Sphinx gotchas
Here is a list of common gotchas when formatting Python docstrings for Sphinx and the Napoleon style.
Sphinx
Lists
All sorts of lists require an empty line before the first bullet and after the last one, to be properly interpreted as list. No indentation is required for list elements w.r.t. surrounding text, and line continuations should be indented like the first character after the bullet
Bad:
this is a bad example that will not be interpreted as a list preceding text - foo - bar - baz following text
Good:
this is some text preceding the list - foo - bar - baz - this is a rather long-ish paragraph inserted in the list with line continuation - qux this is some text following the list
Bad:
- foo - nested lists also requires empty lines, but they are missing here - inner list 1 - inner list 2 - outer list continues here
Good:
surrounding text - foo - nested lists also requires empty lines - inner list 1 - inner list 2 - outer list continues here surrounding text
Verbatim source code
Verbatim code blocks, e.g., for code examples, requires double colon at the end of a line, then an empty line, and then the code block itself, indented:
Bad:
This does not work as there is a single column and no empty line before code:
def foo(bar, baz):
qux = bar + baz
return qux
Good:
a nice example of python code follows::
def foo(bar, baz):
qux = bar + baz
return qux
here we can restart text flow
Inline code samples use double backquotes, and not single ones.
Bad:
you have to instantiate the method `def foo(bar): pass` in order to use this abstract class
Good:
you have to instantiate the method ``def foo(bar): pass`` in order to use this abstract class
**kwargs, **args
Asterisks needs to be escaped to avoid capture by emphasis markup. In case of multiple adjacent asterisks, escaping the first one is enough.
Bad:
additional **kwargs are copied in the returned dictionary
Good:
additional \**kwargs are copied in the returned dictionary
Napoleon
Docstring sections
See the list of docstring sections supported by Napoleon. Everything else will not be typeset with a dedicated heading, you will have to do so explicitly using reStructuredText markup.
Args
Entries in Args section do not start with bullets, but just with argument names (as any other Napoleon section). Continuation lines should be indented.
Bad:
Args:
- foo (int): first argument
- bar: second argument
- baz (bool): third argument
Good:
Args:
foo (int): first argument
bar: second argument, which happen to have a fairly
long description of what it does
baz (bool): third argument
Returns
In Returns section you need to use ":" carefully as, if present, it will be interpreted as a separator between return type and description. Also, the description of return value should not start on the same line of "Returns:", but on the subsequent one, indented.
Bad:
Returns:
this does not work (colon will be interpreted as type/desc separator), a dict with keys:
- foo
- bar
<pre>
<u>Good:</u>
<pre>
Returns:
this works (there is no colon) a dict with keys
- foo
- bar
Good:
Returns:
dict: this works again (''first'' colon identifies the type) a dict with keys:
- foo
- bar
Bad:
Returns: this is not good either, you need to start a paragraph
Raises
You need a ":" separator between exception names and their description.
Bad:
Raises:
ValueError if you botched it
RuntimeError if we botched it
Good:
Raises:
ValueError: if you botched it
RuntimeError: if we botched it