Building Mac Python from source

This document explains how to build MacPython from source. This is necessary if you want to write extension modules for 68K Python, and currently also probably the easiest way to build PPC extension modules. Building Python is not something to be undertaken lightly, the process is not very streamlined so you need a reasonable working knowledge of the CodeWarrior development environment, a good net connection and probably quite some time too.

The information density in this file is high, so you should probably print it and read it at your leasure. Most things are explained only once (and probably in the wrong place:-).

I am very interested in feedback on this document, contact me at <jack@cwi.nl> or send your comments to the Mac Python Special Interest Group.

What you need.

The following things you definitely need:

You need a MacPython source distribution, of course. You can obtain one from ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/jack/python/mac, and possibly also from the standard python.org ftp site. Everything you need is also included in the standard Python source distribution, but the organization is different. Look in directory Mac/mwerks/projects for the project files and related stuff.
You need MetroWerks CodeWarrior. The current distribution has been built with version 9 of CodeWarrior. Ordering information is available on the MetroWerks homepage. You might still be able to build Python with MPW or Think/Symantec C but you are basically on your own.
You need GUSI, the Grand Unified Socket Interface, by Matthias Neeracher. The current distribution has been built with CWGUSI 1.7.2, obtainable from ftp://ftp.switch.ch/software/mac/src/mw_c. It is possible to build a non-GUSI Python, see below.

The MacPython project files are configured to include a plethora of optional modules, and these modules need a number extra packages. To use the project files as-is you have to download these packages too. PPC and CFM68K Python have all such modules as dynamically loaded modules, so if you don't need a certain package it suffices to just refrain from builing the extension module. For static 68K Python things are a bit more complicated: you have to edit the interpreter project file to remove the reference to the module (and the libraries it uses), and edit the Mac:mwerks:mwerks_nonshared_config.h file to remove the USE_... line. Here are the locations for the various things you need:

Tcl and Tk can be obtained from ftp://ftp.smli.com/pub/tcl/mac/. The current distributions, Tcl 7.5p1 and Tk 4.1p1 need a bit of work, see the section on building Tcl/Tk Python below. Get the "full source" distribution, which includes MoreFiles.
Waste, a TextEdit replacement written by Marco Piovanelli, <piovanel@kagi.com>. Python was built using version 1.2, which you can obtain from <ftp://rhino.harvard.edu/pub/dan/WASTE> and various other places.
JPEG library by the Independent JPEG Group. Python is still built using an archaic version of the library, version 4. It can be obtained from the ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/jack/python/mac directory, complete with CW8 projects. If someone manages to build Python with the version 6 library I would be grateful if they sent me the changes needed. The most recent JPEG library can always be obtained from ftp://ftp.uu.net/graphics/jpeg/.
The netpbm/pbmplus and libtiff libraries. The netpbm distribution (which includes libtiff) is generally available on Internet ftp servers. For Python pbmplus, an older incarnation of netpbm, is functionally identical to netpbm, since Python only uses the library and not the complete applications. A distribution with correct projects and library source only is available from, you guessed it, ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/jack/python/mac.

Setting Up

Now that you have collected everything you should start with building the various parts. Everything is independent, with the single exception that Tcl and Tk depend on CWGUSI. If you don't want to fix access paths try to set things up as follows:

Top-level-folder:
	CWGUSI
	imglibs
		libjpeg
		pbmplus
			libtiff
	MoreFiles 1.4.2 (not needed by Python, only by tcl/tk)
	Python
	Tcl 7.5
	Tk 4.1
	Waste 1.2 distribution (if you want waste)

Now build all the libraries. In CWGUSI you build the projects GUSI.68K.ľ, GUSI.CFM68K.ľ and GUSI.PPC.ľ, in MoreFiles, libjpeg, pbmplus andlibtiff you build all projects. Tcl/tk is a special case, see below. Of course, if you are only interested in one of static 68K, CFM68K or PPC you can skip building the other libraries.

Building Tcl/Tk

You need to make a minor organizational change to the Tcl/Tk distribution. The current instructions are for the tcl7.5.1 and tk4.1.1 distribution:

Rename the compat folders to (compat) in both the Tcl and Tk folders.
In the Tcl folder, move strncasecmp.c and tclErrno.h from (compat) to the main Tcl folder.
Fix dnr.c as provided by MetroWerks by inserting
```
 #pragma ANSI_strict off 
```
at the beginning. The tcl library is built with strict ANSI on, and this file uses C++ style comments.
If you want to build SimpleTcl and SimpleTk you will probably have to remove the references to libmoto from the project.
You are strongly advised to add a line
```
#define USE_TCLALLOC 1
```
somewhere at the beginning of MW_TclHeader.pch. As distributed, tcl and tk assume that malloc calls always succeed and use the resulting pointer without checking for NULL values. Needless to say, this wreaks havoc on a Macintosh.
If you want to build for CFM68K you have to modify TclMacNotify.c because there is an error in the Apple Universal headers (sic!). Read the comments at the beginning of Mac:Python:macglue.c and copy the code to TclMacNotify.c. If you get linker errors on GetEvQHdr you have not done this correctly.

