Inline markup — Sphinx 1.4 documentation

- Home
- Get it
- Docs
- Extend/Develop

# Inline markup

Sphinx uses interpreted text roles to insert semantic markup into documents. They are written as `:rolename:`content``.

Note

The default role (``content``) has no special meaning by default. You are free to use it for anything you like, e.g. variable names; use the `default_role` config value to set it to a known role – the `any` role to find anything or the `py:obj` role to find Python objects are very useful for this.

See Sphinx Domains for roles added by domains.

## Cross-referencing syntax

Cross-references are generated by many semantic interpreted text roles. Basically, you only need to write `:role:`target``, and a link will be created to the item named target of the type indicated by role. The link’s text will be the same as target.

There are some additional facilities, however, that make cross-referencing roles more versatile:

- You may supply an explicit title and reference target, like in reST direct hyperlinks: `:role:`title <target>`` will refer to target, but the link text will be title.

- If you prefix the content with `!`, no reference/hyperlink will be created.

- If you prefix the content with `~`, the link text will only be the last component of the target. For example, `:py:meth:`~Queue.Queue.get`` will refer to `Queue.Queue.get` but only display `get` as the link text. This does not work with all cross-reference roles, but is domain specific.

  In HTML output, the link’s `title` attribute (that is e.g. shown as a tool-tip on mouse-hover) will always be the full target name.

### Cross-referencing anything

`:any:`

  New in version 1.3.

  This convenience role tries to do its best to find a valid target for its reference text.

  - First, it tries standard cross-reference targets that would be referenced by `doc`, `ref` or `option`.

    Custom objects added to the standard domain by extensions (see `add_object_type()`) are also searched.

  - Then, it looks for objects (targets) in all loaded domains. It is up to the domains how specific a match must be. For example, in the Python domain a reference of `:any:`Builder`` would match the `sphinx.builders.Builder` class.

  If none or multiple targets are found, a warning will be emitted. In the case of multiple targets, you can change “any” to a specific role.

  This role is a good candidate for setting `default_role`. If you do, you can write cross-references without a lot of markup overhead. For example, in this Python function documentation

      .. function:: install()

         This function installs a `handler` for every signal known by the
         `signal` module.  See the section `about-signals` for more information.

  there could be references to a glossary term (usually `:term:`handler``), a Python module (usually `:py:mod:`signal`` or `:mod:`signal``) and a section (usually `:ref:`about-signals``).

  The `any` role also works together with the `intersphinx` extension: when no local cross-reference is found, all object types of intersphinx inventories are also searched.

### Cross-referencing objects

These roles are described with their respective domains:

- Python
- C
- C++
- JavaScript
- ReST

### Cross-referencing arbitrary locations

`:ref:`

  To support cross-referencing to arbitrary locations in any document, the standard reST labels are used. For this to work label names must be unique throughout the entire documentation. There are two ways in which you can refer to labels:

  - If you place a label directly before a section title, you can reference to it with `:ref:`label-name``. Example:

        .. _my-reference-label:

        Section to cross-reference
        --------------------------

        This is the text of the section.

        It refers to the section itself, see :ref:`my-reference-label`.

    The `:ref:` role would then generate a link to the section, with the link title being “Section to cross-reference”. This works just as well when section and reference are in different source files.

    Automatic labels also work with figures: given

        .. _my-figure:

        .. figure:: whatever

           Figure caption

    a reference `:ref:`my-figure`` would insert a reference to the figure with link text “Figure caption”.

    The same works for tables that are given an explicit caption using the table directive.

  - Labels that aren’t placed before a section title can still be referenced to, but you must give the link an explicit title, using this syntax: `:ref:`Link title <label-name>``.

  Using `ref` is advised over standard reStructuredText links to sections (like ``Section title`_`) because it works across files, when section headings are changed, and for all builders that support cross-references.

### Cross-referencing documents

New in version 0.6.

There is also a way to directly link to documents:

`:doc:`

  Link to the specified document; the document name can be specified in absolute or relative fashion. For example, if the reference `:doc:`parrot`` occurs in the document `sketches/index`, then the link refers to `sketches/parrot`. If the reference is `:doc:`/people`` or `:doc:`../people``, the link refers to `people`.

  If no explicit link text is given (like usual: `:doc:`Monty Python members </people>``), the link caption will be the title of the given document.

### Referencing downloadable files

New in version 0.6.

`:download:`

  This role lets you link to files within your source tree that are not reST documents that can be viewed, but files that can be downloaded.

  When you use this role, the referenced file is automatically marked for inclusion in the output when building (obviously, for HTML output only). All downloadable files are put into the `_downloads` subdirectory of the output directory; duplicate filenames are handled.

  An example:

      See :download:`this example script <../example.py>`.

  The given filename is usually relative to the directory the current source file is contained in, but if it absolute (starting with `/`), it is taken as relative to the top source directory.

  The `example.py` file will be copied to the output directory, and a suitable link generated to it.

### Cross-referencing figures by figure number

New in version 1.3.

`:numref:`

  Link to the specified figures, tables and code-blocks; the standard reST labels are used. When you use this role, it will insert a reference to the figure with link text by its figure number like “Fig. 1.1”.

  If an explicit link text is given (like usual: `:numref:`Image of Sphinx (Fig. %s) <my-figure>``), the link caption will be the title of the reference. As a special character, %s will be replaced to figure number.

  If `numfig` is `False`, figures are not numbered. so this role inserts not a reference but labels or link text.

