code: def get_dummy_distribution():
      
  
      from .setup_helpers import _module_state
  
      if _module_state['registered_commands'] is None:
          raise RuntimeError(
              'astropy_helpers.setup_helpers.register_commands() must be '
              'called before using '
              'astropy_helpers.setup_helpers.get_dummy_distribution()')
  
      # Pre-parse the Distutils command-line options and config files to if
      # the option is set.
      dist = Distribution({'script_name': os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]),
                           'script_args': sys.argv[1:]})
      dist.cmdclass.update(_module_state['registered_commands'])
  
      with silence():
          try:
              dist.parse_config_files()
              dist.parse_command_line()
          except (DistutilsError, AttributeError, SystemExit):
              # Let distutils handle DistutilsErrors itself AttributeErrors can
              # get raise for ./setup.py --help SystemExit can be raised if a
              # display option was used, for example
              pass
  
      return dist
docs: Returns a distutils Distribution object used to instrument the setup
      environment before calling the actual setup() function.