Directives

As previously discussed, a directive is a generic block of explicit markup. While Docutils provides a number of directives, Sphinx provides many more and uses directives as one of the primary extension mechanisms.

See Domains for roles added by domains.

See also

Refer to the reStructuredText Primer for an overview of the directives provided by Docutils.

Table of contents

Since reStructuredText does not have facilities to interconnect several documents, or split documents into multiple output files, Sphinx uses a custom directive to add relations between the single files the documentation is made of, as well as tables of contents. The toctree directive is the central element.

Note

Simple “inclusion” of one file in another can be done with the include directive.

Note

To create table of contents for current document (.rst file), use the standard reStructuredText contents directive.

.. toctree::

This directive inserts a “TOC tree” at the current location, using the individual TOCs (including “sub-TOC trees”) of the documents given in the directive body. Relative document names (not beginning with a slash) are relative to the document the directive occurs in, absolute names are relative to the source directory. A numeric maxdepth option may be given to indicate the depth of the tree; by default, all levels are included. [1]

The representation of “TOC tree” is changed in each output format. The builders that output multiple files (e.g. HTML) treat it as a collection of hyperlinks. On the other hand, the builders that output a single file (e.g. LaTeX, man page, etc.) replace it with the content of the documents on the TOC tree.

Consider this example (taken from the Python docs’ library reference index):

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 2

   intro
   strings
   datatypes
   numeric
   (many more documents listed here)

This accomplishes two things:

• Tables of contents from all those documents are inserted, with a maximum depth of two, that means one nested heading. toctree directives in those documents are also taken into account.

• Sphinx knows the relative order of the documents intro, strings and so forth, and it knows that they are children of the shown document, the library index. From this information it generates “next chapter”, “previous chapter” and “parent chapter” links.

Entries

Document titles in the toctree will be automatically read from the title of the referenced document. If that isn’t what you want, you can specify an explicit title and target using a similar syntax to reStructuredText hyperlinks (and Sphinx’s cross-referencing syntax). This looks like:

.. toctree::

   intro
   All about strings <strings>
   datatypes

The second line above will link to the strings document, but will use the title “All about strings” instead of the title of the strings document.

You can also add external links, by giving an HTTP URL instead of a document name.

The special entry name self stands for the document containing the toctree directive. This is useful if you want to generate a “sitemap” from the toctree.

In the end, all documents in the source directory (or subdirectories) must occur in some toctree directive; Sphinx will emit a warning if it finds a file that is not included, because that means that this file will not be reachable through standard navigation.

Use exclude_patterns to explicitly exclude documents or directories from building completely. Use the “orphan” metadata to let a document be built, but notify Sphinx that it is not reachable via a toctree.

The “root document” (selected by root_doc) is the “root” of the TOC tree hierarchy. It can be used as the documentation’s main page, or as a “full table of contents” if you don’t give a :maxdepth: option.

Changed in version 0.6: Added support for external links and “self” references.

Options

:class: class names (a list of class names, separated by spaces)

Assign class attributes. This is a common option. For example:

.. toctree::
   :class: custom-toc

Added in version 7.4.

:name: label (text)

An implicit target name that can be referenced using ref. This is a common option. For example:

.. toctree::
   :name: mastertoc

   foo

Added in version 1.3.

:caption: (text)

Add a caption to the toctree. For example:

.. toctree::
   :caption: Table of Contents

    foo

Added in version 1.3.

:numbered:

:numbered: depth

If you want to have section numbers even in HTML output, add the :numbered: option to the top-level toctree. For example:

.. toctree::
   :numbered:

   foo
   bar

Section numbering then starts at the heading of foo. Sub-toctrees are automatically numbered (don’t give the numbered flag to those).

Numbering up to a specific depth is also possible, by giving the depth as a numeric argument to numbered.

Added in version 0.6.

Changed in version 1.1: Added the numeric depth argument.

:titlesonly:

Only list document titles, not other headings of the same level. For example:

.. toctree::
   :titlesonly:

   foo
   bar

Added in version 1.0.

:glob:

Parse glob wildcards in toctree entries. All entries are matched against the list of available documents, and matches are inserted into the list alphabetically. For example:

.. toctree::
   :glob:

   intro*
   recipe/*
   *

This includes first all documents whose names start with intro, then all documents in the recipe folder, then all remaining documents (except the one containing the directive, of course.) [2]

Added in version 0.3.

