You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
352 lines
13 KiB
352 lines
13 KiB
:mod:`formatter` --- Generic output formatting
|
|
==============================================
|
|
|
|
.. module:: formatter
|
|
:synopsis: Generic output formatter and device interface.
|
|
:deprecated:
|
|
|
|
.. deprecated:: 3.4
|
|
Due to lack of usage, the formatter module has been deprecated.
|
|
|
|
--------------
|
|
|
|
This module supports two interface definitions, each with multiple
|
|
implementations: The *formatter* interface, and the *writer* interface which is
|
|
required by the formatter interface.
|
|
|
|
Formatter objects transform an abstract flow of formatting events into specific
|
|
output events on writer objects. Formatters manage several stack structures to
|
|
allow various properties of a writer object to be changed and restored; writers
|
|
need not be able to handle relative changes nor any sort of "change back"
|
|
operation. Specific writer properties which may be controlled via formatter
|
|
objects are horizontal alignment, font, and left margin indentations. A
|
|
mechanism is provided which supports providing arbitrary, non-exclusive style
|
|
settings to a writer as well. Additional interfaces facilitate formatting
|
|
events which are not reversible, such as paragraph separation.
|
|
|
|
Writer objects encapsulate device interfaces. Abstract devices, such as file
|
|
formats, are supported as well as physical devices. The provided
|
|
implementations all work with abstract devices. The interface makes available
|
|
mechanisms for setting the properties which formatter objects manage and
|
|
inserting data into the output.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _formatter-interface:
|
|
|
|
The Formatter Interface
|
|
-----------------------
|
|
|
|
Interfaces to create formatters are dependent on the specific formatter class
|
|
being instantiated. The interfaces described below are the required interfaces
|
|
which all formatters must support once initialized.
|
|
|
|
One data element is defined at the module level:
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. data:: AS_IS
|
|
|
|
Value which can be used in the font specification passed to the ``push_font()``
|
|
method described below, or as the new value to any other ``push_property()``
|
|
method. Pushing the ``AS_IS`` value allows the corresponding ``pop_property()``
|
|
method to be called without having to track whether the property was changed.
|
|
|
|
The following attributes are defined for formatter instance objects:
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. attribute:: formatter.writer
|
|
|
|
The writer instance with which the formatter interacts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.end_paragraph(blanklines)
|
|
|
|
Close any open paragraphs and insert at least *blanklines* before the next
|
|
paragraph.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.add_line_break()
|
|
|
|
Add a hard line break if one does not already exist. This does not break the
|
|
logical paragraph.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.add_hor_rule(*args, **kw)
|
|
|
|
Insert a horizontal rule in the output. A hard break is inserted if there is
|
|
data in the current paragraph, but the logical paragraph is not broken. The
|
|
arguments and keywords are passed on to the writer's :meth:`send_line_break`
|
|
method.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.add_flowing_data(data)
|
|
|
|
Provide data which should be formatted with collapsed whitespace. Whitespace
|
|
from preceding and successive calls to :meth:`add_flowing_data` is considered as
|
|
well when the whitespace collapse is performed. The data which is passed to
|
|
this method is expected to be word-wrapped by the output device. Note that any
|
|
word-wrapping still must be performed by the writer object due to the need to
|
|
rely on device and font information.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.add_literal_data(data)
|
|
|
|
Provide data which should be passed to the writer unchanged. Whitespace,
|
|
including newline and tab characters, are considered legal in the value of
|
|
*data*.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.add_label_data(format, counter)
|
|
|
|
Insert a label which should be placed to the left of the current left margin.
|
|
This should be used for constructing bulleted or numbered lists. If the
|
|
*format* value is a string, it is interpreted as a format specification for
|
|
*counter*, which should be an integer. The result of this formatting becomes the
|
|
value of the label; if *format* is not a string it is used as the label value
|
|
directly. The label value is passed as the only argument to the writer's
|
|
:meth:`send_label_data` method. Interpretation of non-string label values is
|
|
dependent on the associated writer.
