mirror of https://github.com/python/cpython
Revamped README for release of 1.5b1.
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Guido van Rossum
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README
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README
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@ -1,47 +1,46 @@
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This is Python release 1.5 alpha 4
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This is Python release 1.5 beta 1
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==================================
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******************************************
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*** RELEASE RESTRICTED TO PSA MEMBERS! ***
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******************************************
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What's new in this release?
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---------------------------
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Too much has changed to list it all here. There's a loooong list of
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changes in Misc/NEWS. This file is now *complete*: it has all changes
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made since 1.4 (all changes worth mentioning, anyway). The complete
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list of changes since 1.5a4 is presented at the end of the file. (It
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could still use a better organization. Want to volunteer to add
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better structor or convert it to HTML?)
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changes since release 1.4 in the file Misc/NEWS. If you were an alpha
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tester, the list of changes since 1.5a4 is presented at the end of
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that file.
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- There's support in the readline module to change bindings and
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write your own command completer in Python. An example completer is
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in rlcompleter.py.
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Most relevant changes since 1.5a4 (of course all known bugs have been
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fixed, leaks plugged, and documentation has been added):
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- The new re module is here. It is based on Philip Hazel's pcre
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code; the Python interfaces were put together by Andrew Kuchling.
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The regex module is declared obsolete. (The previous re
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implementation, obsolete though it is, is still available as
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re1.py, as a keepsake.)
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- Package directories now *require* the presence of __init__.py.
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Packages can now contain shared libraries.
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- All standard exceptions and most exceptions defined in standard
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extension modules are now classes. Use python -X to revert back to
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string exceptions. See
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http://grail.cnri.reston.va.us/python/essays/stdexceptions.html
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for more info.
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- New module 'fileinput' to iterate over the lines of a list of files.
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- Sequence assignments no longer require exact matching of the type
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of sequence on the left- and right-hand side. For example
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(a, b, c) = [1, 2, 3]
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is now legal. (The lengths must still match exactly.)
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- New module 'locale' for localized number formatting and string case
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sensitivity.
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- dict.get(key, default) returns dict[key] if it exists, and default
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otherwise; default defaults to None.
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- New module 'xmllib' to parse XML files.
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- Class objects now have a __module__ attribute giving the module
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name in which they were defined.
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- Some more support for Tk extensions (PIL, TIX, BLT, TOGL).
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- Fixed address list parsing in module 'rfc822'.
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- More deployment (and only one fix) for the 're' module.
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- New Python mode for Emacs.
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- OS/2 support.
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Other important changes, if this is the first release you see since
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1.4:
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- It's much faster (almost twice for the Lib/test/pystone.py
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benchmark.)
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- There's an assert statement: assert <condition> or
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assert <condition>, <errormessage>. It raises AssertionError if the
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condition evaluates to false.
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- There is now built-in support for importing hierarchical module
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names (e.g. "import spam.ham.eggs"); ni is declared obsolete. Note
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@ -51,38 +50,30 @@ better structor or convert it to HTML?)
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http://grail.cnri.reston.va.us/python/essays/packages.html
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for more info.
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- A site can append items to the end of the default sys.path by
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placing directory names in files named *.pth in either
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$prefix/lib/site-python/ or $prefix/lib/python1.5/site-packages/.
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This is implemented in the module site.py which is now loaded by
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default at the end of initialization; use python -S to skip this.
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See
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http://grail.cnri.reston.va.us/python/essays/packages.html
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for more info.
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Other important changes, if this is the first release you see since
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1.4:
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- It's much faster (almost twice for pystone.py -- see
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Tools/scripts.)
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- There's an assert statement.
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- The new "re" module (Perl style regular expressions) is here. It
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is based on Philip Hazel's pcre code; the Python interfaces were put
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together by Andrew Kuchling. The regex module is declared obsolete.
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- In support of the re module, a new form of string literals is
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introduced, "raw strings": e.g. r"\n" is equal to "\\n".
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- All standard exceptions and most exceptions defined in standard
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extension modules are now classes. Use python -X to revert back to
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string exceptions. See
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http://grail.cnri.reston.va.us/python/essays/stdexceptions.html
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for more info.
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- Comparisons can now raise exceptions.
