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Table of contents

1. Python help function
2. Defining help for custom class and functions
3. Summary

1. Tutorials
2. Python
3. Python help() function

TutorialPython help() functionPublished on August 3, 2022Python

By Pankaj Kumar

Table of contentsPopular topics

Python help() function is used to get the documentation of specified module, class, function, variables etc. This method is generally used with python interpreter console to get details about python objects.

Python help() function

Python help() function syntax is:

help([object])

If no argument is given, the interactive help system starts on the interpreter console. In python help console, we can specify module, class, function names to get their help documentation. Some of them are:

help> True help> collections help> builtins help> modules help> keywords help> symbols help> topics help> LOOPING

If you want to get out of help console, type quit. We can also get the help documentation directly from the python console by passing a parameter to help() function.

>>> help('collections') >>> help(print) >>> help(globals)

Let’s see what is the output of help() function for globals() function.

>>> help('builtins.globals') Help on built-in function globals in builtins: builtins.globals = globals() Return the dictionary containing the current scope's global variables. NOTE: Updates to this dictionary *will* affect name lookups in the current global scope and vice-versa.

Defining help() for custom class and functions

We can define help() function output for our custom classes and functions by defining docstring (documentation string). By default, the first comment string in the body of a method is used as its docstring. It’s surrounded by three double quotes. Let’s say we have a python file python_help_examples.py with following code.

def add(x, y): """ This function adds the given integer arguments :param x: integer :param y: integer :return: integer """ return x + y class Employee: """ Employee class, mapped to "employee" table in Database """ id = 0 name = '' def __init__(self, i, n): """ Employee object constructor :param i: integer, must be positive :param n: string """ self.id = i self.name = n

Notice that we have defined docstring for function, class and its methods. You should follow some format for documentation, I have generated some part of them automatically using PyCharm IDE. NumPy docstring guide is a good place to get some idea around proper way of help documentation. Let’s see how to get this docstring as help documentation in python console. First of all, we will have to execute this script in the console to load our function and class definition. We can do this using exec() command.

>>> exec(open("python_help_examples.py").read())

We can verify that the functions and class definitions are present using globals() command.

>>> globals() {'__name__': '__main__', '__doc__': None, '__package__': None, '__loader__': <class '_frozen_importlib.BuiltinImporter'>, '__spec__': None, '__annotations__': {}, '__builtins__': <module 'builtins' (built-in)>, '__warningregistry__': {'version': 0}, 'add': <function add at 0x100dda1e0>, 'Employee': <class '__main__.Employee'>}

Notice that ‘Employee’ and ‘add’ are present in the global scope dictionary. Now we can get the help documentation using help() function. Let’s look at some of the examples.

>>> help('python_help_examples')

>>> help('python_help_examples.add') Help on function add in python_help_examples: python_help_examples.add = add(x, y) This function adds the given integer arguments :param x: integer :param y: integer :return: integer (END)

>>> help('python_help_examples.Employee')

>>> help('python_help_examples.Employee.__init__') Help on function __init__ in python_help_examples.Employee: python_help_examples.Employee.__init__ = __init__(self, i, n) Employee object constructor :param i: integer, must be positive :param n: string (END)

Summary

Python help() function is very helpful to get the details about modules, classes, and functions. It’s always best practice to define docstring for the custom classes and functions to explain their usage.

You can checkout complete python script and more Python examples from our GitHub Repository.

Reference: Official Documentation

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About the author

Pankaj KumarAuthorSee author profile

Java and Python Developer for 20+ years, Open Source Enthusiast, Founder of https://www.askpython.com/, https://www.linuxfordevices.com/, and JournalDev.com (acquired by DigitalOcean). Passionate about writing technical articles and sharing knowledge with others. Love Java, Python, Unix and related technologies. Follow my X @PankajWebDev

See author profileCategory:TutorialTags:PythonWhile we believe that this content benefits our community, we have not yet thoroughly reviewed it. If you have any suggestions for improvements, please let us know by clicking the “report an issue“ button at the bottom of the tutorial.

Still looking for an answer?

Ask a questionSearch for more helpWas this helpful?YesNoComments(3)Follow-up questions(0)JournalDevApril 24, 2020Show less

HI Pankaj. I need some help.My interpreter does not want to execute my function. It says ‘keyboardinterrupt’ and disappears. What could be the problem and how fix it? Jerry

- Jerry Mokwena

JournalDevMay 13, 2020Show less

Would it be possible to send the help () result to a Text () text box ??? I have tried putting the help () result in a variable but it always gives NONE. Thank you

- Jose

JournalDevJune 21, 2020Show less

mdo_import_help Hello, Mr. Pankaj, I’m a new user, also a python newbie, hoping to learn here from your wisdom and experience. Now, are you familiar with mdo_import_help ? I’m trying to run some python code code but it keeps failing because mdo_import_ help is missing. Thanks very much, Mirabelle la Terreur

- Mirabelle1998

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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• Table of contents
• Python help() function
• Defining help() for custom class and functions
• Summary

• Deploy on DigitalOcean

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  Popular Topics

  1. AI/ML
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  9. All tutorials
  10. Talk to an expert

  Featured tutorials

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