:reversed:

Reverse the order of the entries in the list. This is particularly useful when using the :glob: option.

Added in version 1.5.

:hidden:

A hidden toctree only defines the document hierarchy. It will not insert links into the document at the location of the directive.

This makes sense if you have other means of navigation, e.g. through manual links, HTML sidebar navigation, or if you use the :includehidden: option on the top-level toctree.

Added in version 0.6.

:includehidden:

If you want one global table of contents showing the complete document structure, you can add the :includehidden: option to the top-level toctree directive. All other toctrees on child pages can then be made invisible with the :hidden: option. The top-level toctree with :includehidden: will then include their entries.

Added in version 1.2.

Special names

Sphinx reserves some document names for its own use; you should not try to create documents with these names – it will cause problems.

The special document names (and pages generated for them) are:

• genindex

  This is used for the general index, which is populated with entries from index directives and all index-generating object descriptions. For example, see Sphinx’s Index.

• modindex

  This is used for the Python module index, which contains one entry per py:module directive. For example, see Sphinx’s Python Module Index.

• search

  This is used for the search page, which contains a form that uses the generated JSON search index and JavaScript to full-text search the generated documents for search words; it works on every major browser. For example, see Sphinx’s Search Page.

• Every name beginning with _

  Though few such names are currently used by Sphinx, you should not create documents or document-containing directories with such names. (Using _ as a prefix for a custom template directory is fine.)

Warning

Be careful with unusual characters in filenames. Some formats may interpret these characters in unexpected ways:

• Do not use the colon : for HTML based formats. Links to other parts may not work.

• Do not use the plus + for the ePub format. Some resources may not be found.

Paragraph-level markup

These directives create short paragraphs and can be used inside information units as well as normal text.

Admonitions, messages, and warnings

The admonition directives create ‘admonition’ elements, a standardised system of communicating different types of information, from a helpful tip to matters of paramount danger. These directives can be used anywhere an ordinary body element can, and can contain arbitrary body elements. There are nine specific named admonitions and the generic admonition directive.

.. attention::

Information that requires the reader’s attention. The content of the directive should be written in complete sentences and include all appropriate punctuation.

Example:

Attention

Please may I have your attention.

.. caution::

Information with regard to which the reader should exercise care. The content of the directive should be written in complete sentences and include all appropriate punctuation.

Example:

Caution

Exercise due caution.

.. danger::

Information which may lead to near and present danger if not heeded. The content of the directive should be written in complete sentences and include all appropriate punctuation.

Example:

Danger

Let none think to fly the danger for soon or late love is his own avenger.

.. error::

Information relating to failure modes of some description. The content of the directive should be written in complete sentences and include all appropriate punctuation.

Example:

Error

ERROR 418: I’m a teapot.

.. hint::

Information that is helpful to the reader. The content of the directive should be written in complete sentences and include all appropriate punctuation.

Example:

Hint

Look under the flowerpot.

.. important::

Information that is of paramount importance and which the reader must not ignore. The content of the directive should be written in complete sentences and include all appropriate punctuation.

Example:

Important

This is a statement of paramount importance.

.. note::

An especially important bit of information that the reader should know. The content of the directive should be written in complete sentences and include all appropriate punctuation.

Example:

Note

This function is not suitable for sending tins of spam.

.. tip::

Some useful tidbit of information for the reader. The content of the directive should be written in complete sentences and include all appropriate punctuation.

Example:

Tip

Remember your sun cream!

.. warning::

An important bit of information that the reader should be very aware of. The content of the directive should be written in complete sentences and include all appropriate punctuation.

Example:

Warning

Beware of the dog.

.. admonition:: title

A generic admonition, with an optional title. The content of the directive should be written in complete sentences and include all appropriate punctuation.

Example:

This is a title

This is the content of the admonition.

.. seealso::

Many sections include a list of references to module documentation or external documents. These lists are created using the seealso directive.

The seealso directive is typically placed in a section just before any subsections. The content of the seealso directive should be either a single line or a reStructuredText definition list.

Example:

.. seealso::

   Python's :py:mod:`zipfile` module
      Documentation of Python's standard :py:mod:`zipfile` module.

