colon.
+
+That way, the second sentence in the above example's first paragraph would be
+rendered as "The next paragraph is a code sample:".
+
+Code highlighting can be enabled for these literal blocks on a document-wide
+basis using the :rst:dir:`highlight` directive and on a project-wide basis
+using the :confval:`highlight_language` configuration option. The
+:rst:dir:`code-block` directive can be used to set highlighting on a
+block-by-block basis. These directives are discussed later.
+
+
+.. _rst-doctest-blocks:
+
+Doctest blocks
+--------------
+
+Doctest blocks (:duref:`ref <doctest-blocks>`) are interactive Python sessions
+cut-and-pasted into docstrings. They do not require the
+:ref:`literal blocks <rst-literal-blocks>` syntax. The doctest block must end
+with a blank line and should *not* end with an unused prompt::
+
+ >>> 1 + 1
+ 2
+
+.. _rst-tables:
+
+Tables
+------
+
+For *grid tables* (:duref:`ref <grid-tables>`), you have to "paint" the cell
+grid yourself. They look like this::
+
+ +------------------------+------------+----------+----------+
+ | Header row, column 1 | Header 2 | Header 3 | Header 4 |
+ | (header rows optional) | | | |
+ +========================+============+==========+==========+
+ | body row 1, column 1 | column 2 | column 3 | column 4 |
+ +------------------------+------------+----------+----------+
+ | body row 2 | ... | ... | |
+ +------------------------+------------+----------+----------+
+
+*Simple tables* (:duref:`ref <simple-tables>`) are easier to write, but
+limited: they must contain more than one row, and the first column cells cannot
+contain multiple lines. They look like this::
+
+ ===== ===== =======
+ A B A and B
+ ===== ===== =======
+ False False False
+ True False False
+ False True False
+ True True True
+ ===== ===== =======
+
+Two more syntaxes are supported: *CSV tables* and *List tables*. They use an
+*explicit markup block*. Refer to :ref:`table-directives` for more information.
+
+
+Hyperlinks
+----------
+
+External links
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Use ```Link text <https://domain.invalid/>`_`` for inline web links. If the
+link text should be the web address, you don't need special markup at all, the
+parser finds links and mail addresses in ordinary text.
+
+.. important:: There must be a space between the link text and the opening \< for the URL.
+
+You can also separate the link and the target definition (:duref:`ref
+<hyperlink-targets>`), like this::
+
+ This is a paragraph that contains `a link`_.
+
+ .. _a link: https://domain.invalid/
+
+Internal links
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Internal linking is done via a special reST role provided by Sphinx, see the
+section on specific markup, :ref:`ref-role`.
+
+
+.. _rst-sections:
+
+Sections
+--------
+
+Section headers (:duref:`ref <sections>`) are created by underlining (and
+optionally overlining) the section title with a punctuation character, at least
+as long as the text::
+
+ =================
+ This is a heading
+ =================
+
+Normally, there are no heading levels assigned to certain characters as the
+structure is determined from the succession of headings. However, this
+convention is used in `Python's Style Guide for documenting
+<https://docs.python.org/devguide/documenting.html#style-guide>`_ which you may
+follow:
+
+* ``#`` with overline, for parts
+* ``*`` with overline, for chapters
+* ``=`` for sections
+* ``-`` for subsections
+* ``^`` for subsubsections
+* ``"`` for paragraphs
+
+Of course, you are free to use your own marker characters (see the reST
+documentation), and use a deeper nesting level, but keep in mind that most
+target formats (HTML, LaTeX) have a limited supported nesting depth.
+
+
+.. _rst-field-lists:
+
+Field Lists
+-----------
+
+Field lists (:duref:`ref <field-lists>`) are sequences of fields marked up like
+this::
+
+ :fieldname: Field content
+
+They are commonly used in Python documentation::
+
+ def my_function(my_arg, my_other_arg):
+ """A function just for me.
+
+ :param my_arg: The first of my arguments.
+ :param my_other_arg: The second of my arguments.
+
+ :returns: A message (just for me, of course).
