How can I print Python's help page straight to stdout?

Question

I'm trying to write a Unix script that will let me print the Python help page for a given module. My code so far is below:

#!/usr/bin/env python

if __name__ == "__main__":
    import sys
    if sys.argv[1].endswith(".py"):
        __import__(sys.argv[1][:-3])
        help(sys.argv[1][:-3])
    else:
        __import__(sys.argv[1])
        help(sys.argv[1])

It works almost as I want-- Invoking it on a module pulls up the help page in a buffer similar to invoking less . (In other words, help works exactly as it does when using it in the interpreter.)

What I would like is to get rid of the buffer and print straight to the stdout so that I can use the command with other Unix commands. I'm wondering if there is a way to do this, and if so, how?

Answer 1

This works for me:

import pydoc

import math # test
print(pydoc.render_doc(math))

Answer 2

Try this?

import pydoc

pydoc.help(xrange)

Or if you want it in string format

pydoc.getdoc(xrange)