   `GNU tar manual, Basic Tar Format <https://example.org>`_
      Documentation for tar archive files, including GNU tar extensions.

See also

Module zipfile

Documentation of the zipfile standard module.

GNU tar manual, Basic Tar Format

Documentation for tar archive files, including GNU tar extensions.

Describing changes between versions

.. versionadded:: version [brief explanation]

This directive documents the version of the project which added the described feature. When this applies to an entire module or component, it should be placed at the top of the relevant section before any prose.

The first argument must be given and is the version in question; you can add a second argument consisting of a brief explanation of the change.

Attention

There must be no blank line between the directive head and the explanation; this is to make these blocks visually continuous in the markup.

Example:

.. versionadded:: 2.5
   The *spam* parameter.

Added in version 2.5: The spam parameter.

.. versionchanged:: version [brief explanation]

Similar to versionadded, but describes when and what changed in the named feature in some way (new parameters, changed side effects, etc.).

Example:

.. versionchanged:: 2.8
   The *spam* parameter is now of type *boson*.

Changed in version 2.8: The spam parameter is now of type boson.

.. deprecated:: version [brief explanation]

Similar to versionadded, but describes when the feature was deprecated. A brief explanation can also be given, for example to tell the reader what to use instead.

Example:

.. deprecated:: 3.1
   Use :py:func:`spam` instead.

Deprecated since version 3.1: Use spam() instead.

.. versionremoved:: version [brief explanation]

Similar to versionadded, but describes when the feature was removed. An explanation may be provided to tell the reader what to use instead, or why the feature was removed.

Added in version 7.3.

Example:

.. versionremoved:: 4.0
   The :py:func:`spam` function is more flexible, and should be used instead.

Removed in version 4.0: The spam() function is more flexible, and should be used instead.

Presentational

.. rubric:: title

A rubric is like an informal heading that doesn’t correspond to the document’s structure, i.e. it does not create a table of contents node.

Note

If the title of the rubric is “Footnotes” (or the selected language’s equivalent), this rubric is ignored by the LaTeX writer, since it is assumed to only contain footnote definitions and therefore would create an empty heading.

Options

:class: class names (a list of class names, separated by spaces)

Assign class attributes. This is a common option.

:name: label (text)

An implicit target name that can be referenced using ref. This is a common option.

:heading-level: n (number from 1 to 6)

Added in version 7.4.1.

Use this option to specify the heading level of the rubric. In this case the rubric will be rendered as <h1> to <h6> for HTML output, or as the corresponding non-numbered sectioning command for LaTeX (see latex_toplevel_sectioning).

.. centered::

This directive creates a centered boldfaced line of text.

Deprecated since version 1.1: This presentation-only directive is a legacy from older versions. Use a rst-class directive instead and add an appropriate style.

.. hlist::

This directive must contain a bullet list. It will transform it into a more compact list by either distributing more than one item horizontally, or reducing spacing between items, depending on the builder.

Options

:columns: n (int)

The number of columns; defaults to 2. For example:

.. hlist::
   :columns: 3

   * A list of
   * short items
   * that should be
   * displayed
   * horizontally

Added in version 0.6.

Showing code examples

There are multiple ways to show syntax-highlighted literal code blocks in Sphinx:

• using reStructuredText doctest blocks;

• using reStructuredText literal blocks, optionally in combination with the highlight directive;

• using the code-block directive;

• and using the literalinclude directive.

Doctest blocks can only be used to show interactive Python sessions, while the remaining three can be used for other languages. Of these three, literal blocks are useful when an entire document, or at least large sections of it, use code blocks with the same syntax and which should be styled in the same manner. On the other hand, the code-block directive makes more sense when you want more fine-tuned control over the styling of each block or when you have a document containing code blocks using multiple varied syntaxes. Finally, the literalinclude directive is useful for including entire code files in your documentation.

In all cases, Syntax highlighting is provided by Pygments. When using literal blocks, this is configured using any highlight directives in the source file. When a highlight directive is encountered, it is used until the next highlight directive is encountered. If there is no highlight directive in the file, the global highlighting language is used. This defaults to python but can be configured using the highlight_language config value. The following values are supported:

• none (no highlighting)

• default (similar to python3 but with a fallback to none without warning highlighting fails; the default when highlight_language isn’t set)

• guess (let Pygments guess the lexer based on contents, only works with certain well-recognizable languages)

• python

• rest

• c

• … and any other lexer alias that Pygments supports

If highlighting with the selected language fails (i.e. Pygments emits an “Error” token), the block is not highlighted in any way.

