🌐 Mailman 3 September 2007 - Pythonmac-SIG - python.org

relocatable Python framework?
by Boyd Waters Sept. 19, 2007

Sept. 19, 2007

Hello all! I maintain a scientific data-analysis application that my team has ported to the Macintosh. It's a bunch of C++ strung together with Python, and so far that's worked really well. I want to package this collection of C++ and Python into a Macintosh application. And I want the Python framework to go inside the application. We'd start via a shell script that calls the Python inside our application package. I've got all the other frameworks and libs set up as relocatable objects. But Python is not playing along. Maybe the user will drag our app bundle to /Applications, but maybe not. I can't know where everything is until run-time. How to I ship the Python framework as a relocatable package inside our application? Thanks! - boyd Boyd Waters programmer national radio astronomy observatory http://www.aoc.nrao.edu/~bwaters

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Workaround: XCode fails to see py2app
by Wolfram Eifler Sept. 18, 2007

Sept. 18, 2007

The Problem: ------------ Building an python-project from xcode results in: ImportError: No module named py2app ImportError: No module named py2app maybe it arises only if more than one python-version are (or have been) installed on the mac where the building takes place. maybe only in combination with installs of PyObjC with the dmg-installers. I had not the possibility to verify these to assumptions. there has been the proposal to change the first line of setup.py from #!/usr/bin/env python to #!<insert absolute path of your python-interpreter> somwhere on the internet. That works but is ---- *BAD* !!!! Programming Style ----. I stumbled about the fact that the build worked when using the teminal - even if i used exactly the same Command and options, which xcode does. The Difference turned out to be the search-path of the user. My shell-environment has the location of python in it. So instead of crunching the code of every setup.py i wrote a shell- snippet named xcode-pyhelper.sh as follows: -------------script begins ---------- #!/bin/sh PATH="/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/Current/bin:${PATH}" /usr/bin/env python $* -------------script ends ---------- i put it in my home-directory /Users/my_username/bin/xcode-pyhelper.sh and changed the project-build-preferences in xcode (while project is open) via project -> Edit active Target (window pops up, containing the string /usr/bin/env in the field Build-Tool) changed the Build-Tool to my brandnew threeline-script /Users/my_username/bin/xcode-pyhelper.sh Build works. This method is ugly too, but at least i do not need to coding-style that securely would fail on all non-mac Platforms (Or does anybody else install python in *that* location... ?). :) adagio

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design questions: new hierarchy/tree class?
by Henning Hraban Ramm Sept. 16, 2007

Sept. 16, 2007

Dear gang, I don't want to re-invent the wheel, but I couldn't find what I intend to write... Everyone needs classes for hierarchical data - e.g. for directory trees but also for GUI menu hierarchies or GUI TreeControls - and sometimes you've to generate some GUI tree from a dir tree, which itself can be local or remote (e.g. FTP). Further I need to derive trees from data in some SQL database. Thus I look for a general solution for hierarchical objects. Please discuss and hint if there are ready solutions that I could adapt. [Use case #1: CD cover generator for backups] The cover of a backup CD (for internal archive or for a customer) should depict a tree of some of the contents - read in the file system of a CD/DVD - display it in a wx tree view (the user decides which directories to expand) - generate graphical output format (e.g. TeX, EPS, SVG) [Use case #2: menu for a website] The menu should be changable online for the site admin. - read data from MySQL via a django model - present it as HTML [Use case #3: virtual directory on a website] Users should get a look at some FTP directories that they can't access directly, the view depends from their permissions. - read a FTP tree - cache it in a database - present it filtered as HTML [TREE ITEM CLASS] My approach would be to put most logic in the tree item like this: class TreeItem(object): parent = None # reference or None for root children = [] # list defines order id = None # simply integer ids? Is it enough to define the neighbours of objects through their order in their parent's children? I'd prefer if the item only knows its parent and its children, but doesn't store its absolute path (position in the hierarchy) to simplify reordering - if you move a directory, you would only change the parent reference and the parents' childrens list, not every single entry. I don't care about arbitrary objects in the tree; I'd simply derive several specialized types for my use cases from a base class. Or do you think that a mixin or decorator approach would be better? (Never did that yet.) [TREE CLASS] For initialization I'd like to hand some URI to the tree like those: MUST: file:///Users/user/Documents/workspace --> directory tree ftp://user:password@ftp.domain.tld/mypath --> ftpTree directory tree mysql://user:password@localhost/database/table?id=123 --> tree from linked database rows sqlite:///path/to/database/file.ext/table?name=this --> like mysql MORE IDEAS: wxglade://myapp.xml/anything --> get GUI objects hierarchy wxmenu://application/ --> grab menu tree from app somehow? http://www.domain.tld/index.html --> tree of linked html documents (?) (In the case of HTML documents we'd need to specify if we want the inner structure or a sitemap, but that's not my first concern ;-) The tree object would decide which Item type to choose depending on the service declaration - so one could simply plug in another service handler for a new item type. For those URIs I need a general URI parser; urlparse can't do that; see also http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2005-November/058359.html (Mike Brown said he implemented that in 4Suite's Ft.Lib.Uri; didn't look at that yet.) It should be easy to convert such a tree to XML (pickle everything that doesn't fit else...) and then you could use XQuery on it - so I need not to implement an own query syntax. Conversion to nested dicts and JSON should be as easy. I'd be glad about some useful hints! Greetlings, Hraban

