# A pydoc but for julia?

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/a-pydoc-but-for-julia/96778>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Tags:** documentation\
**Created:** [March 29, 2023, 12:53pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/a-pydoc-but-for-julia/96778 "2023-03-29T12:53:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rye](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/rye/32/48700_2.png) [@rye](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rye)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 12:53pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/a-pydoc-but-for-julia/96778/1 "2023-03-29T12:53:59Z")

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Hi,

In python I have the handy pydoc executable to show me documentation on the fly (without needing lsp, but via a few vimscript functions handling import aliases still automatic). Is there something similar to pydoc for julia, or else someway to mimic this via a julia -e call? (I’ve searched/ experimented but to no avail)

Many thanks,

Ryan

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**Author:** ![GunnarFarneback](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/gunnarfarneback/32/1827_2.png) [@GunnarFarneback](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/GunnarFarneback)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:04pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/a-pydoc-but-for-julia/96778/2 "2023-03-29T13:04:50Z")

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I’m not clear on the requirements but maybe this can work as a starting point:

````julia
$ julia -E '@doc ispath'
```
ispath(path) -> Bool
```

Return `true` if a valid filesystem entity exists at `path`, otherwise returns `false`. This is the generalization of [`isfile`](@ref), [`isdir`](@ref) etc.

````

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rye](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/rye/32/48700_2.png) [@rye](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rye)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:09pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/a-pydoc-but-for-julia/96778/3 "2023-03-29T13:09:59Z")

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Perfect, just what I was looking for - many thanks for your help

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**Author:** ![fredrikekre](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/fredrikekre/32/1688_2.png) [@fredrikekre](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/fredrikekre)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2023, 1:21pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/a-pydoc-but-for-julia/96778/4 "2023-03-29T13:21:43Z")

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This is what julia-vim does too, see: [julia-vim/doc.vim at fca7e3e59e6f9417d3fd77bac50d4b820a3e8bc4 · JuliaEditorSupport/julia-vim · GitHub](https://github.com/JuliaEditorSupport/julia-vim/blob/fca7e3e59e6f9417d3fd77bac50d4b820a3e8bc4/autoload/julia/doc.vim#L38)