Important

The list of lexer aliases supported is tied to the Pygment version. If you want to ensure consistent highlighting, you should fix your version of Pygments.

.. highlight:: language

Example:

.. highlight:: c

This language is used until the next highlight directive is encountered. As discussed previously, language can be any lexer alias supported by Pygments.

Options

:linenothreshold: threshold (number (optional))

Enable to generate line numbers for code blocks.

This option takes an optional number as threshold parameter. If any threshold given, the directive will produce line numbers only for the code blocks longer than N lines. If not given, line numbers will be produced for all of code blocks.

Example:

.. highlight:: python
   :linenothreshold: 5

:force: (no value)

If given, minor errors on highlighting are ignored.

Added in version 2.1.

.. code-block:: [language]

.. sourcecode:: [language]

.. code:: [language]

Example:

.. code-block:: ruby

   Some Ruby code.

The directive’s alias name sourcecode works as well. This directive takes a language name as an argument. It can be any lexer alias supported by Pygments. If it is not given, the setting of highlight directive will be used. If not set, highlight_language will be used. To display a code example inline within other text, rather than as a separate block, you can use the code role instead.

Changed in version 2.0: The language argument becomes optional.

Options

:linenos: (no value)

Enable to generate line numbers for the code block:

.. code-block:: ruby
   :linenos:

   Some more Ruby code.

:lineno-start: number (number)

Set the first line number of the code block. If present, linenos option is also automatically activated:

.. code-block:: ruby
   :lineno-start: 10

   Some more Ruby code, with line numbering starting at 10.

Added in version 1.3.

:emphasize-lines: line numbers (comma separated numbers)

Emphasize particular lines of the code block:

.. code-block:: python
   :emphasize-lines: 3,5

   def some_function():
       interesting = False
       print('This line is highlighted.')
       print('This one is not...')
       print('...but this one is.')

Added in version 1.1.

Changed in version 1.6.6: LaTeX supports the emphasize-lines option.

:force: (no value)

Ignore minor errors on highlighting.

Added in version 2.1.

:caption: caption of code block (text)

Set a caption to the code block.

Added in version 1.3.

:name: a label for hyperlink (text)

Define implicit target name that can be referenced by using ref. For example:

.. code-block:: python
   :caption: this.py
   :name: this-py

   print('Explicit is better than implicit.')

In order to cross-reference a code-block using either the ref or the numref role, it is necessary that both name and caption be defined. The argument of name can then be given to numref to generate the cross-reference. Example:

See :numref:`this-py` for an example.

When using ref, it is possible to generate a cross-reference with only name defined, provided an explicit title is given. Example:

See :ref:`this code snippet <this-py>` for an example.

Added in version 1.3.

:class: class names (a list of class names separated by spaces)

Assign class attributes. This is a common option.

Added in version 1.4.

:dedent: number (number or no value)

Strip indentation characters from the code block. When number given, leading N characters are removed. When no argument given, leading spaces are removed via textwrap.dedent(). For example:

.. code-block:: ruby
   :linenos:
   :dedent: 4

       some ruby code

Added in version 1.3.

Changed in version 3.5: Support automatic dedent.

.. literalinclude:: filename

Longer displays of verbatim text may be included by storing the example text in an external file containing only plain text. The file may be included using the literalinclude directive. [3] For example, to include the Python source file example.py, use:

.. literalinclude:: example.py

The file name is usually relative to the current file’s path. However, if it is absolute (starting with /), it is relative to the top source directory.

General options

:class: class names (a list of class names, separated by spaces)

Assign class attributes. This is a common option.

Added in version 1.4.

:name: label (text)

An implicit target name that can be referenced using ref. This is a common option.

Added in version 1.3.

:caption: caption (text)

Add a caption above the included content. If no argument is given, the filename is used as the caption.

Added in version 1.3.

Options for formatting

:dedent: number (number or no value)

Strip indentation characters from the included content. When a number is given, the leading N characters are removed. When no argument given, all common leading indentation is removed (using textwrap.dedent()).

Added in version 1.3.

Changed in version 3.5: Support automatic dedent.

