From 56f82a735b1e864d4fe498e31e3a6c5495e600c0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: milde <milde@929543f6-e4f2-0310-98a6-ba3bd3dd1d04>
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2023 20:26:41 +0000
Subject: The "null" writer will generate an empty string in Docutils 0.22.

Update writer documentation to Python 3 terminology.
Format multi-line docstrings according to policies.

Writers generate `str` or `bytes` output.
In future, the "null" writer will also generate `str` output
for consistency with other writers and the documentation.

git-svn-id: https://svn.code.sf.net/p/docutils/code/trunk@9352 929543f6-e4f2-0310-98a6-ba3bd3dd1d04
---
 docutils/RELEASE-NOTES.txt            |  2 ++
 docutils/docutils/writers/__init__.py | 14 +++++++++-----
 docutils/docutils/writers/null.py     |  4 ++++
 3 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docutils/RELEASE-NOTES.txt b/docutils/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
index c4b09106d..a7e9144e7 100644
--- a/docutils/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
+++ b/docutils/RELEASE-NOTES.txt
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ Drop support for Python 3.7 and 3.8 in Docutils 0.21.
   - Remove ``use_verbatim_when_possible`` setting
     (use literal_block_env_: verbatim) in Docutils 2.0.
 
+* "null" writer: output will change to the empty string in Docutils 0.22.
+
 * The default value of the `auto_encode` argument of `core.publish_str()`,
   `core.publish_from_doctree()`, and `core.publish_programmatically()`
   will change to ``False`` in Docutils 0.22.
diff --git a/docutils/docutils/writers/__init__.py b/docutils/docutils/writers/__init__.py
index 84be8f6a2..d15ccd29f 100644
--- a/docutils/docutils/writers/__init__.py
+++ b/docutils/docutils/writers/__init__.py
@@ -36,18 +36,22 @@ class Writer(Component):
                                            universal.StripClassesAndElements]
 
     document = None
-    """The document to write (Docutils doctree); set by `write`."""
+    """The document to write (Docutils doctree); set by `write()`."""
 
     output = None
-    """Final translated form of `document` (Unicode string for text, binary
-    string for other forms); set by `translate`."""
+    """Final translated form of `document`
+
+    (`str` for text, `bytes` for binary formats); set by `translate()`.
+    """
 
     language = None
-    """Language module for the document; set by `write`."""
+    """Language module for the document; set by `write()`."""
 
     destination = None
     """`docutils.io` Output object; where to write the document.
-    Set by `write`."""
+
+    Set by `write()`.
+    """
 
     def __init__(self):
 
diff --git a/docutils/docutils/writers/null.py b/docutils/docutils/writers/null.py
index 6c30627e2..7b303f8d7 100644
--- a/docutils/docutils/writers/null.py
+++ b/docutils/docutils/writers/null.py
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
 
 """
 A do-nothing Writer.
+
+`self.output` will change from ``None`` to the empty string
+in Docutils 0.22.
 """
 
 from docutils import writers
@@ -18,4 +21,5 @@ class Writer(writers.UnfilteredWriter):
     config_section_dependencies = ('writers',)
 
     def translate(self):
+        # output = None   # TODO in 0.22
         pass
-- 
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