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- New dictionary methods: .clear(), .update(), .copy().
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- New dictionary methods: .clear(), .update(), .copy(), .get().
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- New regression test harness tests more.
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- It's much smarter about the initial value for sys.path; you can
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control it easier using $PYTHONHOME (see the usage message, e.g. try
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``python -h''). In most situations, the interpreter can be
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installed at an arbitrary location without having to recompile.
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- The infamous killer joke, ehh, metaclass support, is now
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available. See Demo/metaclasses/ for more info.
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- The build process now builds a single library (libpython1.5.a)
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which contains everything except for the main() entry point. This
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makes life much easier for applications that embed Python.
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@ -100,7 +91,15 @@ Other important changes, if this is the first release you see since
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defined by Python now have a "Py" or "_Py" prefix, and the same is
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true for most macros and typedefs.
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- New regression test harness tests more.
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If you don't read instructions
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------------------------------
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Congratulations on getting this far. :-)
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To start building right away (on UNIX): type "./configure" in the
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current directory and when it finishes, type "make". The section
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Build Instructions below is still recommended reading. :-)
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What is Python anyway?
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@ -159,26 +158,15 @@ If you can read German, try:
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ISBN: 3-8273-1110-1
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If you don't read instructions
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------------------------------
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Congratulations on getting this far. :-)
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To start building right away (on UNIX): type "./configure" in the
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current directory and when it finishes, type "make". The section
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Build Instructions below is still recommended reading. :-)
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Copyright issues
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----------------
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Python is COPYRIGHTED but free to use for all. See the full copyright
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notice at the end of this file.
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notice at the end of this file and in the file Misc/COPYRIGHT.
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The Python distribution is *not* affected by the GNU Public Licence
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(GPL). There are interfaces to some GNU code but these are entirely
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optional and no GNU code is distributed with Python. For all these
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packages, GPL-free public domain versions also exist.
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optional and no GNU code is distributed with Python.
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Build instructions
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@ -286,7 +274,7 @@ Minix: When using ack, use "CC=cc AR=aal RANLIB=: ./configure"!
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SCO: 1) Everything works much better if you add -U__STDC__ to the
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defs. This is because all the SCO header files are broken.
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Anything that isn't mentioned in the C standard it's
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Anything that isn't mentioned in the C standard is
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conditionally excluded when __STDC__ is defined.
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2) Due to the U.S. export restrictions, SCO broke the crypt
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@ -298,9 +286,16 @@ SCO: 1) Everything works much better if you add -U__STDC__ to the
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3) According to at least one report, the above apply only to
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SCO 3 -- Python builds out of the box on SCO 5.
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SunOS: On SunOS 4.1.x, when using the SunPro C compiler, you may want
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to use the '-Xa' option instead of '-Xc', to enable some
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needed non-ANSI Sunisms.
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SunOS 4.x: When using the standard "cc" compiler, certain modules may
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not be compilable because they use non-K&R syntax. You should
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be able to get a basic Python interpreter by commenting out
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such modules in the Modules/Setup file, but I really recommend
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using gcc.
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When using the SunPro C compiler, you may want to use the
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'-Xa' option instead of '-Xc', to enable some needed non-ANSI
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Sunisms.
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NeXT: To build fat binaries, use the --with-next-archs switch
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described below.
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@ -326,6 +321,11 @@ SGI: SGI's standard "make" utility (/bin/make or /usr/bin/make)
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you set the first line of the Makefile to #!/usr/sbin/smake
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smake will be invoked by make (likewise for GNU make).
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OS/2: If you are running Warp3 or Warp4 and have IBM's VisualAge C/C++
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compiler installed, just change into the pc\os2vacpp directory
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and type NMAKE. Threading and sockets are supported by default
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in the resulting binaries of PYTHON15.DLL and PYTHON.EXE.
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Configuring additional built-in modules
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---------------------------------------
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@ -400,28 +400,34 @@ different directory). This runs the test in verbose mode.
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Installing
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----------
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Installing Python was never this easy!
