Improvements to the documentation formatting and internal links

docs/api/resources.rst

@@ -7,6 +7,17 @@ Resources are high level abstractions to managing specific sessions. An instance
 of one of these classes is returned by the :meth:`~pyvisa.highlevel.ResourceManager.open_resource`
 depending on the resource type.
 
+Generic classes
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+    - :class:`~pyvisa.resources.Resource`
+    - :class:`~pyvisa.resources.MessageBasedResource`
+    - :class:`~pyvisa.resources.RegisterBasedResource`
+
+
+Specific Classes
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
     - :class:`~pyvisa.resources.SerialInstrument`
     - :class:`~pyvisa.resources.TCPIPInstrument`
     - :class:`~pyvisa.resources.TCPIPSocket`
@@ -23,6 +34,26 @@ depending on the resource type.
 
 .. currentmodule::`pyvisa.resources`
 
+
+.. autoclass:: pyvisa.resources.Resource
+    :members:
+    :inherited-members:
+    :undoc-members:
+
+
+.. autoclass:: pyvisa.resources.MessageBasedResource
+    :members:
+    :inherited-members:
+    :exclude-members: ask_delay, ask_for_values, ask
+    :undoc-members:
+
+
+.. autoclass:: pyvisa.resources.RegisterBasedResource
+    :members:
+    :inherited-members:
+    :undoc-members:
+
+
 .. autoclass:: pyvisa.resources.SerialInstrument
     :members:
     :inherited-members:

docs/architecture.rst

@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ PyVISA implements convenient and Pythonic programming in three layers:
     You will normally not need to access these functions directly. If you do,
     it probably means that we need to improve layer 2.
 
-    All level 1 functions are **static methods** of `VisaLibrary`.
+    All level 1 functions are **static methods** of :class:`pyvisa.highlevel.VisaLibrary`.
 
     .. warning:: Notice however that low-level functions might not be present in all backends.
                  For broader compatibility, do no use this layer. All the functionality should
@@ -30,47 +30,47 @@ PyVISA implements convenient and Pythonic programming in three layers:
     aspects of the VISA library which are not implemented by the corresponding
     resource class.
 
-    All level 2 functions are **bound methods** of `VisaLibrary`.
+    All level 2 functions are **bound methods** of :class:`pyvisa.highlevel.VisaLibrary`.
 
- 3. High-level: An object-oriented layer for `ResourceManager` and `Resource`
+ 3. High-level: An object-oriented layer for :class:`pyvisa.highlevel.ResourceManager` and :class:`pyvisa.resources.Resource`
 
-    The `ResourceManager` implements methods to inspect connected resources. You also
-    use this object to open other resources instantiating the appropriate `Resource`
+    The ``ResourceManager`` implements methods to inspect connected resources. You also
+    use this object to open other resources instantiating the appropriate ``Resource``
     derived classes.
 
-    `Resource` and the derived classes implement functions and attributes access
+    ``Resource`` and the derived classes implement functions and attributes access
     to the underlying resources in a Pythonic way.
 
-Most of the time you will only need to instantiate a `ResourceManager`. For a given resource,
-you will use the `open_resource` method to obtain the appropriate object. If needed, you will
-be able to access the `VisaLibrary` object directly using the `visalib` attribute.
+Most of the time you will only need to instantiate a ``ResourceManager``. For a given resource,
+you will use the :meth:`pyvisa.highlevel.ResourceManager.open_resource` method to obtain the appropriate object. If needed, you will
+be able to access the ``VisaLibrary`` object directly using the :attr:`pyvisa.highlevel.ResourceManager.visalib` attribute.
 
-The `VisaLibrary` does the low-level calls. In the default NI Backend, levels 1 and 2 are
-implemented in the same package called `ctwrapper` (which stands for ctypes wrapper).
+The ``VisaLibrary`` does the low-level calls. In the default NI Backend, levels 1 and 2 are
+implemented in the same package called :mod:`pyvisa.ctwrapper` (which stands for ctypes wrapper).
 This package is included in PyVISA.
 
-Other backends can be used just by passing the name of the backend to `ResourceManager`
+Other backends can be used just by passing the name of the backend to ``ResourceManager``
 after the `@` symbol. See more information in :ref:`backends`.
 
 
 Calling middle- and low-level functions
 ---------------------------------------
 
-After you have instantiated the `ResourceManager`::
+After you have instantiated the ``ResourceManager``::
 
     >>> import visa
     >>> rm = visa.ResourceManager()
 
-you can access the corresponding `VisaLibrary` instance under the `visalib` attribute.
+you can access the corresponding ``VisaLibrary`` instance under the ``visalib`` attribute.
 
-As an example, consider the VISA function `viMapAddress`. It appears in the low-level
-layer as the static method `viMapAddress` of `visalib` attributed and also appears
-in the middle-level layer as `map_address`.
+As an example, consider the VISA function ``viMapAddress``. It appears in the low-level
+layer as the static method ``viMapAddress`` of ``visalib`` attributed and also appears
+in the middle-level layer as ``map_address``.
 
