Bugs item #919099, was opened at 2004-03-18 15:06 Message generated for change (Tracker Item Submitted) made by Item Submitter You can respond by visiting: https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=105470&aid=919099&group_id=5470

Category: Documentation Group: None Status: Open Resolution: None Priority: 5 Submitted By: David MacQuigg (macquigg) Assigned to: Nobody/Anonymous (nobody) Summary: Update docs on Reload()

Initial Comment: The current description of the reload() function in the Library Reference Manual, Release 2.3.3, Section 2.1 provides lots of detail, but not enough basic explanation. As a result, there is lots of confusion on the use of reload, in the mailing lists, and even in texts on Python. The attached PDF file shows the text from the manual, with my suggested edits highlighted in yellow.

The main change is to add a much more detailed description of what happens when a module is reloaded. Reloads were always a mystery to me, until I started thinking about what is happening to the namespaces.

A minor edit: I replaced "re-parse and re-initialize" with "re-compile and reload", since I think many users won't know exactly what the former terms mean in this context. I'm not very familiar with the documentation, so I don't know if the former terms might be preferred, so as to be consistent with other documents.

See http://ece.arizona.edu/~edatools/Python/Reload.htm for an introductory description of reload, with examples and exercises and a few paragraphs on why reload can never work the way many users expect it to.

-- Dave

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