Build first the MoreFiles library, then the Tcl library, then SimpleTcl (test it by typing ls -l in the window you get) then the Tk library, then SimpleTk (which can again be tested with ls -l). If this all worked you are all set to try building Python.

Building Waste

You do not need to build the Waste libraries, as Python includes the source modules themselves. You have to make one modification, though. In file ICCFMGlue.c in folder

Minimal IC
APIs

, add the following lines:


#include 
#include

The organization of the Python source tree

Time for a short break, while we have a look at the organization of the Python source tree. At the top level, we find the following folders:

build.mac68k.stand: This is where you will build static 68K interpreters.
build.mac68k.shared: This is where you build the CFM68K shared library, interpreter and applet framework.
build.macppc.shared: This is where you build the PPC shared library, interpreter and applet framework. You can also build the fat applet framework here.
build.macppc.stand: This is where you build a nonshared PPC interpreter (optional).
Demo: Demo programs that are not Mac-specific. Some of these may not work, the file README-Mac has some details.
Extensions: Extensions to the interpreter that are not Mac-specific. Contains only the img extension in this distribution. Extensions are not built here, as they are on Unix, but incorporated in the core interpreter or built as plugin modules.
Grammar: The Python grammar. Included for reference only, you cannot build the parser on a Mac.
Include: Machine-independent header files.
Modules: Machine-independent optional modules. Not all of these will work on the Mac.
Objects: Machine-independent code for various objects. Most of these are not really optional: the interpreter will not function without them.
Parser: The Python parser (machine-independent).
PlugIns: This is where you build the PPC and CFM68K dynamically-loaded plugin modules.
Python: The core interpreter. Most files are machine-independent, some are unix-specific and not used on the Mac.
Tools: Tools for python developers. Contains modulator which builds skeleton C extension modules and bgen which generates complete interface modules from information in C header files. There are some readme files, but more documentation is sorely needed.

All the mac-specific stuff lives in the Mac folder:

Compat: Unix-compatability routines. Some of these are not used anymore, since CWGUSI provides a rather complete emulation, but you may need these if you are trying to build a non-GUSI python.
Demo: Mac-specific demo programs, some of them annotated.
Include: Mac-specific but compiler-independent include files.
Lib: Mac-specific standard modules. The toolbox folder contains modules specifically needed with various MacOS toolbox interface modules.
Modules: Mac-specific builtin modules. Theoretically these are all optional, but some are rather essential (like macmodule). A lot of these modules are generated with bgen, in which case the bgen input files are included so you can attempt to regenerate them or extend them.
MPW: MPW-specific files. These have not been used or kept up-to-date for a long time, so use at your own risk.
mwerks: Mwerks-specific sources and headers. Contains glue code for Pythons shared-library architecture, a replacement for malloc and a directory with various projects for building variations on the Python interpreter. The mwerks_*.h files here are the option-setting files for the various interpreters and such, comparable to the unix command-line -D options to the compiler. Each project uses the correct option file as its "prefix file" in the "C/C++ language" settings. Disabling optional modules (for the 68K interpreter), building non-GUSI interpreters and various other things are accomplished by modifying these files (and possibly changing the list of files included in the project window, of course).
Python: Mac-specific parts of the core interpreter.
Resources: Resource files needed to build the interpreter.
Scripts: A collection of various mac-specific Python scripts. Some are essential, some are useful but few are documented, so you will have to use your imagination to work them out.
Unsupported: Modules that are not supported any longer but may still work with a little effort.

Building the 68K interpreter

If you have all the optional libraries mentioned above loaded buildin Python for 68K macs is a breeze: open the project in the folder build.mac68k.stand and build it. Do not run it yet, this will possibly result in a garbled preferences file.

First remove the Python preferences file from your preference folder, only if you had an older version of Python installed. (this is also what you do if you did not heed the last sentence of the preceeding paragraph). Next, move the interpreter to the main Python folder (up one level) and run it there. This will create a correct initial preferences file. You are now all set, and your tree should be completely compatible with a binary-only distribution. Read the release notes (Relnotes-somethingorother) and ReadMeOrSuffer in the Mac folder.