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warning: newbie ahead
by Paul Archibald Sept. 15, 2007

Sept. 15, 2007

Greeting Comrades, I am a (Mac) C++/Java programmer looking to expand myself into Python. I have been working through some tutorials, which has made me want more, but I am having trouble understanding how to organize and manage the project files that I write or otherwise obtain. What I am looking for is how to manage my PDE (Python Development Environment) and project file so that I can write real programs, saving, loading and executing, importing modules and calling functions from various modules that I have written or otherwise obtained. I have grabbed some code from various places on the web, but I don't know where to put the files so that I an use them, except for opening them in the editor and executing them, which is nice but does not let me build real programs. So, if you are building a program, where do you keep your sourcecode for that progam, and how does Python know how to find it, and how do you "link" modules together to make bigger programs? There is a little info on configuration in the Mac Modules tutorial, but it I still have some problems with .py scripts that seem to execute okay but from which I cannot import any methods. I am using IDLE w/Python 2.5, which does not have the "set scripts folder" command like MacPython 2.4. Sorry this is a newbie question, but heck, I'm newbie! And I work alone, so I have nobody to ask or even look over the shoulder of to see how its all set up. Thanks, Paul

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Which python version is supported by PyObjC?
by Seungchan Oh Sept. 14, 2007

Sept. 14, 2007

Hello, As the title say, which Python version is supported by latest PyObjC? TIA SC

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Re: [Pythonmac-SIG] py-appscript changes to filtering?
by has Sept. 10, 2007

Sept. 10, 2007

Nicholas Riley wrote: > I ran into a bug with py-appscript 0.17.2 (handling apps that had quit > while you still had a reference to them) and updated to the current > trunk. This fixed this problem but broke some of my other code. This > code: > > systemEvents = app(id='com.apple.systemEvents') > frontName = systemEvents.processes[its.frontmost][1].name() > > which worked fine with 0.17.2 doesn't work any more. [...] > > It works if I use [its.frontmost == True], but that's kind of ugly. > Is this intentional? It's deliberate. From aem's History.txt: - byfilter method no longer accepts non-test specifiers as test clauses. Previously, a reference such as 'its.visible' would automatically be expanded to the comparison test 'its.visible.eq (true)' as a convenience. However, this shortcut didn't apply when these non-test references appeared as arguments to the AND and OR logical test methods, which meant that this shortcut behaviour was inconsistent and potentially confusing; therefore it has been removed. Users should update existing code as necessary. While the automatic expansion was nice, leaving it as-was would go against appscript's policy of providing added user convenience only as long as it doesn't impact consistency/reliability, and adding it to AND and OR methods would have been tricky due to the way that appscript and aem interact. So it got yanked. Bit of a pity, but can't be helped. BTW, note that there's a few minor but non-backwards-compatibile API changes happening for 0.18.0. (I know I declared the API finalised in 0.17.0, but that was mostly in case Apple decided to use appscript in Leopard and once they didn't I decided to clean up some remaining warts. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience this may cause, etc.) See the aem and appscript History.txt files for details. HTH has -- http://appscript.sourceforge.net http://rb-appscript.rubyforge.org

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python mailer
by Nehemiah Dacres Sept. 8, 2007

Sept. 8, 2007

I've read info about python mailer programs like a python mailer daemon for sending mail and a python mail app for downloading it. can anyone give me any personal openion on these. I want to make a terminal analog to Thunderbird/Mail.app/Outlook so i dont have to run them as the memory hoggs they are. If it doesn't exist i will probiblly write one. -- "lalalalala! it's not broken because I can use it" http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=194281&threshold=1&commentsort=0&…

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py-appscript changes to filtering?
by Nicholas Riley Sept. 8, 2007

Sept. 8, 2007

Hi, I ran into a bug with py-appscript 0.17.2 (handling apps that had quit while you still had a reference to them) and updated to the current trunk. This fixed this problem but broke some of my other code. This code: systemEvents = app(id='com.apple.systemEvents') frontName = systemEvents.processes[its.frontmost][1].name() which worked fine with 0.17.2 doesn't work any more. I get: File "/Library/Python/2.3/site-packages/appscript-0.18.0-py2.3-macosx-10.4-ppc.egg/appscript/reference.py", line 457, in __getitem__ return Reference(self.AS_appdata, self.AS_aemreference.byfilter( File "/Library/Python/2.3/site-packages/appscript-0.18.0-py2.3-macosx-10.4-ppc.egg/aem/types/objectspecifiers/specifier.py", line 385, in byfilter return ElementsByFilter(self.AEM_want, self, expression) File "/Library/Python/2.3/site-packages/appscript-0.18.0-py2.3-macosx-10.4-ppc.egg/aem/types/objectspecifiers/specifier.py", line 425, in __init__ raise TypeError, 'Not a test specifier: %r' % key TypeError: Not a test specifier: its.property('pisf') It works if I use [its.frontmost == True], but that's kind of ugly. Is this intentional? Thanks, -- Nicholas Riley <njriley(a)uiuc.edu> | <http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/njriley>

