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-rw-r--r-- | Documentation/doc-guide/sphinx.rst | 98 |
1 files changed, 85 insertions, 13 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/doc-guide/sphinx.rst b/Documentation/doc-guide/sphinx.rst index e445cb146efe..c708cec889af 100644 --- a/Documentation/doc-guide/sphinx.rst +++ b/Documentation/doc-guide/sphinx.rst @@ -1,7 +1,8 @@ .. _sphinxdoc: -Introduction -============ +===================================== +Using Sphinx for kernel documentation +===================================== The Linux kernel uses `Sphinx`_ to generate pretty documentation from `reStructuredText`_ files under ``Documentation``. To build the documentation in @@ -47,10 +48,6 @@ or ``virtualenv``, depending on how your distribution packaged Python 3. on the Sphinx version, it should be installed separately, with ``pip install sphinx_rtd_theme``. - #) Some ReST pages contain math expressions. Due to the way Sphinx works, - those expressions are written using LaTeX notation. It needs texlive - installed with amsfonts and amsmath in order to evaluate them. - In summary, if you want to install Sphinx version 2.4.4, you should do:: $ virtualenv sphinx_2.4.4 @@ -85,6 +82,27 @@ Depending on the distribution, you may also need to install a series of ``texlive`` packages that provide the minimal set of functionalities required for ``XeLaTeX`` to work. +Math Expressions in HTML +------------------------ + +Some ReST pages contain math expressions. Due to the way Sphinx works, +those expressions are written using LaTeX notation. +There are two options for Sphinx to render math expressions in html output. +One is an extension called `imgmath`_ which converts math expressions into +images and embeds them in html pages. +The other is an extension called `mathjax`_ which delegates math rendering +to JavaScript capable web browsers. +The former was the only option for pre-6.1 kernel documentation and it +requires quite a few texlive packages including amsfonts and amsmath among +others. + +Since kernel release 6.1, html pages with math expressions can be built +without installing any texlive packages. See `Choice of Math Renderer`_ for +further info. + +.. _imgmath: https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/extensions/math.html#module-sphinx.ext.imgmath +.. _mathjax: https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/extensions/math.html#module-sphinx.ext.mathjax + .. _sphinx-pre-install: Checking for Sphinx dependencies @@ -131,15 +149,70 @@ format-specific subdirectories under ``Documentation/output``. To generate documentation, Sphinx (``sphinx-build``) must obviously be installed. For prettier HTML output, the Read the Docs Sphinx theme (``sphinx_rtd_theme``) is used if available. For PDF output you'll also need -``XeLaTeX`` and ``convert(1)`` from ImageMagick (https://www.imagemagick.org). +``XeLaTeX`` and ``convert(1)`` from ImageMagick +(https://www.imagemagick.org).\ [#ink]_ All of these are widely available and packaged in distributions. To pass extra options to Sphinx, you can use the ``SPHINXOPTS`` make variable. For example, use ``make SPHINXOPTS=-v htmldocs`` to get more verbose output. +It is also possible to pass an extra DOCS_CSS overlay file, in order to customize +the html layout, by using the ``DOCS_CSS`` make variable. + +By default, the build will try to use the Read the Docs sphinx theme: + + https://github.com/readthedocs/sphinx_rtd_theme + +If the theme is not available, it will fall-back to the classic one. + +The Sphinx theme can be overridden by using the ``DOCS_THEME`` make variable. + +There is another make variable ``SPHINXDIRS``, which is useful when test +building a subset of documentation. For example, you can build documents +under ``Documentation/doc-guide`` by running +``make SPHINXDIRS=doc-guide htmldocs``. +The documentation section of ``make help`` will show you the list of +subdirectories you can specify. + To remove the generated documentation, run ``make cleandocs``. +.. [#ink] Having ``inkscape(1)`` from Inkscape (https://inkscape.org) + as well would improve the quality of images embedded in PDF + documents, especially for kernel releases 5.18 and later. + +Choice of Math Renderer +----------------------- + +Since kernel release 6.1, mathjax works as a fallback math renderer for +html output.\ [#sph1_8]_ + +Math renderer is chosen depending on available commands as shown below: + +.. table:: Math Renderer Choices for HTML + + ============= ================= ============ + Math renderer Required commands Image format + ============= ================= ============ + imgmath latex, dvipng PNG (raster) + mathjax + ============= ================= ============ + +The choice can be overridden by setting an environment variable +``SPHINX_IMGMATH`` as shown below: + +.. table:: Effect of Setting ``SPHINX_IMGMATH`` + + ====================== ======== + Setting Renderer + ====================== ======== + ``SPHINX_IMGMATH=yes`` imgmath + ``SPHINX_IMGMATH=no`` mathjax + ====================== ======== + +.. [#sph1_8] Fallback of math renderer requires Sphinx >=1.8. + + Writing Documentation ===================== @@ -250,12 +323,11 @@ please feel free to remove it. list tables ----------- -We recommend the use of *list table* formats. The *list table* formats are -double-stage lists. Compared to the ASCII-art they might not be as -comfortable for -readers of the text files. Their advantage is that they are easy to -create or modify and that the diff of a modification is much more meaningful, -because it is limited to the modified content. +The list-table formats can be useful for tables that are not easily laid +out in the usual Sphinx ASCII-art formats. These formats are nearly +impossible for readers of the plain-text documents to understand, though, +and should be avoided in the absence of a strong justification for their +use. The ``flat-table`` is a double-stage list similar to the ``list-table`` with some additional features: |