:tab-width: N (number)

Expand tabs to N spaces.

Added in version 1.0.

:encoding: (text)

Explicitly specify the encoding of the file. This overwrites the default encoding (source_encoding). For example:

.. literalinclude:: example.txt
   :encoding: latin-1

Added in version 0.4.3.

:linenos: (no value)

Show line numbers alongside the included content. By default, line numbers are counted from 1. This can be changed by the options :lineno-start: and :lineno-match:.

:lineno-start: number (number)

Set line number for the first line to show. If given, this automatically activates :linenos:.

:lineno-match:

When including only parts of a file and show the original line numbers. This is only allowed only when the selection consists of contiguous lines.

Added in version 1.3.

:emphasize-lines: line numbers (comma separated numbers)

Emphasise particular lines of the included content. For example:

.. literalinclude:: example.txt
   :emphasize-lines: 1,2,4-6

:language: language (text)

Select a highlighting language (Pygments lexer) different from the current file’s standard language (set by highlight or highlight_language).

:force: (no value)

Ignore minor errors in highlighting.

Added in version 2.1.

Options for selecting the content to include

:pyobject: object (text)

For Python files, only include the specified class, function or method:

.. literalinclude:: example.py
   :pyobject: Timer.start

Added in version 0.6.

:lines: line numbers (comma separated numbers)

Specify exactly which lines to include:

.. literalinclude:: example.py
   :lines: 1,3,5-10,20-

This includes line 1, line 3, lines 5 to 10, and line 20 to the end.

Added in version 0.6.

:start-at: text

:start-after: text

:end-before: text

:end-at: text

Another way to control which part of the file is included is to use the start-after and end-before options (or only one of them). If start-after is given as a string option, only lines that follow the first line containing that string are included. If end-before is given as a string option, only lines that precede the first lines containing that string are included. The start-at and end-at options behave in a similar way, but the lines containing the matched string are included.

start-after/start-at and end-before/end-at can have same string. start-after/start-at filter lines before the line that contains the option string (start-at will keep the line). Then end-before/end-at filter lines after the line that contains the option string (end-at will keep the line and end-before skip the first line).

Added in version 0.6: Added the start-after and end-before options.

Added in version 1.5: Added the start-at, and end-at options.

Tip

To only select [second-section] of an INI file such as the following, use :start-at: [second-section] and :end-before: [third-section]:

[first-section]
var_in_first=true

[second-section]
var_in_second=true

[third-section]
var_in_third=true

These options can be useful when working with tag comments. Using :start-after: [initialise] and :end-before: [initialised] keeps the lines between between the two comments below:

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # [initialise]
    app.start(":8000")
    # [initialised]

When lines have been selected in any of the ways described above, the line numbers in emphasize-lines refer to these selected lines, counted consecutively starting from 1.

:prepend: line (text)

Prepend a line before the included code. This can be useful for example when highlighting PHP code that doesn’t include the <?php or ?> markers.

Added in version 1.0.

:append: line (text)

Append a line after the included code. This can be useful for example when highlighting PHP code that doesn’t include the <?php or ?> markers.

Added in version 1.0.

:diff: filename

Show the diff of two files. For example:

.. literalinclude:: example.txt
   :diff: example.txt.orig

This shows the diff between example.txt and example.txt.orig with unified diff format.

Added in version 1.3.

Changed in version 0.6: Added support for absolute filenames.

Changed in version 1.6: With both start-after and lines in use, the first line as per start-after is considered to be with line number 1 for lines.

Glossary

.. glossary::

This directive must contain a reStructuredText definition-list-like markup with terms and definitions. The definitions will then be referenceable with the term role. Example:

.. glossary::

   environment
      A structure where information about all documents under the root is
      saved, and used for cross-referencing.  The environment is pickled
      after the parsing stage, so that successive runs only need to read
      and parse new and changed documents.

   source directory
      The directory which, including its subdirectories, contains all
      source files for one Sphinx project.

In contrast to regular definition lists, multiple terms per entry are allowed, and inline markup is allowed in terms. You can link to all of the terms. For example:

.. glossary::

   term 1
   term 2
      Definition of both terms.

(When the glossary is sorted, the first term determines the sort order.)

If you want to specify “grouping key” for general index entries, you can put a “key” as “term : key”. For example:

.. glossary::

   term 1 : A
   term 2 : B
      Definition of both terms.

