Patch #1698768: updated the "using Python on the Mac" intro.
(backport from rev. 54949)
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Georg Brandl
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@ -13,206 +13,166 @@ for the latest 2.3 release for Mac OS 9 and related documentation.
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\section{Getting and Installing MacPython \label{getting-OSX}}
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Mac OS X 10.3 comes with Python 2.3 pre-installed by Apple.
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This installation does not come with the IDE and other additions, however,
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so to get these you need to install the \program{MacPython for Panther additions}
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from the MacPython website, \url{http://www.cwi.nl/\textasciitilde jack/macpython}.
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For MacPython 2.4, or for any MacPython on earlier releases of Mac OS X,
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you need to install a full distribution from the same website.
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Mac OS X 10.4 comes with Python 2.3 pre-installed by Apple. However, you are
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encouraged to install the most recent version of Python from the Python website
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(\url{http://www.python.org}). A ``universal binary'' build of Python 2.5, which
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runs natively on the Mac's new Intel and legacy PPC CPU's, is available there.
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What you get after installing is a number of things:
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\begin{itemize}
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\item A \file{MacPython-2.3} folder in your \file{Applications}
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folder. In here you find the PythonIDE Integrated Development Environment;
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PythonLauncher, which handles double-clicking Python scripts from
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the Finder; and the Package Manager.
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\item A \file{MacPython 2.5} folder in your \file{Applications} folder. In here
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you find IDLE, the development environment that is a standard part of official
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Python distributions; PythonLauncher, which handles double-clicking Python
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scripts from the Finder; and the ``Build Applet'' tool, which allows you to
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package Python scripts as standalone applications on your system.
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\item A fairly standard \UNIX{} commandline Python interpreter in
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\file{/usr/local/bin/python}, but without the usual
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\file{/usr/local/lib/python}.
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\item A framework \file{/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework}, where
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all the action really is, but which you usually do not have to be aware of.
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\item A framework \file{/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework}, which includes
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the Python executable and libraries. The installer adds this location to your
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shell path. To uninstall MacPython, you can simply remove these three
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things. A symlink to the Python executable is placed in /usr/local/bin/.
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\end{itemize}
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To uninstall MacPython you can simply remove these three things.
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The Apple-provided build of Python is installed in
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\file{/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework} and \file{/usr/bin/python},
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respectively. You should never modify or delete these, as they are
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Apple-controlled and are used by Apple- or third-party software.
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If you use the ``additions'' installer to install on top of an existing
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Apple-Python you will not get the framework and the commandline interpreter,
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as they have been installed by Apple already, in
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\file{/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework} and
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\file{/usr/bin/python}, respectively. You should in principle never modify
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or delete these, as they are Apple-controlled and may be used by Apple- or
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third-party software.
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IDLE includes a help menu that allows you to access Python documentation. If you
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are completely new to Python you should start reading the tutorial introduction
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in that document.
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PythonIDE contains an Apple Help Viewer book called "MacPython Help"
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which you can access through its help menu. If you are completely new to
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Python you should start reading the IDE introduction in that document.
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If you are familiar with Python on other \UNIX{} platforms you should read the
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section on running Python scripts from the \UNIX{} shell.
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If you are familiar with Python on other \UNIX{} platforms you should
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read the section on running Python scripts from the \UNIX{} shell.
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\subsection{How to run a Python script}
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Your best way to get started with Python on Mac OS X is through the PythonIDE
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integrated development environment, see section \ref{IDE} and use the Help
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menu when the IDE is running.
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Your best way to get started with Python on Mac OS X is through the IDLE
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integrated development environment, see section \ref{IDE} and use the Help menu
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when the IDE is running.
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If you want to run Python scripts from the Terminal window command line
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or from the Finder you first need an editor to create your script.
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Mac OS X comes with a number of standard \UNIX{} command line editors,
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\program{vim} and \program{emacs} among them. If you want a more Mac-like
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editor \program{BBEdit} or \program{TextWrangler} from Bare Bones Software
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(see \url{http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/index.shtml}) are
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good choices. \program{AppleWorks} or any other
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word processor that can save files in ASCII is also a possibility, including
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\program{TextEdit} which is included with OS X.
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If you want to run Python scripts from the Terminal window command line or from
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the Finder you first need an editor to create your script. Mac OS X comes with a
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number of standard \UNIX{} command line editors, \program{vim} and
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\program{emacs} among them. If you want a more Mac-like editor, \program{BBEdit}
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or \program{TextWrangler} from Bare Bones Software (see
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\url{http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/index.shtml}) are good choices, as
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is \program{TextMate} (see \url{http://macromates.com/}). Other editors include
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\program{Gvim} (\url{http://macvim.org}) and \program{Aquamacs}
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(\url{http://aquamacs.org}).