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To install the Python binary, library modules, shared library modules
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(see below), include files, configuration files, and the manual page,
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just type "make install". This will install all platform-independent
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files in subdirectories the directory given with the --prefix option
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to configure or the 'prefix' Make variable (default /usr/local), and
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all binary and other platform-specific files in subdirectories if the
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directory given by --exec-prefix or the 'exec_prefix' Make variable
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(defaults to the --prefix directory). All subdirectories created will
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have Python's version number in their name, e.g. the library modules
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are installed in "/usr/local/lib/python1.5/" by default. The Python
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binary is installed as "python1.5" and a hard link named "python" is
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created. The only file not installed with a version number in its
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name is the manual page, installed as "/usr/local/man/man1/python.1"
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by default.
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just type
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make install
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This will install all platform-independent files in subdirectories the
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directory given with the --prefix option to configure or the 'prefix'
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Make variable (default /usr/local), and all binary and other
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platform-specific files in subdirectories if the directory given by
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--exec-prefix or the 'exec_prefix' Make variable (defaults to the
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--prefix directory).
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All subdirectories created will have Python's version number in their
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name, e.g. the library modules are installed in
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"/usr/local/lib/python1.5/" by default. The Python binary is
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installed as "python1.5" and a hard link named "python" is created.
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The only file not installed with a version number in its name is the
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manual page, installed as "/usr/local/man/man1/python.1" by default.
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If you have a previous installation of a pre-1.5 Python that you don't
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want to replace yet, use "make altinstall". This installs the same
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set of files as "make install" except it doesn't create the hard link
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to "python1.5" named "python" and it doesn't install the manual page
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at all.
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want to replace yet, use
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make altinstall
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This installs the same set of files as "make install" except it
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doesn't create the hard link to "python1.5" named "python" and it
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doesn't install the manual page at all.
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The only thing you may have to install manually is the Python mode for
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Emacs. (But then again, more recent versions of Emacs may already
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@ -675,7 +681,7 @@ Bugs are best reported to the comp.lang.python newsgroup or the Python
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mailing list -- see the section "Newsgroup and mailing list" above.
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Before posting, check the newsgroup archives (see above) to see if
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your bug has already been reported! If you don't want to go public,
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send them to me <guido@python.org>.
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send them to me: <guido@python.org>.
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Questions
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@ -698,18 +704,19 @@ also usable from Python. Since this requires that you first build and
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install Tcl/Tk, the Tk interface is not enabled by default. Python
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supports all Tcl/Tk versions from version 7.5/4.1 through 8.0 (and it
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is expected that it will also work with newer versions). Tcl/Tk
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7.4/4.0 is no longer supported.
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7.4/4.0 is no longer supported. 8.0 or any later non-alpha non-beta
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release is recommended.
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See http://sunscript.sun.com/ for more info on Tcl/Tk, including the
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on-line manual pages.
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See http://www.sunlabs.com/research/tcl/ for more info on where to get
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Tcl/Tk. Also http://sunscript.sun.com/.
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To enable the Python/Tk interface, once you've built and installed
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Tcl/Tk, all you need to do is edit two lines in Modules/Setup; search
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for the string "_tkinter". Uncomment one (normally the first) of the
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lines beginning with "#_tkinter" and un-comment the line beginning
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with "#TKPATH". If you have installed Tcl/Tk or X11 in unusual
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places, you will have to edit the first line to fix or add -I and -L
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options. See the Build Instructions above for more details.
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Tcl/Tk, load the file Modules/Setup in your favorite text editor and
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search for the string "_tkinter". Then follow the instructions found
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there. If you have installed Tcl/Tk or X11 in unusual places, you
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will have to edit the first line to fix or add -I and -L options.
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(Also see the general instructions at the top of that file.)
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There is little documentation on how to use Tkinter; however most of
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the Tk manual pages apply quite straightforwardly. Begin with
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@ -757,7 +764,8 @@ Makefile.in Source from which config.status creates Makefile
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Misc/ Miscellaneous useful files
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Modules/ Implementation of most built-in modules
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Objects/ Implementation of most built-in object types
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PC/ PC porting files (DOS, Windows, NT, OS/2)
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PC/ PC porting files (DOS, Windows, OS/2)
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PCbuild/ Directory where you should build for Windows NT/95
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Parser/ The parser and tokenizer and their input handling
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Python/ The "compiler" and interpreter
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README The file you're reading now
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