11\documentclass {howto }
22
3+ % XXX difflib.py, doctest.py added
4+
35% $Id$
46
57\title {What's New in Python 2.1}
6- \release {0.05 }
8+ \release {0.06 }
79\author {A.M. Kuchling}
810\authoraddress {
\email {
[email protected] }}
911\begin {document }
@@ -435,6 +437,54 @@ \section{PEP 208: New Coercion Model}
435437
436438\end {seealso }
437439
440+ % ======================================================================
441+ \section {New and Improved Modules }
442+
443+ \begin {itemize }
444+
445+ \item \module {curses.panel}, a wrapper for the panel library, part of
446+ ncurses and of SYSV curses, was contributed by Thomas Gellekum. The
447+ panel library provides windows with the additional feature of depth.
448+ Windows can be moved higher or lower in the depth ordering, and the
449+ panel library figures out where panels overlap and which sections are
450+ visible.
451+
452+ \item The PyXML package has gone through a few releases since Python
453+ 2.0, and Python 2.1 includes an updated version of the \module {xml}
454+ package. Some of the noteworthy changes include support for Expat
455+ 1.2, the ability for Expat parsers to handle files in any encoding
456+ supported by Python, and various bugfixes for SAX, DOM, and the
457+ \module {minidom} module.
458+
459+ \item Various functions in the \module {time} module, such as
460+ \function {asctime()} and \function {localtime()}, require a floating
461+ point argument containing the time in seconds since the epoch. The
462+ most common use of these functions is to work with the current time,
463+ so the floating point argument has been made optional; when a value
464+ isn't provided, the current time will be used. For example, log file
465+ entries usually need a string containing the current time; in Python
466+ 2.1, \code {time.asctime()} can be used, instead of the lengthier
467+ \code {time.asctime(time.localtime(time.time()))} that was previously
468+ required.
469+
470+ This change was proposed and implemented by Thomas Wouters.
471+
472+ \item The \module {ftplib} module now defaults to retrieving files in
473+ passive mode, because passive mode is more likely to work from behind
474+ a firewall. This request came from the Debian bug tracking system,
475+ since other Debian packages use \module {ftplib} to retrieve files and
476+ then don't work from behind a firewall. It's deemed unlikely that
477+ this will cause problems for anyone, because Netscape defaults to
478+ passive mode and few people complain, but if passive mode is
479+ unsuitable for your application or network setup, call
480+ \method {set_pasv(0)} on FTP objects to disable passive mode.
481+
482+ \item Support for raw socket access has been added to the
483+ \module {socket} module, contributed by Grant Edwards.
484+
485+
486+ \end {itemize }
487+
438488% ======================================================================
439489\section {Minor Changes and Fixes }
440490
@@ -480,13 +530,6 @@ \section{Minor Changes and Fixes}
480530implemented mostly by Tim Peters and Guido van Rossum, after a
481531suggestion and preliminary patch by Moshe Zadka.
482532
483- \item \module {curses.panel}, a wrapper for the panel library, part of
484- ncurses and of SYSV curses, was contributed by Thomas Gellekum. The
485- panel library provides windows with the additional feature of depth.
486- Windows can be moved higher or lower in the depth ordering, and the
487- panel library figures out where panels overlap and which sections are
488- visible.
489-
490533\item Modules can now control which names are imported when \code {from
491534\var {module} import *} is used, by defining an \code {__all__}
492535attribute containing a list of names that will be imported. One
@@ -504,26 +547,6 @@ \section{Minor Changes and Fixes}
504547by Ben Wolfson, but after some python-dev discussion, a weaker final
505548version was checked in.
506549
507- \item The PyXML package has gone through a few releases since Python
508- 2.0, and Python 2.1 includes an updated version of the \module {xml}
509- package. Some of the noteworthy changes include support for Expat
510- 1.2, the ability for Expat parsers to handle files in any encoding
511- supported by Python, and various bugfixes for SAX, DOM, and the
512- \module {minidom} module.
513-
514- \item Various functions in the \module {time} module, such as
515- \function {asctime()} and \function {localtime()}, require a floating
516- point argument containing the time in seconds since the epoch. The
517- most common use of these functions is to work with the current time,
518- so the floating point argument has been made optional; when a value
519- isn't provided, the current time will be used. For example, log file
520- entries usually need a string containing the current time; in Python
521- 2.1, \code {time.asctime()} can be used, instead of the lengthier
522- \code {time.asctime(time.localtime(time.time()))} that was previously
523- required.
524-
525- This change was proposed and implemented by Thomas Wouters.
526-
527550\item Applying \function {repr()} to strings previously used octal
528551escapes for non-printable characters; for example, a newline was
529552\code {'\e 012'}. This was a vestigial trace of Python's C ancestry, but
@@ -532,19 +555,6 @@ \section{Minor Changes and Fixes}
532555\code {\e t}, \code {\e r} escapes for the appropriate characters, and
533556implemented this new formatting.
534557
535- \item The \module {ftplib} module now defaults to retrieving files in
536- passive mode, because passive mode is more likely to work from behind
537- a firewall. This request came from the Debian bug tracking system,
538- since other Debian packages use \module {ftplib} to retrieve files and
539- then don't work from behind a firewall. It's deemed unlikely that
540- this will cause problems for anyone, because Netscape defaults to
541- passive mode and few people complain, but if passive mode is
542- unsuitable for your application or network setup, call
543- \method {set_pasv(0)} on FTP objects to disable passive mode.
544-
545- \item Support for raw socket access has been added to the
546- \module {socket} module, contributed by Grant Edwards.
547-
548558\item Syntax errors detected at compile-time can now raise exceptions
549559containing the filename and line number of the error, a pleasant side
550560effect of the compiler reorganization done by Jeremy Hylton.
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