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To run your script from the Terminal window you must make sure that
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\file{/usr/local/bin} is in your shell search path.
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To run your script from the Finder you have two options:
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\begin{itemize}
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\item Drag it to \program{PythonLauncher}
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\item Select \program{PythonLauncher} as the default application
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to open your script (or any .py script) through the finder Info window
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and double-click it.
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\item Select \program{PythonLauncher} as the default application to open your
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script (or any .py script) through the finder Info window and double-click it.
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\program{PythonLauncher} has various preferences to control how your script is
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launched. Option-dragging allows you to change these for one invocation, or
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use its Preferences menu to change things globally.
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\end{itemize}
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PythonLauncher has various preferences to control how your script is launched.
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Option-dragging allows you to change these for one invocation, or use its
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Preferences menu to change things globally.
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\subsection{Running scripts with a GUI \label{osx-gui-scripts}}
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There is one Mac OS X quirk that you need to be aware of: programs
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that talk to the Aqua window manager (in other words, anything that has a GUI)
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need to be run in a special way. Use \program{pythonw} instead of \program{python}
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to start such scripts.
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With older versions of Python, there is one Mac OS X quirk that you need to be
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aware of: programs that talk to the Aqua window manager (in other words,
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anything that has a GUI) need to be run in a special way. Use \program{pythonw}
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instead of \program{python} to start such scripts.
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\subsection{configuration}
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With Python 2.5, you can use either \program{python} or \program{pythonw}.
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MacPython honours all standard \UNIX{} environment variables such as
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\envvar{PYTHONPATH}, but setting these variables for programs started
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from the Finder is non-standard
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as the Finder does not read your \file{.profile} or \file{.cshrc} at startup.
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You need to create a file \file{\textasciitilde /.MacOSX/environment.plist}.
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See Apple's Technical Document QA1067 for details.
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\subsection{Configuration}
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Installing additional Python packages is most easily done through the
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Package Manager, see the MacPython Help Book for details.
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Python on OS X honors all standard \UNIX{} environment variables such as
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\envvar{PYTHONPATH}, but setting these variables for programs started from the
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Finder is non-standard as the Finder does not read your \file{.profile} or
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\file{.cshrc} at startup. You need to create a file \file{\textasciitilde
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/.MacOSX/environment.plist}. See Apple's Technical Document QA1067 for
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details.
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For more information on installation Python packages in MacPython, see section
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\ref{mac-package-manager}, ``Installing Additional Python Packages.''
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\section{The IDE\label{IDE}}
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The \program{Python IDE} (Integrated Development Environment) is a
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separate application that acts as a text editor for your Python code,
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a class browser, a graphical debugger, and more.
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The online Python Help contains a quick walkthrough of the IDE that
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shows the major features and how to use them.
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\subsection{Using the ``Python Interactive'' window}
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Use this window like you would use a normal \UNIX{} command line
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interpreter.
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\subsection{Writing a Python Script \label{IDEwrite}}
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In addition to using the \program{Python IDE} interactively, you can
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also type out a complete Python program, saving it incrementally, and
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execute it or smaller selections of it.
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You can create a new script, open a previously saved script, and save
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your currently open script by selecting the appropriate item in the
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``File'' menu. Dropping a Python script onto the
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\program{Python IDE} will open it for editing.
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When the \program{Python IDE} saves a script, it uses the creator code
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settings which are available by clicking on the small black triangle
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on the top right of the document window, and selecting ``save
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options''. The default is to save the file with the \program{Python
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IDE} as the creator, this means that you can open the file for editing
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by simply double-clicking on its icon. You might want to change this
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behaviour so that it will be opened by the
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\program{PythonLauncher}, and run. To do this simply choose
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``PythonLauncher'' from the ``save options''. Note that these
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options are associated with the \emph{file} not the application.
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MacPython ships with the standard IDLE development environment. A good
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introduction to using IDLE can be found at
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\url{http://hkn.eecs.berkeley.edu/~dyoo/python/idle_intro/index.html}.
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\subsection{Executing a script from within the IDE
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\label{IDEexecution}}
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\section{Installing Additional Python Packages \label{mac-package-manager}}
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You can run the script in the frontmost window of the \program{Python
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IDE} by hitting the run all button. You should be aware, however that
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if you use the Python convention \samp{if __name__ == "__main__":} the
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script will \emph{not} be ``__main__'' by default. To get that
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behaviour you must select the ``Run as __main__'' option from the
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small black triangle on the top right of the document window. Note
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that this option is associated with the \emph{file} not the
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application. It \emph{will} stay active after a save, however; to shut
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this feature off simply select it again.
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There are several methods to install additional Python packages:
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\begin{itemize}
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\item \url{http://pythonmac.org/packages/} contains selected compiled packages
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for Python 2.5, 2.4, and 2.3.