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Re: [Pythonmac-SIG] Python/appscript ready for primetime?
by has Sept. 5, 2007

Sept. 5, 2007

Karl Sweitzer wrote: > Is Python's appscript suitable and sufficiently mature for > deployment in a commercial application? For Apple event IPC, yes. Py-appscript has been around since 2003 and provides the same level of functionality as AppleScript and virtually [1] the same level of application compatibility. If you also need OSA attachability support (which allows you to attach scripts to applications that support it, e.g. Mail rules, folder actions), AppleScript remains the most dependable option here. There is a PyOSA component on the appscript site that's usable with care, but it's not yet mature enough for deploying in the wild. > With the demise of VBA in Microsoft Office, we are faced with > transitioning scripts that manipulate equations in Office and > manage the interoperation of our application with Office. > AppleScript is an obvious candidate, but coyote ugly in the eyes of > many developers, including us. We are looking for viable alternatives. AppleScript is the benchmark by which other Apple event bridges are best measured (even if the language sucks in other respects), since that's what application developers generally develop and test against. Of the third-party alternatives, appscript is by far the best candidate. The Python and Ruby versions are quite mature; the ObjC version still needs a bit of work (I just need to make some time for it) though is already pretty usable. > Python, augmented by appscript to access the Word Object Model, is > the best candidate we've identified thus far. However, we have > negligible experience with Python and zero experience with appscript. For general advice on Python, best place to ask is comp.lang.python. For Mac-specific advice, including questions on appscript, ask here. For Mac Office advice, probably best to start with the microsoft.public.mac.office.* newsgroups. Best person to speak to about Office scripting is Paul Berkowitz, author of MacTech's VBA-to- AppleScript transition guide which you'll no doubt want to read if you've not already done so. Another person you might want to speak to is Matt Neuburg, author of "AppleScript: The Definitive Guide" (which I'd recommend buying if you need to learn AppleScript). And I'll be happy to provide advice on AppleScript and appscript, of course. > Further, we note that appscript has not reached version 1.0. Sub-1.0 version numbers are pretty common in OSS, and don't tell you much about a project's functionality/reliability/stability/maturity. The core appscript modules (CarbonX.AE, aem, appscript) have been pretty stable over the last couple years; one or two significant API shake-ups, but mainly just periodical bug fixes, feature enhancements and/or compatibility improvements. The Ruby version of appscript recently went beta, and I'm hoping to do the same with the Python version sometime before the year's end. BTW, I am planning some changes for the next release of py-appscript as part of the pre-beta tidy-up - ask if you want details - but nothing that'll stop you using it right now. There's also work to do on 64-bit compatibility (this is true of all Mac-specific Python extensions that need it, btw, including those in the standard library), which will happen sometime after Leopard's release once I can afford a new laptop. > Has anybody out there used Python and appscript for a commercial > product? I believe Omni are using Rails and rb-appscript to provide a web interface to their upcoming OmniFocus product, and there may be others I don't know about. > Are there other candidates we should be considering? Python/Ruby/ObjC appscript would be your best choice; as well as being the best third-party Apple event bridge, it also provides several very useful developer tools: - built-in help systems for exploring dictionaries and object models in interactive Python and Ruby interpreters (the osadict command-line tool bundled with py-appscript also provides access to most of this system, which is handy if you're using objc-appscript) - ASDictionary for exporting application dictionaries to HTML in AppleScript and Python/Ruby/ObjC appscript formats - ASTranslate for converting application commands from AppleScript to Python or Ruby appscript syntax. If you want a list of all the other available bridges then just let us know, although there aren't any I would recommend. HTH has [1] There may still be the odd as-yet undiscovered compatibility issue since there are a lot of quirky applications out there. I think I've dealt with 3 or 4 this year, though new reports are increasingly rare as appscript is pretty good these days at mimicking AppleScript's own undocumented quirks and general sloppiness. However, if you should discover any compatibility problems that don't exist in AppleScript then file a bug report and I'll fix them and/or provide a suitable workaround ASAP. -- http://appscript.sourceforge.net http://rb-appscript.rubyforge.org

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Python/appscript ready for primetime?
by Karl Sweitzer Sept. 5, 2007

Sept. 5, 2007

Is Python's appscript suitable and sufficiently mature for deployment in a commercial application? With the demise of VBA in Microsoft Office, we are faced with transitioning scripts that manipulate equations in Office and manage the interoperation of our application with Office. AppleScript is an obvious candidate, but coyote ugly in the eyes of many developers, including us. We are looking for viable alternatives. Python, augmented by appscript to access the Word Object Model, is the best candidate we've identified thus far. However, we have negligible experience with Python and zero experience with appscript. Further, we note that appscript has not reached version 1.0. Has anybody out there used Python and appscript for a commercial product? Does it deserve active consideration? Are there other candidates we should be considering? If you have an opinion--or better yet, experience in this area--we'd like to hear from you. Thanks. -- Karl Sweitzer

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