New submission from Terry J. Reedy:
>>> help(1)
# help on int
>>> help(b'a')
# help on bytes
>>> help('a')
no Python documentation found for 'a'
The reason for this unhelpful response is that strings are treated differently
from all other non-class objects. (msg205861 thought this a bug.) The strings
value is matched against strings that would be recognized at the help> prompt
given after help().
>>> help('topics')
# list of TOPICS
>>> help('LISTS')
# information about mutable sequences
Suggestion: add something more about what to do. Example enhanced response:
No Python documentation found for 'a'. Try help('help') for information on
recognized strings or help(str) for help on the str class.
I believe this could be backported since help() is intented for interactive use
only.
----------
assignee: docs@python
components: Documentation, Library (Lib)
messages: 206157
nosy: docs@python, terry.reedy
priority: normal
severity: normal
stage: needs patch
status: open
title: Improve help('non-topic') response
type: enhancement
versions: Python 3.4
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Python tracker <rep...@bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue19980>
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