 You can recognize low and middle-level functions by their names. Low-level functions
-carry the same name as in the shared library, and they are prefixed by `vi`.
+carry the same name as in the shared library, and they are prefixed by **vi**.
 Middle-level functions have a friendlier, more pythonic but still recognizable name.
-Typically, camelCase names where stripped from the leading `vi` and changed to underscore
+Typically, camelCase names where stripped from the leading **vi** and changed to underscore
 separated lower case names. The docs about these methods is located here :ref:`api`.
 
 
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ for example::
     >>> rm.visalib.viMapAddress(<here goes the arguments>)
 
 To call this functions you need to know the function declaration and how to
-interface it to python. To help you out, the `VisaLibrary` object also contains
+interface it to python. To help you out, the ``VisaLibrary`` object also contains
 middle-level functions.
 
 It is very likely that you will need to access the VISA constants using these methods.
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ You can find the information about these constants here :ref:`api_constants`
 Middle-level
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-The `VisaLibrary` object exposes the middle-level functions which are
+The ``VisaLibrary`` object exposes the middle-level functions which are
 one-to-one mapped from the foreign library as bound methods.
 
 Each middle-level function wraps one low-level function.

docs/backends.rst

@@ -14,10 +14,10 @@ their programs to use other packages with different API.
 Since 1.6, PyVISA is a frontend to VISA. It provides a nice, Pythonic API and can
 connect to multiple backends. Each backend exposes a class derived from VisaLibraryBase
 that implements the low-level communication. The ctypes wrapper around NI-VISA is the
-default backend (called `ni`) and is bundled with PyVISA for simplicity.
+default backend (called **ni**) and is bundled with PyVISA for simplicity.
 
 You can specify the backend to use when you instantiate the resource manager using the
-`@` symbol. Remembering that `ni` is the default, this::
+``@`` symbol. Remembering that **ni** is the default, this::
 
     >>> import visa
     >>> rm = visa.ResourceManager()
@@ -32,15 +32,15 @@ You can still provide the path to the library if needed::
     >>> import visa
     >>> rm = visa.ResourceManager('/path/to/lib@ni')
 
-Under the hood, the `ResourceManager` looks for the requested backend and instantiate
+Under the hood, the :class:`pyvisa.highlevel.ResourceManager` looks for the requested backend and instantiate
 the VISA library that it provides.
 
 PyVISA locates backends by name. If you do:
 
     >>> import visa
     >>> rm = visa.ResourceManager('@somename')
 
-PyVISA will try to import a package/module named `pyvisa-somename` which should be
+PyVISA will try to import a package/module named ``pyvisa-somename`` which should be
 installed in your system. This is a loosly coupled configuration free method.
 PyVISA does not need to know about any backend out there until you actually
 try to use it.
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ What does a minimum backend looks like? Quite simple::
     WRAPPER_CLASS = MyLibrary
 
 Additionally you can provide a staticmethod named get_debug_info` that should return a
-dictionary of debug information which is printed when you call `python -m visa info`
+dictionary of debug information which is printed when you call ``python -m visa info``
 
 An important aspect of developing a backend is knowing which VisaLibraryBase method to
 implement and what API to expose.
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ If you need to start sending bytes to MessageBased instruments you will require:
 For other usages or devices, you might need to implement other functions. Is really up to you
 and your needs.
 
-These functions should raise a `VisaIOError` or emit a `VisaIOWarning` if necessary.
+These functions should raise a :class:`pyvisa.errors.VisaIOError` or emit a :class:`pyvisa.errors.VisaIOWarning` if necessary.
 
 
 Complete list of level 2 functions to implement::

docs/configuring.rst

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ Configuring the NI backend
 
 In most cases PyVISA will be able to find the location of the shared visa library.
 If this does not work or you want to use another one, you need to provide the library
-path to the `ResourceManager` constructor::
+path to the :class:`pyvisa.highlevel.ResourceManager` constructor::
 
     >>> rm = ResourceManager('Path to library')
 

docs/contributing.rst

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ Contributing to an existing backend
 
 Backends are the central piece of PyVISA as they provide the low level communication
 over the different interfaces. There a couple of backends in the wild which can use
-your help. Look them up in PyPI_ (try `pyvisa` in the search box) and see where you
+your help. Look them up in PyPI_ (try `pyvisa``` in the search box) and see where you
 can help.
 
 

docs/faq.rst

@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ Error: Could not found VISA library
 
 This error occurs when you have not provided a path for the VISA library and PyVISA
 is not able to find it for you. You can solve it by providing the library path to the
-`VisaLibrary` or `ResourceManager` constructor::
+``VisaLibrary`` or ``ResourceManager`` constructor::
 
     >>> visalib = VisaLibrary('/path/to/library')
 
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ The solution is to:
 
   1. Install and use a VISA library matching your Python 'bitness'
 
-     Download and install it from `National Instruments's VISA`. Run the debug
+     Download and install it from **National Instruments's VISA**. Run the debug
      command again to see if the new library was found by PyVISA. If not,
      create a configuration file as described in :ref:`configuring`.