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Describe the file format of core metadata #851

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Mar 7, 2021
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Describe the file format of core metadata #851

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Describe the file format of core metadata
takluyver Mar 6, 2021
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Merge branch 'main' into core-metadata-email-fmt
webknjaz Mar 7, 2021
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14 changes: 14 additions & 0 deletions source/specifications/core-metadata.rst
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Expand Up @@ -13,6 +13,20 @@ complete and not subject to change. The required fields are:

All the other fields are optional.

The standard file format for metadata (including in :doc:`wheels
<binary-distribution-format>` and :doc:`installed projects
<recording-installed-packages>`) is based on the format of email headers.
However, email formats have been revised several times, and exactly which email
RFC applies to packaging metadata is not specified. In the absence of a precise
definition, the practical standard is set by what the standard library
:mod:`python:email.parser` module can parse using the
:data:`~.python:email.policy.compat32` policy.

Although :pep:`566` defined a way to transform metadata into a JSON-compatible
dictionary, this is not yet used as a standard interchange format. The need for
tools to work with years worth of existing packages makes it difficult to shift
to a new format.

.. note:: *Interpreting old metadata:* In :pep:`566`, the version specifier
field format specification was relaxed to accept the syntax used by popular
publishing tools (namely to remove the requirement that version specifiers
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