How to include docs directory in python distribution

Question

I have a python project with the following structure:

Clustering  (project name)   clustering  (package)     clustering.py and other modules     tests  (sub-package)       test_clustering.py and other such files   docs/   bin/ 

I would like to include the docs directory in my distribution, but I can not seem to do that. Any pointers about how this can be done would be very helpful.

My current setup.py looks like this:

from distutils.core import setup setup(name='Clustering',       version='1.0',       description='desc',       author='A',       author_email='[email protected]',       packages=['clustering', 'clustering.tests'],       requires=['numpy', 'scipy'],       scripts=['bin/predict', 'bin/verify']      ) 

I tried using the package_data option but haven't been successful in including the docs directory in the distribution. Is there some other conventional way of including your docs in the distribution?

Answer 1

You'll need to create a MANIFEST.in file and include some simple instructions on what extra files you want to include (See MANIFEST.in Template)

Example (to include docs dir and all files directly underneath):

include docs/* 

or, to include all files in the doc dir (recursively):

recursive-include docs *