Note that “key” is used for grouping key as is. The “key” isn’t normalized; key “A” and “a” become different groups. The whole characters in “key” is used instead of a first character; it is used for “Combining Character Sequence” and “Surrogate Pairs” grouping key.

In i18n situation, you can specify “localized term : key” even if original text only have “term” part. In this case, translated “localized term” will be categorized in “key” group.

Changed in version 1.1: Now supports multiple terms and inline markup in terms.

Changed in version 1.4: Index key for glossary term should be considered experimental.

Options

:sorted:

Sort the entries alphabetically.

Added in version 0.6.

Changed in version 4.4: In internationalized documentation, sort according to translated terms.

Meta-information markup

.. sectionauthor:: name <email>

Identifies the author of the current section. The argument should include the author’s name such that it can be used for presentation and email address. The domain name portion of the address should be lower case. Example:

.. sectionauthor:: Guido van Rossum <guido@python.org>

By default, this markup isn’t reflected in the output in any way (it helps keep track of contributions), but you can set the configuration value show_authors to True to make them produce a paragraph in the output.

.. codeauthor:: name <email>

The codeauthor directive, which can appear multiple times, names the authors of the described code, just like sectionauthor names the author(s) of a piece of documentation. It too only produces output if the show_authors configuration value is True.

Index-generating markup

Sphinx automatically creates index entries from all object descriptions (like functions, classes or attributes) like discussed in Domains.

However, there is also explicit markup available, to make the index more comprehensive and enable index entries in documents where information is not mainly contained in information units, such as the language reference.

.. index:: <entries>

This directive contains one or more index entries. Each entry consists of a type and a value, separated by a colon.

For example:

.. index::
   single: execution; context
   pair: module; __main__
   pair: module; sys
   triple: module; search; path
   seealso: scope

The execution context
---------------------

...

This directive contains five entries, which will be converted to entries in the generated index which link to the exact location of the index statement (or, in case of offline media, the corresponding page number).

Since index directives generate cross-reference targets at their location in the source, it makes sense to put them before the thing they refer to – e.g. a heading, as in the example above.

The possible entry types are:

single

Creates a single index entry. Can be made a sub-entry by separating the sub-entry text with a semicolon (this notation is also used below to describe what entries are created). Examples:

.. index:: single: execution
           single: execution; context

• single: execution creates an index entry labelled execution.

• single: execution; context creates an sub-entry of execution labelled context.

pair

A shortcut to create two index entries. The pair of values must be separated by a semicolon. Example:

.. index:: pair: loop; statement

This would create two index entries; loop; statement and statement; loop.

triple

A shortcut to create three index entries. All three values must be separated by a semicolon. Example:

.. index:: triple: module; search; path

This would create three index entries; module; search path, search; path, module, and path; module search.

see

A shortcut to create an index entry that refers to another entry. Example:

.. index:: see: entry; other

This would create an index entry referring from entry to other (i.e. ‘entry’: See ‘other’).

seealso

Like see, but inserts ‘see also’ instead of ‘see’.

module, keyword, operator, object, exception, statement, builtin

These deprecated shortcuts all create two index entries. For example, module: hashlib creates the entries module; hashlib and hashlib; module.

Deprecated since version 1.0: These Python-specific entry types are deprecated.

Changed in version 7.1: Removal version set to Sphinx 9.0. Using these entry types will now emit warnings with the index category.

You can mark up “main” index entries by prefixing them with an exclamation mark. The references to “main” entries are emphasized in the generated index. For example, if two pages contain

.. index:: Python

and one page contains

.. index:: ! Python

then the backlink to the latter page is emphasized among the three backlinks.

For index directives containing only “single” entries, there is a shorthand notation:

.. index:: BNF, grammar, syntax, notation

This creates four index entries.

Changed in version 1.1: Added see and seealso types, as well as marking main entries.

Options

:name: a label for hyperlink (text)

Define implicit target name that can be referenced by using ref. For example:

.. index:: Python
   :name: py-index

Added in version 3.0.

:index:

While the index directive is a block-level markup and links to the beginning of the next paragraph, there is also a corresponding role that sets the link target directly where it is used.