|
|
|
|
Format specifications are strings which, in combination with a counter value,
|
|
are used to compute label values. Each character in the format string is copied
|
|
to the label value, with some characters recognized to indicate a transform on
|
|
the counter value. Specifically, the character ``'1'`` represents the counter
|
|
value formatter as an Arabic number, the characters ``'A'`` and ``'a'``
|
|
represent alphabetic representations of the counter value in upper and lower
|
|
case, respectively, and ``'I'`` and ``'i'`` represent the counter value in Roman
|
|
numerals, in upper and lower case. Note that the alphabetic and roman
|
|
transforms require that the counter value be greater than zero.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.flush_softspace()
|
|
|
|
Send any pending whitespace buffered from a previous call to
|
|
:meth:`add_flowing_data` to the associated writer object. This should be called
|
|
before any direct manipulation of the writer object.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.push_alignment(align)
|
|
|
|
Push a new alignment setting onto the alignment stack. This may be
|
|
:const:`AS_IS` if no change is desired. If the alignment value is changed from
|
|
the previous setting, the writer's :meth:`new_alignment` method is called with
|
|
the *align* value.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.pop_alignment()
|
|
|
|
Restore the previous alignment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.push_font((size, italic, bold, teletype))
|
|
|
|
Change some or all font properties of the writer object. Properties which are
|
|
not set to :const:`AS_IS` are set to the values passed in while others are
|
|
maintained at their current settings. The writer's :meth:`new_font` method is
|
|
called with the fully resolved font specification.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.pop_font()
|
|
|
|
Restore the previous font.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.push_margin(margin)
|
|
|
|
Increase the number of left margin indentations by one, associating the logical
|
|
tag *margin* with the new indentation. The initial margin level is ``0``.
|
|
Changed values of the logical tag must be true values; false values other than
|
|
:const:`AS_IS` are not sufficient to change the margin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.pop_margin()
|
|
|
|
Restore the previous margin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.push_style(*styles)
|
|
|
|
Push any number of arbitrary style specifications. All styles are pushed onto
|
|
the styles stack in order. A tuple representing the entire stack, including
|
|
:const:`AS_IS` values, is passed to the writer's :meth:`new_styles` method.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.pop_style(n=1)
|
|
|
|
Pop the last *n* style specifications passed to :meth:`push_style`. A tuple
|
|
representing the revised stack, including :const:`AS_IS` values, is passed to
|
|
the writer's :meth:`new_styles` method.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.set_spacing(spacing)
|
|
|
|
Set the spacing style for the writer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: formatter.assert_line_data(flag=1)
|
|
|
|
Inform the formatter that data has been added to the current paragraph
|
|
out-of-band. This should be used when the writer has been manipulated
|
|
directly. The optional *flag* argument can be set to false if the writer
|
|
manipulations produced a hard line break at the end of the output.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _formatter-impls:
|
|
|
|
Formatter Implementations
|
|
-------------------------
|
|
|
|
Two implementations of formatter objects are provided by this module. Most
|
|
applications may use one of these classes without modification or subclassing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: NullFormatter(writer=None)
|
|
|
|
A formatter which does nothing. If *writer* is omitted, a :class:`NullWriter`
|
|
instance is created. No methods of the writer are called by
|
|
:class:`NullFormatter` instances. Implementations should inherit from this
|
|
class if implementing a writer interface but don't need to inherit any
|
|
implementation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: AbstractFormatter(writer)
|
|
|
|
The standard formatter. This implementation has demonstrated wide applicability
|
|
to many writers, and may be used directly in most circumstances. It has been
|
|
used to implement a full-featured World Wide Web browser.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _writer-interface:
|
|
|
|
The Writer Interface
|
|
--------------------
|
|
|
|
Interfaces to create writers are dependent on the specific writer class being
|
|
instantiated. The interfaces described below are the required interfaces which
|
|
all writers must support once initialized. Note that while most applications can
|
|
use the :class:`AbstractFormatter` class as a formatter, the writer must
|
|
typically be provided by the application.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.flush()
|
|
|
|
Flush any buffered output or device control events.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.new_alignment(align)
|
|
|
|
Set the alignment style. The *align* value can be any object, but by convention
|
|
is a string or ``None``, where ``None`` indicates that the writer's "preferred"
|
|
alignment should be used. Conventional *align* values are ``'left'``,
|
|
``'center'``, ``'right'``, and ``'justify'``.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.new_font(font)
|
|
|
|
Set the font style. The value of *font* will be ``None``, indicating that the
|
|
device's default font should be used, or a tuple of the form ``(size,
|
|
italic, bold, teletype)``. Size will be a string indicating the size of
|
|
font that should be used; specific strings and their interpretation must be
|
|
defined by the application. The *italic*, *bold*, and *teletype* values are
|
|
Boolean values specifying which of those font attributes should be used.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.new_margin(margin, level)
|
|
|
|
Set the margin level to the integer *level* and the logical tag to *margin*.