+ """
+
+Sphinx extends standard docutils behavior and intercepts field lists specified
+at the beginning of documents. Refer to :doc:`field-lists` for more
+information.
+
+
+.. TODO This ref should be 'rst-roles', but that already exists. Rename the
+.. other ones
+
+.. _rst-roles-alt:
+
+Roles
+-----
+
+A role or "custom interpreted text role" (:duref:`ref <roles>`) is an inline
+piece of explicit markup. It signifies that the enclosed text should be
+interpreted in a specific way. Sphinx uses this to provide semantic markup and
+cross-referencing of identifiers, as described in the appropriate section. The
+general syntax is ``:rolename:`content```.
+
+Docutils supports the following roles:
+
+* :durole:`emphasis` -- equivalent of ``*emphasis*``
+* :durole:`strong` -- equivalent of ``**strong**``
+* :durole:`literal` -- equivalent of ````literal````
+* :durole:`subscript` -- subscript text
+* :durole:`superscript` -- superscript text
+* :durole:`title-reference` -- for titles of books, periodicals, and other
+ materials
+
+Refer to :doc:`roles` for roles added by Sphinx.
+
+
+Explicit Markup
+---------------
+
+"Explicit markup" (:duref:`ref <explicit-markup-blocks>`) is used in reST for
+most constructs that need special handling, such as footnotes,
+specially-highlighted paragraphs, comments, and generic directives.
+
+An explicit markup block begins with a line starting with ``..`` followed by
+whitespace and is terminated by the next paragraph at the same level of
+indentation. (There needs to be a blank line between explicit markup and
+normal paragraphs. This may all sound a bit complicated, but it is intuitive
+enough when you write it.)
+
+
+.. _rst-directives:
+
+Directives
+----------
+
+A directive (:duref:`ref <directives>`) is a generic block of explicit markup.
+Along with roles, it is one of the extension mechanisms of reST, and Sphinx
+makes heavy use of it.
+
+Docutils supports the following directives:
+
+* Admonitions: :dudir:`attention`, :dudir:`caution`, :dudir:`danger`,
+ :dudir:`error`, :dudir:`hint`, :dudir:`important`, :dudir:`note`,
+ :dudir:`tip`, :dudir:`warning` and the generic
+ :dudir:`admonition <admonitions>`. (Most themes style only "note" and
+ "warning" specially.)
+
+* Images:
+
+ - :dudir:`image` (see also Images_ below)
+ - :dudir:`figure` (an image with caption and optional legend)
+
+* Additional body elements:
+
+ - :dudir:`contents <table-of-contents>` (a local, i.e. for the current file
+ only, table of contents)
+ - :dudir:`container` (a container with a custom class, useful to generate an
+ outer ``<div>`` in HTML)
+ - :dudir:`rubric` (a heading without relation to the document sectioning)
+ - :dudir:`topic`, :dudir:`sidebar` (special highlighted body elements)
+ - :dudir:`parsed-literal` (literal block that supports inline markup)
+ - :dudir:`epigraph` (a block quote with optional attribution line)
+ - :dudir:`highlights`, :dudir:`pull-quote` (block quotes with their own
+ class attribute)
+ - :dudir:`compound <compound-paragraph>` (a compound paragraph)
+
+* Special tables:
+
+ - :dudir:`table` (a table with title)
+ - :dudir:`csv-table` (a table generated from comma-separated values)
+ - :dudir:`list-table` (a table generated from a list of lists)
+
+* Special directives:
+
+ - :dudir:`raw <raw-data-pass-through>` (include raw target-format markup)
+ - :dudir:`include` (include reStructuredText from another file) -- in Sphinx,
+ when given an absolute include file path, this directive takes it as
+ relative to the source directory
+
+ .. _rstclass:
+
+ - :dudir:`class` (assign a class attribute to the next element)
+
+ .. note::
+
+ When the default domain contains a ``class`` directive, this directive
+ will be shadowed. Therefore, Sphinx re-exports it as ``rst-class``.