The content of the role can be a simple phrase, which is then kept in the text and used as an index entry. It can also be a combination of text and index entry, styled like with explicit targets of cross-references. In that case, the “target” part can be a full entry as described for the directive above. For example:

This is a normal reStructuredText :index:`paragraph` that contains several
:index:`index entries <pair: index; entry>`.

Added in version 1.1.

Including content based on tags

.. only:: <expression>

Include the content of the directive only if the expression is true. The expression should consist of tags, like this:

.. only:: html and draft

Undefined tags are false, defined tags are true (tags can be defined via the --tag command-line option or within conf.py, see here). Boolean expressions (like (latex or html) and draft) are supported and may use parentheses.

The format and the name of the current builder (html, latex or text) are always set as a tag [4]. To make the distinction between format and name explicit, they are also added with the prefix format_ and builder_, e.g. the epub builder defines the tags html, epub, format_html and builder_epub.

These standard tags are set after the configuration file is read, so they are not available there.

All tags must follow the standard Python identifier syntax as set out in the Identifiers and keywords documentation. That is, a tag expression may only consist of tags that conform to the syntax of Python variables. In ASCII, this consists of the uppercase and lowercase letters A through Z, the underscore _ and, except for the first character, the digits 0 through 9.

Added in version 0.6.

Changed in version 1.2: Added the name of the builder and the prefixes.

Warning

This directive is designed to control only content of document. It could not control sections, labels and so on.

Tables

Use reStructuredText tables, i.e. either

• grid table syntax (ref),

• simple table syntax (ref),

• csv-table syntax,

• or list-table syntax.

The table directive serves as optional wrapper of the grid and simple syntaxes.

They work fine in HTML output, but rendering tables to LaTeX is complex. Check the latex_table_style.

Changed in version 1.6: Merged cells (multi-row, multi-column, both) from grid tables containing complex contents such as multiple paragraphs, blockquotes, lists, literal blocks, will render correctly to LaTeX output.

.. tabularcolumns:: column spec

This directive influences only the LaTeX output for the next table in source. The mandatory argument is a column specification (known as an “alignment preamble” in LaTeX idiom). Please refer to a LaTeX documentation, such as the wiki page, for basics of such a column specification.

Added in version 0.3.

Note

tabularcolumns conflicts with :widths: option of table directives. If both are specified, :widths: option will be ignored.

Sphinx will render tables with more than 30 rows with longtable. Besides the l, r, c and p{width} column specifiers, one can also use \X{a}{b} (new in version 1.5) which configures the column width to be a fraction a/b of the total line width and \Y{f} (new in version 1.6) where f is a decimal: for example \Y{0.2} means that the column will occupy 0.2 times the line width.

When this directive is used for a table with at most 30 rows, Sphinx will render it with tabulary. One can then use specific column types L (left), R (right), C (centered) and J (justified). They have the effect of a p{width} (i.e. each cell is a LaTeX \parbox) with the specified internal text alignment and an automatically computed width.

Warning

• Cells that contain list-like elements such as object descriptions, blockquotes or any kind of lists are not compatible with the LRCJ column types. The column type must then be some p{width} with an explicit width (or \X{a}{b} or \Y{f}).

• Literal blocks do not work with tabulary at all. Sphinx will fall back to tabular or longtable environments and generate a suitable column specification.

In absence of the tabularcolumns directive, and for a table with at most 30 rows and no problematic cells as described in the above warning, Sphinx uses tabulary and the J column-type for every column.

Changed in version 1.6: Formerly, the L column-type was used (text is flushed-left). To revert to this, include \newcolumntype{T}{L} in the LaTeX preamble, as in fact Sphinx uses T and sets it by default to be an alias of J.

Hint

A frequent issue with tabulary is that columns with little contents appear to be “squeezed”. One can add to the LaTeX preamble for example \setlength{\tymin}{40pt} to ensure a minimal column width of 40pt, the tabulary default of 10pt being too small.

Hint

To force usage of the LaTeX longtable environment pass longtable as a :class: option to table, csv-table, or list-table. Use rst-class for other tables.

Math

The input language for mathematics is LaTeX markup. This is the de-facto standard for plain-text math notation and has the added advantage that no further translation is necessary when building LaTeX output.

Keep in mind that when you put math markup in Python docstrings read by autodoc, you either have to double all backslashes, or use Python raw strings (r"raw").

.. math::

Directive for displayed math (math that takes the whole line for itself).