### Cross-referencing other items of interest

The following roles do possibly create a cross-reference, but do not refer to objects:

`:envvar:`

  An environment variable. Index entries are generated. Also generates a link to the matching `envvar` directive, if it exists.

`:token:`

  The name of a grammar token (used to create links between `productionlist` directives).

`:keyword:`

  The name of a keyword in Python. This creates a link to a reference label with that name, if it exists.

`:option:`

  A command-line option to an executable program. This generates a link to a `option` directive, if it exists.

The following role creates a cross-reference to a term in a glossary:

`:term:`

  Reference to a term in a glossary. A glossary is created using the `glossary` directive containing a definition list with terms and definitions. It does not have to be in the same file as the `term` markup, for example the Python docs have one global glossary in the `glossary.rst` file.

  If you use a term that’s not explained in a glossary, you’ll get a warning during build.

## Other semantic markup

The following roles don’t do anything special except formatting the text in a different style:

`:abbr:`

  An abbreviation. If the role content contains a parenthesized explanation, it will be treated specially: it will be shown in a tool-tip in HTML, and output only once in LaTeX.

  Example: `:abbr:`LIFO (last-in, first-out)``.

  New in version 0.6.

`:command:`

  The name of an OS-level command, such as `rm`.

`:dfn:`

  Mark the defining instance of a term in the text. (No index entries are generated.)

`:file:`

  The name of a file or directory. Within the contents, you can use curly braces to indicate a “variable” part, for example:

      ... is installed in :file:`/usr/lib/python2.{x}/site-packages` ...

  In the built documentation, the `x` will be displayed differently to indicate that it is to be replaced by the Python minor version.

`:guilabel:`

  Labels presented as part of an interactive user interface should be marked using `guilabel`. This includes labels from text-based interfaces such as those created using `curses` or other text-based libraries. Any label used in the interface should be marked with this role, including button labels, window titles, field names, menu and menu selection names, and even values in selection lists.

  Changed in version 1.0: An accelerator key for the GUI label can be included using an ampersand; this will be stripped and displayed underlined in the output (example: `:guilabel:`&Cancel``). To include a literal ampersand, double it.

`:kbd:`

  Mark a sequence of keystrokes. What form the key sequence takes may depend on platform- or application-specific conventions. When there are no relevant conventions, the names of modifier keys should be spelled out, to improve accessibility for new users and non-native speakers. For example, an xemacs key sequence may be marked like `:kbd:`C-x C-f``, but without reference to a specific application or platform, the same sequence should be marked as `:kbd:`Control-x Control-f``.

`:mailheader:`

  The name of an RFC 822-style mail header. This markup does not imply that the header is being used in an email message, but can be used to refer to any header of the same “style.” This is also used for headers defined by the various MIME specifications. The header name should be entered in the same way it would normally be found in practice, with the camel-casing conventions being preferred where there is more than one common usage. For example: `:mailheader:`Content-Type``.

`:makevar:`

  The name of a make variable.

`:manpage:`

  A reference to a Unix manual page including the section, e.g. `:manpage:`ls(1)``.

`:menuselection:`

  Menu selections should be marked using the `menuselection` role. This is used to mark a complete sequence of menu selections, including selecting submenus and choosing a specific operation, or any subsequence of such a sequence. The names of individual selections should be separated by `-->`.

  For example, to mark the selection “Start > Programs”, use this markup:

      :menuselection:`Start --> Programs`

  When including a selection that includes some trailing indicator, such as the ellipsis some operating systems use to indicate that the command opens a dialog, the indicator should be omitted from the selection name.

  `menuselection` also supports ampersand accelerators just like `guilabel`.

`:mimetype:`

  The name of a MIME type, or a component of a MIME type (the major or minor portion, taken alone).

`:newsgroup:`

  The name of a Usenet newsgroup.

`:program:`

  The name of an executable program. This may differ from the file name for the executable for some platforms. In particular, the `.exe` (or other) extension should be omitted for Windows programs.

`:regexp:`

  A regular expression. Quotes should not be included.

`:samp:`

  A piece of literal text, such as code. Within the contents, you can use curly braces to indicate a “variable” part, as in `file`. For example, in `:samp:`print 1+{variable}``, the part `variable` would be emphasized.

  If you don’t need the “variable part” indication, use the standard ```code``` instead.

There is also an `index` role to generate index entries.

The following roles generate external links:

`:pep:`

  A reference to a Python Enhancement Proposal. This generates appropriate index entries. The text “PEP number” is generated; in the HTML output, this text is a hyperlink to an online copy of the specified PEP. You can link to a specific section by saying `:pep:`number#anchor``.

`:rfc:`

  A reference to an Internet Request for Comments. This generates appropriate index entries. The text “RFC number” is generated; in the HTML output, this text is a hyperlink to an online copy of the specified RFC. You can link to a specific section by saying `:rfc:`number#anchor``.

Note that there are no special roles for including hyperlinks as you can use the standard reST markup for that purpose.

## Substitutions

The documentation system provides three substitutions that are defined by default. They are set in the build configuration file.

`|release|`

  Replaced by the project release the documentation refers to. This is meant to be the full version string including alpha/beta/release candidate tags, e.g. `2.5.2b3`. Set by `release`.

`|version|`

  Replaced by the project version the documentation refers to. This is meant to consist only of the major and minor version parts, e.g. `2.5`, even for version 2.5.1. Set by `version`.

`|today|`

  Replaced by either today’s date (the date on which the document is read), or the date set in the build configuration file. Normally has the format `April 14, 2007`. Set by `today_fmt` and `today`.