[Qgis-developer] PyQGIS cookbook

[Alex Mandel]

On 05/05/2010 04:48 AM, Martin Dobias wrote:
> Hi all
> 
> I think we are still lacking a comprehensive resource for developers
> using Python bindings to develop plugins and/or custom applications.
> There are some resources in form of of blog posts and wiki pages, but
> they are not well organized and sometimes outdated. Finally, existing
> plugins contain a lot of useful (reusable) code, but going through a
> plenty of source code of plugins is not a particularly good way to
> learn QGIS API.
> 
> I've decided to start a PyQGIS cookbook that would introduce various
> aspects of QGIS API in form of working code snippets. The cookbook
> shouldn't replace the generated Doxygen documentation. Instead of
> telling what a class can do, it should be task-oriented, i.e.
> answering the questions "how do I?". Ideally, the cookbook should be
> both a way how to learn QGIS API and a source of code for those
> familiar with it, though not remembering the exact syntax/usage.
> 
> After reviewing possible documentation systems, sphinx [1] looked like
> a suitable candidate (currently generator for Python documentation
> [2]). It has plenty of features and supports various output formats.
> It uses reStructured text syntax, which is quite similar to wiki
> syntax.
> 
> As a start, I've combined Python_Bindings and
> Developing_Python_Plugins wiki pages and added some new material, the
> working draft is available here:
> http://mapserver.sk/~wonder/qgis/html/
> 
> It is in early stages and covers only some parts of the API. If the
> cookbook will get positive feedback, I'd like to move it to official
> QGIS documentation page [3]. The source code for the cookbook could be
> put into QGIS svn - either within the source tree or as a separate
> branch in svn and the online docs could be regenerated daily as is the
> case of Doxygen documentation.
> 
> I'd like to ask you for some feedback on the cookbook:
> - do you like the idea?
> - what parts of API should be documented - what is missing?
> - do you know about any resources / useful code snippets that could be
> integrated into the cookbook?
> 
> Any contributions to the cookbook would be highly welcome. I believe
> after some time this could end up as a complete guide for all common
> needs.
> 
> Regards
> Martin
> 
> [1] http://sphinx.pocoo.org/
> [2] http://docs.python.org/
> [3] http://doc.qgis.org/

This is wonderful, I was just struggling with how to teach people the
QGIS api for python. So FYI don't take the site down or move it for the
time being, I'm planning to use it in a class I'm teaching starting this
week until mid June.

I'll happily pass back feedback and contributions.

Thanks,
Alex