The directive supports multiple equations, which should be separated by a blank line:

.. math::

   (a + b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2

   (a - b)^2 = a^2 - 2ab + b^2

In addition, each single equation is set within a split environment, which means that you can have multiple aligned lines in an equation, aligned at & and separated by \\:

.. math::

   (a + b)^2  &=  (a + b)(a + b) \\
              &=  a^2 + 2ab + b^2

For more details, look into the documentation of the AmSMath LaTeX package.

When the math is only one line of text, it can also be given as a directive argument:

.. math:: (a + b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2

Options

:class: class names (a list of class names, separated by spaces)

Assign class attributes. This is a common option.

:name: label (text)

An implicit target name that can be referenced using ref. This is a common option.

:label: label (text)

Normally, equations are not numbered. If you want your equation to get a number, use the label option. When given, it selects an internal label for the equation, by which it can be cross-referenced, and causes an equation number to be issued. See eq for an example. The numbering style depends on the output format.

:nowrap:

Prevent wrapping of the given math in a math environment. When you give this option, you must make sure yourself that the math is properly set up. For example:

.. math::
   :nowrap:

   \begin{eqnarray}
      y    & = & ax^2 + bx + c \\
      f(x) & = & x^2 + 2xy + y^2
   \end{eqnarray}

See also

Math support for HTML outputs in Sphinx

Rendering options for math with HTML builders.

latex_engine

Explains how to configure LaTeX builder to support Unicode literals in math mark-up.

Grammar production displays

Special markup is available for displaying the productions of a formal grammar. The markup is simple and does not attempt to model all aspects of BNF (or any derived forms), but provides enough to allow context-free grammars to be displayed in a way that causes uses of a symbol to be rendered as hyperlinks to the definition of the symbol. There is this directive:

.. productionlist:: [productionGroup]

This directive is used to enclose a group of productions. Each production is given on a single line and consists of a name, separated by a colon from the following definition. If the definition spans multiple lines, each continuation line must begin with a colon placed at the same column as in the first line. Blank lines are not allowed within productionlist directive arguments.

The definition can contain token names which are marked as interpreted text (e.g., “sum ::= `integer` "+" `integer`”) – this generates cross-references to the productions of these tokens. Outside of the production list, you can reference to token productions using token.

The productionGroup argument to productionlist serves to distinguish different sets of production lists that belong to different grammars. Multiple production lists with the same productionGroup thus define rules in the same scope.

Inside of the production list, tokens implicitly refer to productions from the current group. You can refer to the production of another grammar by prefixing the token with its group name and a colon, e.g, “otherGroup:sum”. If the group of the token should not be shown in the production, it can be prefixed by a tilde, e.g., “~otherGroup:sum”. To refer to a production from an unnamed grammar, the token should be prefixed by a colon, e.g., “:sum”.

Outside of the production list, if you have given a productionGroup argument you must prefix the token name in the cross-reference with the group name and a colon, e.g., “myGroup:sum” instead of just “sum”. If the group should not be shown in the title of the link either an explicit title can be given (e.g., “myTitle <myGroup:sum>”), or the target can be prefixed with a tilde (e.g., “~myGroup:sum”).

Note that no further reStructuredText parsing is done in the production, so that you don’t have to escape * or | characters.

The following is an example taken from the Python Reference Manual:

.. productionlist::
   try_stmt: try1_stmt | try2_stmt
   try1_stmt: "try" ":" `suite`
            : ("except" [`expression` ["," `target`]] ":" `suite`)+
            : ["else" ":" `suite`]
            : ["finally" ":" `suite`]
   try2_stmt: "try" ":" `suite`
            : "finally" ":" `suite`

Footnotes

[1]

The LaTeX writer only refers the maxdepth option of first toctree directive in the document.

[2]

A note on available globbing syntax: you can use the standard shell constructs *, ?, [...] and [!...] with the feature that these all don’t match slashes. A double star ** can be used to match any sequence of characters including slashes.

[3]

There is a standard .. include directive, but it raises errors if the file is not found. This one only emits a warning.

[4]

For most builders name and format are the same. At the moment only builders derived from the html builder distinguish between the builder format and the builder name.

Note that the current builder tag is not available in conf.py, it is only available after the builder is initialized.

Previous

Roles

Next

Field Lists