Re: [PATCH v4 10/19] tools/docs: sphinx-build-wrapper: add support to run inside venv

[Jani Nikula <jani.nikula@linux.intel.com>]

On Thu, 04 Sep 2025, Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab+huawei@kernel.org> wrote:
> Sometimes, it is desired to run Sphinx from a virtual environment.
> Add a command line parameter to automatically build Sphinx from
> such environment.

Why?

If you want Sphinx from a virtual environment, you enter the
environment, and run the regular build, with sphinx-build from the PATH
that points at the venv.

We don't do this kind of extra magic for any other tools, I honestly
don't understand why we'd do this for Sphinx. This just adds complexity
for no good reason.

BR,
Jani.

>
> Signed-off-by: Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab+huawei@kernel.org>
> ---
>  tools/docs/sphinx-build-wrapper | 30 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++---
>  1 file changed, 27 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/tools/docs/sphinx-build-wrapper b/tools/docs/sphinx-build-wrapper
> index ea9f8e17b0bc..cf7b30bc40ff 100755
> --- a/tools/docs/sphinx-build-wrapper
> +++ b/tools/docs/sphinx-build-wrapper
> @@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ from jobserver import JobserverExec         # pylint: disable=C0413,C0411,E0401
>  #
>  #  Some constants
>  #
> +VENV_DEFAULT = "sphinx_latest"
>  MIN_PYTHON_VERSION = PythonVersion("3.7").version
>  PAPER = ["", "a4", "letter"]
>  
> @@ -119,8 +120,9 @@ class SphinxBuilder:
>  
>          return path
>  
> -    def __init__(self, builddir, verbose=False, n_jobs=None):
> +    def __init__(self, builddir, venv=None, verbose=False, n_jobs=None):
>          """Initialize internal variables"""
> +        self.venv = venv
>          self.verbose = None
>  
>          #
> @@ -195,6 +197,21 @@ class SphinxBuilder:
>  
>          self.env = os.environ.copy()
>  
> +        #
> +        # If venv command line argument is specified, run Sphinx from venv
> +        #
> +        if venv:
> +            bin_dir = os.path.join(venv, "bin")
> +            if not os.path.isfile(os.path.join(bin_dir, "activate")):
> +                sys.exit(f"Venv {venv} not found.")
> +
> +            # "activate" virtual env
> +            self.env["PATH"] = bin_dir + ":" + self.env["PATH"]
> +            self.env["VIRTUAL_ENV"] = venv
> +            if "PYTHONHOME" in self.env:
> +                del self.env["PYTHONHOME"]
> +            print(f"Setting venv to {venv}")
> +
>      def run_sphinx(self, sphinx_build, build_args, *args, **pwargs):
>          """
>          Executes sphinx-build using current python3 command and setting
> @@ -209,7 +226,10 @@ class SphinxBuilder:
>  
>              cmd = []
>  
> -            cmd.append(sys.executable)
> +            if self.venv:
> +                cmd.append("python")
> +            else:
> +                cmd.append(sys.executable)
>  
>              cmd.append(sphinx_build)
>  
> @@ -533,11 +553,15 @@ def main():
>      parser.add_argument('-j', '--jobs', type=jobs_type,
>                          help="Sets number of jobs to use with sphinx-build")
>  
> +    parser.add_argument("-V", "--venv", nargs='?', const=f'{VENV_DEFAULT}',
> +                        default=None,
> +                        help=f'If used, run Sphinx from a venv dir (default dir: {VENV_DEFAULT})')
> +
>      args = parser.parse_args()
>  
>      PythonVersion.check_python(MIN_PYTHON_VERSION)
>  
> -    builder = SphinxBuilder(builddir=args.builddir,
> +    builder = SphinxBuilder(builddir=args.builddir, venv=args.venv,
>                              verbose=args.verbose, n_jobs=args.jobs)
>  
>      builder.build(args.target, sphinxdirs=args.sphinxdirs, conf=args.conf,

-- 
Jani Nikula, Intel