Rendering and testing examples and tutorials in LSST documentation

SQR-032

Examples and tutorials are important elements of successful documentation. They show the reader how something can be accomplished, which is often more powerful and effective than a mere description. Such examples are only useful if they are correct, though. Automated testing infrastructure is the best way to ensure that examples are correct when they are committed, and remain correct as a project evolves. Recently, in DMTN-085, the QA Strategy Working Group (QAWG) issued specific recommendations to improve how examples are managed and tested in LSST's documentation. This technote analyzes these recommendations and translates them into technical requirements. Subsequently, this technote also provides an overview of how example code management and testing has been implemented.

Links:

• Publication URL: https://sqr-032.lsst.io
• Alternative editions: https://sqr-032.lsst.io/v
• GitHub repository: https://github.com/lsst-sqre/sqr-032
• Build system: https://travis-ci.org/lsst-sqre/sqr-032

Build this technical note

You can clone this repository and build the technote locally with Sphinx:

git clone https://github.com/lsst-sqre/sqr-032
cd sqr-032
pip install -r requirements.txt
make html

Note

In a Conda environment, pip install -r requirements.txt doesn't work as expected. Instead, pip install the packages listed in requirements.txt individually.

The built technote is located at _build/html/index.html.

Editing this technical note

You can edit the index.rst file, which is a reStructuredText document. The DM reStructuredText Style Guide is a good resource for how we write reStructuredText.

Remember that images and other types of assets should be stored in the _static/ directory of this repository. See _static/README.rst for more information.

The published technote at https://sqr-032.lsst.io will be automatically rebuilt whenever you push your changes to the master branch on GitHub.

Updating metadata

This technote's metadata is maintained in metadata.yaml. In this metadata you can edit the technote's title, authors, publication date, etc.. metadata.yaml is self-documenting with inline comments.

Using the bibliographies

The bibliography files in lsstbib/ are copies from lsst-texmf. You can update them to the current lsst-texmf versions with:

make refresh-bib

Add new bibliography items to the local.bib file in the root directory (and later add them to lsst-texmf).