+
+* HTML specifics:
+
+ - :dudir:`meta`
+ (generation of HTML ``<meta>`` tags, see also :ref:`html-meta` below)
+ - :dudir:`title <metadata-document-title>` (override document title)
+
+* Influencing markup:
+
+ - :dudir:`default-role` (set a new default role)
+ - :dudir:`role` (create a new role)
+
+ Since these are only per-file, better use Sphinx's facilities for setting the
+ :confval:`default_role`.
+
+.. warning::
+
+ Do *not* use the directives :dudir:`sectnum`, :dudir:`header` and
+ :dudir:`footer`.
+
+Directives added by Sphinx are described in :doc:`directives`.
+
+Basically, a directive consists of a name, arguments, options and content.
+(Keep this terminology in mind, it is used in the next chapter describing
+custom directives.) Looking at this example, ::
+
+ .. function:: foo(x)
+ foo(y, z)
+ :module: some.module.name
+
+ Return a line of text input from the user.
+
+``function`` is the directive name. It is given two arguments here, the
+remainder of the first line and the second line, as well as one option
+``module`` (as you can see, options are given in the lines immediately
+following the arguments and indicated by the colons). Options must be indented
+to the same level as the directive content.
+
+The directive content follows after a blank line and is indented relative to
+the directive start or if options are present, by the same amount as the
+options.
+
+Be careful as the indent is not a fixed number of whitespace, e.g. three, but
+any number whitespace. This can be surprising when a fixed indent is used
+throughout the document and can make a difference for directives which are
+sensitive to whitespace. Compare::
+
+ .. code-block::
+ :caption: A cool example
+
+ The output of this line starts with four spaces.
+
+ .. code-block::
+
+ The output of this line has no spaces at the beginning.
+
+In the first code block, the indent for the content was fixated by the option
+line to three spaces, consequently the content starts with four spaces.
+In the latter the indent was fixed by the content itself to seven spaces, thus
+it does not start with a space.
+
+
+Images
+------
+
+reST supports an image directive (:dudir:`ref <image>`), used like so::
+
+ .. image:: gnu.png
+ (options)
+
+When used within Sphinx, the file name given (here ``gnu.png``) must either be
+relative to the source file, or absolute which means that they are relative to
+the top source directory. For example, the file ``sketch/spam.rst`` could
+refer to the image ``images/spam.png`` as ``../images/spam.png`` or
+``/images/spam.png``.
+
+Sphinx will automatically copy image files over to a subdirectory of the output
+directory on building (e.g. the ``_static`` directory for HTML output.)
+
+Interpretation of image size options (``width`` and ``height``) is as follows:
+if the size has no unit or the unit is pixels, the given size will only be
+respected for output channels that support pixels. Other units (like ``pt`` for
+points) will be used for HTML and LaTeX output (the latter replaces ``pt`` by
+``bp`` as this is the TeX unit such that ``72bp=1in``).
+
+Sphinx extends the standard docutils behavior by allowing an asterisk for the
+extension::
+
+ .. image:: gnu.*
+
+Sphinx then searches for all images matching the provided pattern and
+determines their type. Each builder then chooses the best image out of these
+candidates. For instance, if the file name ``gnu.*`` was given and two files
+:file:`gnu.pdf` and :file:`gnu.png` existed in the source tree, the LaTeX
+builder would choose the former, while the HTML builder would prefer the
+latter. Supported image types and choosing priority are defined at
+:doc:`/usage/builders/index`.
+
+Note that image file names should not contain spaces.
+
+.. versionchanged:: 0.4
+ Added the support for file names ending in an asterisk.
+
+.. versionchanged:: 0.6
+ Image paths can now be absolute.
+
+.. versionchanged:: 1.5
+ latex target supports pixels (default is ``96px=1in``).
+
+
+Footnotes
+---------
+
+For footnotes (:duref:`ref <footnotes>`), use ``[#name]_`` to mark the footnote
+location, and add the footnote body at the bottom of the document after a
+"Footnotes" rubric heading, like so::
+
+ Lorem ipsum [#f1]_ dolor sit amet ... [#f2]_
+
+ .. rubric:: Footnotes
+
+ .. [#f1] Text of the first footnote.
