164 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
164 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
============
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MacOSX Notes
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============
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This document provides a quick overview of some Mac OS X specific features in
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the Python distribution.
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Building and using a universal binary of Python on Mac OS X
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===========================================================
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1. What is a universal binary
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-----------------------------
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A universal binary build of Python contains object code for both PPC and i386
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and can therefore run at native speed on both classic powerpc based macs and
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the newer intel based macs.
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2. How do I build a universal binary
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------------------------------------
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You can enable universal binaries by specifying the "--enable-universalsdk"
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flag to configure::
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$ ./configure --enable-universalsdk
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$ make
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$ make install
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This flag can be used a framework build of python, but also with a classic
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unix build. Either way you will have to build python on Mac OS X 10.4 (or later)
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with Xcode 2.1 (or later). You also have to install the 10.4u SDK when
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installing Xcode.
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Building and using a framework-based Python on Mac OS X.
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========================================================
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1. Why would I want a framework Python instead of a normal static Python?
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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The main reason is because you want to create GUI programs in Python. With the
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exception of X11/XDarwin-based GUI toolkits all GUI programs need to be run
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from a fullblown MacOSX application (a ".app" bundle).
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While it is technically possible to create a .app without using frameworks you
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will have to do the work yourself if you really want this.
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A second reason for using frameworks is that they put Python-related items in
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only two places: "/Library/Framework/Python.framework" and
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"/Applications/MacPython 2.6". This simplifies matters for users installing
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Python from a binary distribution if they want to get rid of it again. Moreover,
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due to the way frameworks work a user without admin privileges can install a
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binary distribution in his or her home directory without recompilation.
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2. How does a framework Python differ from a normal static Python?
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------------------------------------------------------------------
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In everyday use there is no difference, except that things are stored in
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a different place. If you look in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework
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you will see lots of relative symlinks, see the Apple documentation for
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details. If you are used to a normal unix Python file layout go down to
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Versions/Current and you will see the familiar bin and lib directories.
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3. Do I need extra packages?
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----------------------------
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Yes, probably. If you want Tkinter support you need to get the OSX AquaTk
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distribution, this is installed by default on Mac OS X 10.4 or later. If
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you want wxPython you need to get that. If you want Cocoa you need to get
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PyObjC.
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4. How do I build a framework Python?
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-------------------------------------
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This directory contains a Makefile that will create a couple of python-related
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applications (fullblown OSX .app applications, that is) in
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"/Applications/MacPython 2.6", and a hidden helper application Python.app
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inside the Python.framework, and unix tools "python" and "pythonw" into
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/usr/local/bin. In addition it has a target "installmacsubtree" that installs
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the relevant portions of the Mac subtree into the Python.framework.
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It is normally invoked indirectly through the main Makefile, as the last step
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in the sequence
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1. ./configure --enable-framework
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2. make
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3. make install
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This sequence will put the framework in /Library/Framework/Python.framework,
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the applications in "/Applications/MacPython 2.6" and the unix tools in
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/usr/local/bin.
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Installing in another place, for instance $HOME/Library/Frameworks if you have
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no admin privileges on your machine, has only been tested very lightly. This
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can be done by configuring with --enable-framework=$HOME/Library/Frameworks.
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The other two directories, "/Applications/MacPython-2.6" and /usr/local/bin,
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will then also be deposited in $HOME. This is sub-optimal for the unix tools,
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which you would want in $HOME/bin, but there is no easy way to fix this right
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now.
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If you want to install some part, but not all, read the main Makefile. The
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frameworkinstall is composed of a couple of sub-targets that install the
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framework itself, the Mac subtree, the applications and the unix tools.
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There is an extra target frameworkinstallextras that is not part of the
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normal frameworkinstall which installs the Demo and Tools directories
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into "/Applications/MacPython 2.6", this is useful for binary distributions.
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What do all these programs do?
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===============================
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"IDLE.app" is an integrated development environment for Python: editor,
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debugger, etc.
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"PythonLauncher.app" is a helper application that will handle things when you
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double-click a .py, .pyc or .pyw file. For the first two it creates a Terminal
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window and runs the scripts with the normal command-line Python. For the
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latter it runs the script in the Python.app interpreter so the script can do
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GUI-things. Keep the "alt" key depressed while dragging or double-clicking a
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script to set runtime options. These options can be set once and for all
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through PythonLauncher's preferences dialog.
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"BuildApplet.app" creates an applet from a Python script. Drop the script on it
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and out comes a full-featured MacOS application. There is much more to this,
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to be supplied later. Some useful (but outdated) info can be found in
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Mac/Demo.
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The commandline scripts /usr/local/bin/python and pythonw can be used to run
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non-GUI and GUI python scripts from the command line, respectively.
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How do I create a binary distribution?
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======================================
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Go to the directory "Mac/OSX/BuildScript". There you'll find a script
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"build-installer.py" that does all the work. This will download and build
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a number of 3th-party libaries, configures and builds a framework Python,
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installs it, creates the installer pacakge files and then packs this in a
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DMG image.
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The script will build a universal binary, you'll therefore have to run this
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script on Mac OS X 10.4 or later and with Xcode 2.1 or later installed.
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All of this is normally done completely isolated in /tmp/_py, so it does not
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use your normal build directory nor does it install into /.
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Because of the way the script locates the files it needs you have to run it
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from within the BuildScript directory. The script accepts a number of
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command-line arguments, run it with --help for more information.
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Odds and ends
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=============
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Something to take note of is that the ".rsrc" files in the distribution are
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not actually resource files, they're AppleSingle encoded resource files. The
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macresource module and the Mac/OSX/Makefile cater for this, and create
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".rsrc.df.rsrc" files on the fly that are normal datafork-based resource
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files.
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Jack Jansen, Jack.Jansen@cwi.nl, 15-Jul-2004.
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Ronald Oussoren, RonaldOussoren@mac.com, 26-May-2006
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