Automatic list with overviews of inlcuded area definitions for the documentation

.gitignore

@@ -75,3 +75,4 @@ doc/source/_build/*
 satpy/version.py
 doc/source/api/*.rst
 doc/source/reader_table.rst
+doc/source/area_def_list.rst

doc/source/area_def_list.py

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+# Copyright (c) 2022 Satpy developers
+#
+# This file is part of satpy.
+#
+# satpy is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+# under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# satpy is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+# WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+# General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+# along with satpy.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+"""Module for autogenerating a list and overview of available area definitions ."""
+
+from pyresample.area_config import _read_yaml_area_file_content
+from pyresample.formatting_html import area_repr
+
+from satpy.resample import get_area_def, get_area_file
+
+
+def generate_area_def_list():
+    """Create list of available area definitions with overview plot.
+
+    Returns:
+        str
+    """
+    area_list = []
+
+    template = ("{area_name}\n"
+                "{n:->{header_title_length}}\n\n"
+                ".. raw:: html\n\n"
+                "{content}\n\n"
+                "     <hr>\n\n")
+
+    area_file = get_area_file()[0]
+    for aname in list(_read_yaml_area_file_content(area_file).keys()):
+        area = get_area_def(aname)
+        if hasattr(area, "_repr_html_"):
+            content = "\n".join([x.rjust(len(x) + 5) for x in area_repr(area, include_header=False).split("\n")])
+            area_list.append(template.format(area_name=aname, n="", header_title_length=len(aname),
+                                             content=content))
+        else:
+            pass
+
+    return "".join(area_list)

doc/source/conf.py

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 sys.path.append(os.path.abspath('../../'))
 sys.path.append(os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__)))
 
+from area_def_list import generate_area_def_list  # noqa: E402
 from reader_table import generate_reader_table  # noqa: E402
 
 # The version info for the project you're documenting, acts as replacement for
@@ -80,6 +81,9 @@ def __getattr__(cls, name):
 with open("reader_table.rst", mode="w") as f:
     f.write(generate_reader_table())
 
+with open("area_def_list.rst", mode="w") as f:
+    f.write(generate_area_def_list())
+
 # -- General configuration -----------------------------------------------------
 
 # Add any Sphinx extension module names here, as strings. They can be extensions

satpy/resample.py

@@ -135,7 +135,12 @@
 
 For examples of area definitions, see the file ``etc/areas.yaml`` that is
 included with Satpy and where all the area definitions shipped with Satpy are
-defined.
+defined. The section below gives an overview of these area definitions.
+
+Area definitions included in Satpy
+----------------------------------
+
+.. include:: area_def_list.rst
 
 """
 import hashlib