+ .. [#f2] Text of the second footnote.
+
+You can also explicitly number the footnotes (``[1]_``) or use auto-numbered
+footnotes without names (``[#]_``).
+
+
+Citations
+---------
+
+Standard reST citations (:duref:`ref <citations>`) are supported, with the
+additional feature that they are "global", i.e. all citations can be referenced
+from all files. Use them like so::
+
+ Lorem ipsum [Ref]_ dolor sit amet.
+
+ .. [Ref] Book or article reference, URL or whatever.
+
+Citation usage is similar to footnote usage, but with a label that is not
+numeric or begins with ``#``.
+
+
+Substitutions
+-------------
+
+reST supports "substitutions" (:duref:`ref <substitution-definitions>`), which
+are pieces of text and/or markup referred to in the text by ``|name|``. They
+are defined like footnotes with explicit markup blocks, like this::
+
+ .. |name| replace:: replacement *text*
+
+or this::
+
+ .. |caution| image:: warning.png
+ :alt: Warning!
+
+See the :duref:`reST reference for substitutions <substitution-definitions>`
+for details.
+
+.. index:: ! pair: global; substitutions
+
+If you want to use some substitutions for all documents, put them into
+:confval:`rst_prolog` or :confval:`rst_epilog` or put them into a separate file
+and include it into all documents you want to use them in, using the
+:rst:dir:`include` directive. (Be sure to give the include file a file name
+extension differing from that of other source files, to avoid Sphinx finding it
+as a standalone document.)
+
+Sphinx defines some default substitutions, see :ref:`default-substitutions`.
+
+
+Comments
+--------
+
+Every explicit markup block which isn't a valid markup construct (like the
+footnotes above) is regarded as a comment (:duref:`ref <comments>`). For
+example::
+
+ .. This is a comment.
+
+You can indent text after a comment start to form multiline comments::
+
+ ..
+ This whole indented block
+ is a comment.
+
+ Still in the comment.
+
+
+.. _html-meta:
+
+HTML Metadata
+-------------
+
+The :rst:dir:`meta` directive (:dudir:`ref <meta>`) allows specifying the HTML
+`metadata element`_ of a Sphinx documentation page. For example, the
+directive::
+
+ .. meta::
+ :description: The Sphinx documentation builder
+ :keywords: Sphinx, documentation, builder
+
+will generate the following HTML output:
+
+.. code:: html
+
+ <meta name="description" content="The Sphinx documentation builder">
+ <meta name="keywords" content="Sphinx, documentation, builder">
+
+Also, Sphinx will add the keywords as specified in the meta directive to the
+search index. Thereby, the ``lang`` attribute of the meta element is
+considered. For example, the directive::
+
+ .. meta::
+ :keywords: backup
+ :keywords lang=en: pleasefindthiskey pleasefindthiskeytoo
+ :keywords lang=de: bittediesenkeyfinden
+
+adds the following words to the search indices of builds with different language
+configurations:
+
+* ``pleasefindthiskey``, ``pleasefindthiskeytoo`` to *English* builds;
+* ``bittediesenkeyfinden`` to *German* builds;
+* ``backup`` to builds in all languages.
+
+.. _metadata element: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/meta
+
+
+Source encoding
+---------------
+
+Since the easiest way to include special characters like em dashes or copyright
+signs in reST is to directly write them as Unicode characters, one has to
+specify an encoding. Sphinx assumes source files to be encoded in UTF-8 by
+default; you can change this with the :confval:`source_encoding` config value.
+
+
+Gotchas
+-------
+
+There are some problems one commonly runs into while authoring reST documents:
+
+* **Separation of inline markup:** As said above, inline markup spans must be
+ separated from the surrounding text by non-word characters, you have to use a
+ backslash-escaped space to get around that. See :duref:`the reference
+ <substitution-definitions>` for the details.
+
+* **No nested inline markup:** Something like ``*see :func:`foo`*`` is not
+ possible.