sharing declarations, compiling

diff --git a/docs/external_C_code.rst b/docs/external_C_code.rst
index 9e0ac729c95dd119215ba3cc4f8cf53c8bdcacbf..6514c73f710e1fb8f92b3f4c9dfce1789c48a37a 100644 (file)
--- a/docs/external_C_code.rst
+++ b/docs/external_C_code.rst
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 .. highlight:: cython
 
-.. external-C-code:
+.. _external-C-code:
 
 **********************************
 Interfacing with External C Code
@@ -13,10 +13,12 @@ variables from the library that you want to use.
 You can also use public declarations to make C functions and variables defined
 in a Cython module available to external C code. The need for this is expected
 to be less frequent, but you might want to do it, for example, if you are
-embedding Python in another application as a scripting language. Just as a
+`embedding Python`_ in another application as a scripting language. Just as a
 Cython module can be used as a bridge to allow Python code to call C code, it
 can also be used to allow C code to call Python code.
 
+.. _embedding Python: http://www.freenet.org.nz/python/embeddingpyrex/
+
 External declarations
 =======================
 
@@ -63,7 +65,12 @@ match the C ones, and in some cases they shouldn't or can't. In particular:
 
 1. Don't use ``const``. Cython doesn't know anything about ``const``, so just
    leave it out. Most of the time this shouldn't cause any problem, although
-   on rare occasions you might have to use a cast.
+   on rare occasions you might have to use a cast. You can also explicitly 
+   declare something like::
+
+       ctypedef char* const_char_ptr "const char*"
+
+   though in most cases this will not be needed. 
 
    .. warning:: 
 
@@ -121,7 +128,8 @@ match the C ones, and in some cases they shouldn't or can't. In particular:
        ctypedef int size_t
 
    will work okay whatever the actual size of a :ctype:`size_t` is (provided the header
-   file defines it correctly).
+   file defines it correctly). Conversion to and from Python types, if any, will also 
+   be used for this new type. 
 
 5. If the header file uses macros to define constants, translate them into a
    dummy ``enum`` declaration.
@@ -129,6 +137,10 @@ match the C ones, and in some cases they shouldn't or can't. In particular:
 6. If the header file defines a function using a macro, declare it as though
    it were an ordinary function, with appropriate argument and result types.
 
+7. For archaic reasons C uses the keyword :keyword:`void` to declare a function
+   taking no parameters. In Cython as in Python, simply declare such functions
+   as :meth:`foo()`.
+
 A few more tricks and tips:
 
 * If you want to include a C header because it's needed by another header, but
@@ -280,7 +292,7 @@ Using Cython Declarations from C
 ==================================
 
 Cython provides two methods for making C declarations from a Cython module
-available for use by external C code – public declarations and C API
+available for use by external C code---public declarations and C API
 declarations.
 
 .. note::

diff --git a/docs/sharing_declarations.rst b/docs/sharing_declarations.rst
index a75642c1a81c506373672d5f20ab311cb0baaa43..7648e41b4ab969abec598f584ead0eab675a6a2b 100644 (file)
--- a/docs/sharing_declarations.rst
+++ b/docs/sharing_declarations.rst
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ statement.
 A ``.pxd`` file that consists solely of extern declarations does not need
 to correspond to an actual ``.pyx`` file or Python module. This can make it a
 convenient place to put common declarations, for example declarations of 
-functions from  an external library that one wants to use in several modules. 
+functions from  an :ref:`external library <external-C-code>` that one wants to use in several modules. 
 
 What a Definition File contains
 ================================

diff --git a/docs/source_files_and_compilation.rst b/docs/source_files_and_compilation.rst
index 9ce98973defb4c30d532c3ef430f389a254b9d0f..08ef2fa6ff5b1307a5acf9c00ce5926e280e583c 100644 (file)
--- a/docs/source_files_and_compilation.rst
+++ b/docs/source_files_and_compilation.rst
@@ -70,9 +70,13 @@ would be::
 Notice that the files have been given a name, this is not necessary, but it
 makes the file easier to format if the list gets long.
 
-If any of the files depend on include paths information can be passed to the
-:obj:`Extension` class through the :keyword:`include_dirs` option, which is a
-list of paths to the include directories.
+The :class:`Extension` class takes many options, and a fuller explanation can
+be found in the `distutils documentation`_. Some useful options to know about 
+are ``include_dirs``, ``libraries``, and ``library_dirs`` which specify where
+to find the ``.h`` and library files when linking to external libraries. 
+
+.. _distutils documentation: http://docs.python.org/extending/building.html
+
 
 
 Multiple Cython Files in a Package