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\item Packages can be installed via the standard Python distutils mode
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(\samp{python setup.py install}).
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\item Many packages can also be installed via the \program{setuptools}
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extension.
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\end{itemize}
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\subsection{``Save as'' versus ``Save as Applet''
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\label{IDEapplet}}
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\section{GUI Programming on the Mac}
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When you are done writing your Python script you have the option of
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saving it as an ``applet'' (by selecting ``Save as applet'' from the
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``File'' menu). This has a significant advantage in that you can drop
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files or folders onto it, to pass them to the applet the way
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command-line users would type them onto the command-line to pass them
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as arguments to the script. However, you should make sure to save the
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applet as a separate file, do not overwrite the script you are
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writing, because you will not be able to edit it again.
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There are several options for building GUI applications on the Mac with Python.
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Accessing the items passed to the applet via ``drag-and-drop'' is done
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using the standard \member{sys.argv} mechanism. See the general
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documentation for more
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% need to link to the appropriate place in non-Mac docs
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\emph{PyObjC} is a Python binding to Apple's Objective-C/Cocoa framework, which
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is the foundation of most modern Mac development. Information on PyObjC is
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available from \url{http://pybojc.sourceforge.net}.
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Note that saving a script as an applet will not make it runnable on a
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system without a Python installation.
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The standard Python GUI toolkit is \module{Tkinter}, based on the cross-platform
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Tk toolkit (\url{http://www.tcl.tk}). An Aqua-native version of Tk is bundled
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with OS X by Apple, and the latest version can be downloaded and installed from
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\url{http://www.activestate.com}; it can also be built from source.
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%\subsection{Debugger}
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% **NEED INFO HERE**
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\emph{wxPython} is another popular cross-platform GUI toolkit that runs natively
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on Mac OS X. Packages and documentation are available from
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\url{http://www.wxpython.org}.
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%\subsection{Module Browser}
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% **NEED INFO HERE**
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\emph{PyQt} is another popular cross-platform GUI toolkit that runs natively on
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Mac OS X. More information can be found at
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\url{http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/pyqt/}.
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%\subsection{Profiler}
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% **NEED INFO HERE**
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% end IDE
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%\subsection{The ``Scripts'' menu}
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% **NEED INFO HERE**
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\section{Distributing Python Applications on the Mac}
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\section{The Package Manager}
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The ``Build Applet'' tool that is placed in the MacPython 2.5 folder is fine for
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packaging small Python scripts on your own machine to run as a standard Mac
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application. This tool, however, is not robust enough to distribute Python
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applications to other users.
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Historically MacPython came with a number of useful extension packages
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included, because most Macintosh users do not have access to a development
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environment and C compiler. For Mac OS X that bundling is no longer done,
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but a new mechanism has been made available to allow easy access to
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extension packages.
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The standard tool for deploying standalone Python applications on the Mac is
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\program{py2app}. More information on installing and using py2app can be found
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at \url{http://undefined.org/python/#py2app}.
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The Python Package Manager helps you installing additional packages
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that enhance Python. It determines the exact MacOS version and Python
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version you have and uses that information to download a database that
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has packages that are tested and tried on that combination. In other
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words: if something is in your Package Manager window but does not work
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you are free to blame the database maintainer.
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\section{Application Scripting}
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PackageManager then checks which of the packages you have installed and
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which ones are not. This should also work when you have installed packages
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outside of PackageManager. You can select packages and install them,
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and PackageManager will work out the requirements and install these too.
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Python can also be used to script other Mac applications via Apple's Open
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Scripting Architecture (OSA); see
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\url{http://appscript.sourceforge.net}. Appscript is a high-level, user-friendly
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Apple event bridge that allows you to control scriptable Mac OS X applications
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using ordinary Python scripts. Appscript makes Python a serious alternative to
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Apple's own \emph{AppleScript} language for automating your Mac. A related
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package, \emph{PyOSA}, is an OSA language component for the Python scripting
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language, allowing Python code to be executed by any OSA-enabled application
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(Script Editor, Mail, iTunes, etc.). PyOSA makes Python a full peer to
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AppleScript.
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Often PackageManager will list a package in two flavors: binary and
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source. Binary should always work, source will only work if you have
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installed the Apple Developer Tools. PackageManager will warn you about
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this, and also about other external dependencies.
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\section{Other Resources}
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PackageManager is available as a separate application and also as a
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function of the IDE, through the File->Package Manager menu entry.
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The MacPython mailing list is an excellent support resource for Python users and
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developers on the Mac:
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\url{http://www.python.org/community/sigs/current/pythonmac-sig/}
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Another useful resource is the MacPython wiki:
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\url{http://wiki.python.org/moin/MacPython}
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