updated after some feedback from distutils-SIG and MAL

pep-0390.txt

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ So, basically, you download it, and run::
    0.6.4
 
 Where ``name`` and ``version`` are metadata fields. This is working fine but
-as soon as the developers add more code in ``setup.py``, this feature might 
+as soon as the developers add more code in ``setup.py``, this feature might
 break or in worst cases might do unwanted things on the target system.
 
 Moreover, when an OS packager wants to get the metadata of a distribution
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ any third party code to run.
 Adding a ``metadata`` section in ``setup.cfg``
 ==============================================
 
-The first thing we want to introduce is a ``[metadata]`` section, in the 
+The first thing we want to introduce is a ``[metadata]`` section, in the
 ``setup.cfg`` file, that may contain any field from the Metadata::
 
    [metadata]
@@ -62,6 +62,24 @@ fields. If an option that corresponds to a Metadata field is given to
 ``setup()``, it will override the value that was possibly present in
 ``setup.cfg``.
 
+Notice that ``setup.py`` is still used and can be required to define some
+options that are not part of the Metadata fields. For instance, the
+``sdist`` command can use options like ``packages`` or ``scripts``.
+
+
+Multi-lines values
+==================
+
+Some Metadata fields can have multiple values. To keep ``setup.cfg`` compatible
+with ``ConfigParser`` and the RFC 822 ``LONG HEADER FIELDS`` (see section 3.1.1),
+these are expressed with ``,``-separated values::
+
+    requires = pywin32, bar > 1.0, foo
+
+When this variable is read, the values are parsed and transformed into a list:
+``['pywin32', 'bar > 1.0', 'foo']``.
+
+
 Context-dependant sections
 ==========================
 
@@ -75,8 +93,8 @@ environment. Here's some examples::
    version = 0.6.4
 
    [metadata:sys_platform == 'win32']
-   requires = pywin32
+   requires = pywin32, bar > 1.0
-   requires = bar > 1.0
+   obsoletes = pywin31
 
    [metadata:os_machine == 'i386']
    requires = foo
@@ -90,12 +108,12 @@ environment. Here's some examples::
 Every ``[metadata:condition]`` section will be used only if the condition
 is met when the file is read. The background motivation for these
 context-dependant sections is to be able to define requirements that varies
-depending on the platform the distribution might be installed on. 
+depending on the platform the distribution might be installed on.
 (see PEP 314).
 
 The micro-language behind this is the simplest possible: it compares only
-strings, with the ``==`` and ``in`` operators (and their opposites), and 
+strings, with the ``==`` and ``in`` operators (and their opposites), and
-with the ability to combine expressions. It makes it also easy to understand 
+with the ability to combine expressions. It makes it also easy to understand
 to non-pythoneers.
 
 The pseudo-grammar is ::
@@ -107,11 +125,14 @@ where ``EXPR`` belongs to any of those:
 - python_version = '%s.%s' % (sys.version_info[0], sys.version_info[1])
 - os_name = os.name
 - sys_platform = sys.platform
-- os_version = os.uname()[3]
+- platform_version = platform.version()
-- os_machine = os.uname()[4]
+- platform_machine = platform.machine()
 - a free string, like ``2.4``, or ``win32``
 
-Distutils will provide a function that is able to read the metadata
+Notice that ``in`` is restricted to strings, meaning that it is not possible
+to use other sequences like tuples or lists on the left side.
+
+Distutils will provide a function that is able to generate the metadata
 of a distribution, given a ``setup.cfg`` file, for the execution environment::
 
    >>> from distutils.util import local_metadata
@@ -121,11 +142,66 @@ of a distribution, given a ``setup.cfg`` file, for the execution environment::
 This means that a vanilla Python will be able to read the metadata of a
 package without running any third party code.
 
+Notice that this feature is not restricted to the ``metadata`` namespace.
+Consequently, any other section can be extended with such context-dependant
+sections.
+
+Impact on PKG-INFO generation and PEP 314
+=========================================
+
+When ``PKG-INFO`` is generated by Distutils, every field that relies on a
+condition will have that condition written at the end of the line, after a `;`
+separator::
+
+    Metadata-Version: 1.2
+    Name: distribute
+    Version: 0.6.4
+    ...
+    Requires: pywin32, bar > 1.0; sys_platform == 'win32'
+    Requires: foo; os_machine == 'i386'
+    Requires: bar; python_version == '2.4' or python_version == '2.5'
+    Requires: baz; 'linux' in sys_platform
+    Obsoletes = pywin31; sys_platform == 'win32'
+    ...
+    Classifier: Development Status :: 5 - Production/Stable
+    Classifier: Intended Audience :: Developers
+    Classifier: License :: OSI Approved :: Python Software Foundation License
+
+Notice that this file can be opened with the ``DistributionMetadata`` class.
+This class will be able to use the micro-language using the execution
+environment.
+
+Let's run in on a ``Python 2.5 i386 Linux``::
+
+    >>> from distutils.dist import DistributionMetadata
+    >>> metadata = DistributionMetadata('PKG_INFO')
+    >>> metadata.get_requires()
+    ['foo', 'bar', 'baz']
+
+The execution environment can be overriden in case we want to get the meyadata
+for another environment::
+
+    >>> env = {'python_version': '2.4',
+    ...        'os_name': 'nt',
+    ...        'sys_platform': 'win32',
+    ...        'platform_version': 'MVCC++ 6.0'
+    ...        'platform_machine': 'i386'}
+    ...
+    >>> metadata = DistributionMetadata('PKG_INFO', environment=env)
+    >>> metadata.get_requires()
+    ['bar > 1.0', 'foo', 'bar']
+
+PEP 314 is changed accordingly, meaning that each field will be able to
+have that extra condition marker.
+
 Compatiblity
 ============
 
-This change is fully backward compatible since it just adds a section in the
+This change is is based on a new metadata ``1.2`` format meaning that
-``ConfigParser``-compatible ``setup.cfg`` file.
+Distutils will be able to distinguish old PKG-INFO files from new ones.
+
+The ``setup.cfg`` file change will stay ``ConfigParser``-compatible and
+will not break existing ``setup.cfg`` files.
 
 Limitations
 ===========
@@ -134,12 +210,12 @@ We are not providing ``<`` and ``>`` operators at this time, and
 ``python_version`` is a regular string. This implies using ``or`` operators
 when a section needs to be restricted to a couple of Python versions.
 Although, if PEP 386 is accepted, ``python_version`` could be changed
-internally into something comparable with strings, and 
+internally into something comparable with strings, and
 ``<`` and ``>`` operators introduced.
 
 Last, if a distribution is unable to set all metadata fields in ``setup.cfg``,
 that's fine, the fields will be set to ``UNKNOWN`` when ``local_metadata`` is
-called. Getting ``UNKNOWN`` values will mean that it might be necessary to 
+called. Getting ``UNKNOWN`` values will mean that it might be necessary to
 run the ``setup.py`` command line interface to get the whole set of metadata.
 
 Acknowledgments