|
|
Interpretation of the logical tag is at the writer's discretion; the only
|
|
restriction on the value of the logical tag is that it not be a false value for
|
|
non-zero values of *level*.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.new_spacing(spacing)
|
|
|
|
Set the spacing style to *spacing*.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.new_styles(styles)
|
|
|
|
Set additional styles. The *styles* value is a tuple of arbitrary values; the
|
|
value :const:`AS_IS` should be ignored. The *styles* tuple may be interpreted
|
|
either as a set or as a stack depending on the requirements of the application
|
|
and writer implementation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.send_line_break()
|
|
|
|
Break the current line.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.send_paragraph(blankline)
|
|
|
|
Produce a paragraph separation of at least *blankline* blank lines, or the
|
|
equivalent. The *blankline* value will be an integer. Note that the
|
|
implementation will receive a call to :meth:`send_line_break` before this call
|
|
if a line break is needed; this method should not include ending the last line
|
|
of the paragraph. It is only responsible for vertical spacing between
|
|
paragraphs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.send_hor_rule(*args, **kw)
|
|
|
|
Display a horizontal rule on the output device. The arguments to this method
|
|
are entirely application- and writer-specific, and should be interpreted with
|
|
care. The method implementation may assume that a line break has already been
|
|
issued via :meth:`send_line_break`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.send_flowing_data(data)
|
|
|
|
Output character data which may be word-wrapped and re-flowed as needed. Within
|
|
any sequence of calls to this method, the writer may assume that spans of
|
|
multiple whitespace characters have been collapsed to single space characters.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.send_literal_data(data)
|
|
|
|
Output character data which has already been formatted for display. Generally,
|
|
this should be interpreted to mean that line breaks indicated by newline
|
|
characters should be preserved and no new line breaks should be introduced. The
|
|
data may contain embedded newline and tab characters, unlike data provided to
|
|
the :meth:`send_formatted_data` interface.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. method:: writer.send_label_data(data)
|
|
|
|
Set *data* to the left of the current left margin, if possible. The value of
|
|
*data* is not restricted; treatment of non-string values is entirely
|
|
application- and writer-dependent. This method will only be called at the
|
|
beginning of a line.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. _writer-impls:
|
|
|
|
Writer Implementations
|
|
----------------------
|
|
|
|
Three implementations of the writer object interface are provided as examples by
|
|
this module. Most applications will need to derive new writer classes from the
|
|
:class:`NullWriter` class.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: NullWriter()
|
|
|
|
A writer which only provides the interface definition; no actions are taken on
|
|
any methods. This should be the base class for all writers which do not need to
|
|
inherit any implementation methods.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: AbstractWriter()
|
|
|
|
A writer which can be used in debugging formatters, but not much else. Each
|
|
method simply announces itself by printing its name and arguments on standard
|
|
output.
|
|
|
|
|
|
.. class:: DumbWriter(file=None, maxcol=72)
|
|
|
|
Simple writer class which writes output on the :term:`file object` passed
|
|
in as *file* or, if *file* is omitted, on standard output. The output is
|
|
simply word-wrapped to the number of columns specified by *maxcol*. This
|
|
class is suitable for reflowing a sequence of paragraphs.
|
|
|