Building the CFM68K interpreter

Building the CFM68K interpreter is as almost exactly the same as building the PPC interpreter, with the exception that you should read "CFM68K" for "PPC" every time. Continue reading with the next section.

Building the PPC interpreter

First you build the interpreter, core library and applet skeleton in folder build.macppc.stand. The order to build things is the following:

MWRuntimeStaticLib: A modified version of the MetroWerks runtime library that is suitable for Pythons' shared library architecture. The sources all come from the MW distribution.
PythonCorePPC: The shared library that contains the bulk of the interpreter and its resources. It is a good idea to immedeately put an alias to this shared library in the Extensions folder of your system folder. Do exactly that: put an alias there, copying or moving the file will cause you grief later.
PythonPPC: The interpreter. This is basically a routine to call out to the shared library. Because of the organization of GUSI it also contains the Gusi settings resource (together with a ResEdit template, so you can change the gusi settings should you feel like doing so). Do not run it yet, this will possibly result in a garbled preferences file.
PythonApplet: The applet skeleton application. Very similar to PythonPPC, but it calls to a different entrypoint in the core library. The mkapplet script will copy this complete file, and add a 'PYC ' with the module to generate an applet.

After creating the alias to PythonCore you should move PythonPPC to the main Python folder. Next you remove any old Python Preferences file from the Preferences folder (if you had python installed on your system before) and run the interpreter once to create the correct preferences file. You should also make an alias to PythonApplet in the main Python folder. (again: making an alias is preferrable to copying or moving the file, since this will cause the correct file to be used if you ever rebuild PythonApplet).

Next, you have to build the extension modules in the PlugIns folder. Open each project with .ppc in the name and build it. After all the dynamically loaded modules are built you have to create a number of aliases: some modules live together in a single dynamic library. Run the MkPluginAliases.py script from Mac:scripts to create the aliases.

Finally, you must build the standard applets: EditPythonPrefs, mkapplet, etc. This is easiest done with the fullbuild script from Mac:scripts. Answer no to all questions except when it asks whether to build the applets.

Actually, the fullbuild script can be used to build everything, but you need a fully-functional interpreter before you can use it (and one that isn't rebuilt in the process: you cannot rebuild a running program). You could copy the 68K interpreter to a different place and use that to run fullbuild, or use the standalone PPC python for this. I tend to keep a standalone interpreter in a safe place for this use only.

You are all set now, and should read the release notes and ReadMeOrSuffer file from the Mac folder.

Rebuilding `.exp` files for PPC and CFM68K

Occasionally it may be necessary to rebuild your PythonCore .exp file, a file that controls which symbols are exported by your PythonCore shared library. Rebuild it if you get unexpected undefined symbols when you are building a plugin module.

Rebuilding the .exp file is done by first removing the file and removing the reference to it in the project (in the "config" section). Next, build PythonCore. This will create a new .exp file. Edit this file to remove the references to the symbols __initialize, __terminate, setjmp, longjmp and __ptmf_null. Next, add the .exp file to the project again and rebuild PythonCore.

This rather convoluted procedure is needed to ensure that plugin modules don't accidentally link with those entrypoints from PythonCore, which will not work because those routines have to be in the same code fragment as they are used from.

Odds and ends

Some remarks that I could not fit in elsewhere:

It may be possible to use the PythonCore shared library to embed Python in another program, if your program can live with using GUSI for I/O. Use PythonCore in stead of your C library (or, at the very least, link it before the normal C library). Let me know whether this works.
It is possible to build PPC extension modules without building a complete Python. Take the binary distribution, add folders Include, Mac:Include and Mac:mwerks from the source distribution and you should be all set. A template for a dynamic module can be found in xx.ppc.ľ or xx.CFM68K.ľ.
The Python shared library architecture is a variant of the architecture described as "application with shared libraries and dropins" in the MetroWerks "Targeting MacOS" documentation. The Python Application and applet-template use the AppRuntime.Lib runtime library (with properly set CFM initialization and termination routines). PythonCore uses ShlibRuntime.Lib and MWRuntimeStaticLib.Lib, which is almost identical to the MW standard MWRuntimeLib, but not dynamically loaded. This library contains the part of the runtime that can (or must) be shared between all modules in the program. It is linked statically into PythonCore (and exported to the applications and plugins) so we do not have to distribute yet another shared library. Plugin modules use ShlibRuntime.Lib and obtain the rest from PythonCore. PythonCore uses a non-standard initialization entry point, __initialize_with_resources, to be able to obtain resources from the library file lateron. Plugins can do the same or use the standard __initialize entry point.