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diff --git a/doc/html/introduction.html b/doc/html/introduction.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c952bf7 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/html/introduction.html @@ -0,0 +1,239 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> + + <title>Introduction — SIP 4.10.5 Reference Guide</title> + <link rel="stylesheet" href="_static/default.css" type="text/css" /> + <link rel="stylesheet" href="_static/pygments.css" type="text/css" /> + <script type="text/javascript"> + var DOCUMENTATION_OPTIONS = { + URL_ROOT: '#', + VERSION: '4.10.5', + COLLAPSE_MODINDEX: false, + FILE_SUFFIX: '.html', + HAS_SOURCE: true + }; + </script> + <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/jquery.js"></script> + <script type="text/javascript" src="_static/doctools.js"></script> + <link rel="top" title="SIP 4.10.5 Reference Guide" href="index.html" /> + <link rel="next" title="Potential Incompatibilities with Earlier Versions" href="incompatibilities.html" /> + <link rel="prev" title="SIP Reference Guide" href="index.html" /> + </head> + <body> + <div class="related"> + <h3>Navigation</h3> + <ul> + <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px"> + <a href="genindex.html" title="General Index" + accesskey="I">index</a></li> + <li class="right" > + <a href="modindex.html" title="Global Module Index" + accesskey="M">modules</a> |</li> + <li class="right" > + <a href="incompatibilities.html" title="Potential Incompatibilities with Earlier Versions" + accesskey="N">next</a> |</li> + <li class="right" > + <a href="index.html" title="SIP Reference Guide" + accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li> + <li><a href="index.html">SIP 4.10.5 Reference Guide</a> »</li> + </ul> + </div> + + <div class="document"> + <div class="documentwrapper"> + <div class="bodywrapper"> + <div class="body"> + + <div class="section" id="introduction"> +<h1>Introduction<a class="headerlink" href="#introduction" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1> +<p>This is the reference guide for SIP 4.10.5. SIP is a tool for +automatically generating <a class="reference external" href="http://www.python.org">Python</a> bindings for C and +C++ libraries. SIP was originally developed in 1998 for +<a class="reference external" href="http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/pyqt">PyQt</a> - the Python +bindings for the Qt GUI toolkit - but is suitable for generating bindings for +any C or C++ library.</p> +<p>This version of SIP generates bindings for Python v2.3 or later, including +Python v3.</p> +<p>There are many other similar tools available. One of the original such tools +is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.swig.org">SWIG</a> and, in fact, SIP is so called because it +started out as a small SWIG. Unlike SWIG, SIP is specifically designed for +bringing together Python and C/C++ and goes to great lengths to make the +integration as tight as possible.</p> +<p>The homepage for SIP is <a class="reference external" href="http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/sip">http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/sip</a>. Here +you will always find the latest stable version and the latest version of this +documentation.</p> +<p>SIP can also be downloaded from the +<a class="reference external" href="http://mercurial.selenic.com/">Mercurial</a> repository at +<a class="reference external" href="http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/hg/sip">http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/hg/sip</a>.</p> +<div class="section" id="license"> +<h2>License<a class="headerlink" href="#license" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> +<p>SIP is licensed under similar terms as Python itself. SIP is also licensed +under the GPL (both v2 and v3). It is your choice as to which license you +use. If you choose the GPL then any bindings you create must be distributed +under the terms of the GPL.</p> +</div> +<div class="section" id="features"> +<h2>Features<a class="headerlink" href="#features" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> +<p>SIP, and the bindings it produces, have the following features:</p> +<ul class="simple"> +<li>bindings are fast to load and minimise memory consumption especially when +only a small sub-set of a large library is being used</li> +<li>automatic conversion between standard Python and C/C++ data types</li> +<li>overloading of functions and methods with different argument signatures</li> +<li>support for Python’s keyword argument syntax</li> +<li>support for both explicitly specified and automatically generated docstrings</li> +<li>access to a C++ class’s protected methods</li> +<li>the ability to define a Python class that is a sub-class of a C++ class, +including abstract C++ classes</li> +<li>Python sub-classes can implement the <tt class="xref docutils literal"><span class="pre">__dtor__()</span></tt> method which will be +called from the C++ class’s virtual destructor</li> +<li>support for ordinary C++ functions, class methods, static class methods, +virtual class methods and abstract class methods</li> +<li>the ability to re-implement C++ virtual and abstract methods in Python</li> +<li>support for global and class variables</li> +<li>support for global and class operators</li> +<li>support for C++ namespaces</li> +<li>support for C++ templates</li> +<li>support for C++ exceptions and wrapping them as Python exceptions</li> +<li>the automatic generation of complementary rich comparison slots</li> +<li>support for deprecation warnings</li> +<li>the ability to define mappings between C++ classes and similar Python data +types that are automatically invoked</li> +<li>the ability to automatically exploit any available run time type information +to ensure that the class of a Python instance object matches the class of the +corresponding C++ instance</li> +<li>the ability to change the type and meta-type of the Python object used to +wrap a C/C++ data type</li> +<li>full support of the Python global interpreter lock, including the ability to +specify that a C++ function of method may block, therefore allowing the lock +to be released and other Python threads to run</li> +<li>support for consolidated modules where the generated wrapper code for a +number of related modules may be included in a single, possibly private, +module</li> +<li>support for the concept of ownership of a C++ instance (i.e. what part of the +code is responsible for calling the instance’s destructor) and how the +ownership may change during the execution of an application</li> +<li>the ability to generate bindings for a C++ class library that itself is built +on another C++ class library which also has had bindings generated so that +the different bindings integrate and share code properly</li> +<li>a sophisticated versioning system that allows the full lifetime of a C++ +class library, including any platform specific or optional features, to be +described in a single set of specification files</li> +<li>the ability to include documentation in the specification files which can be +extracted and subsequently processed by external tools</li> +<li>the ability to include copyright notices and licensing information in the +specification files that is automatically included in all generated source +code</li> +<li>a build system, written in Python, that you can extend to configure, compile +and install your own bindings without worrying about platform specific issues</li> +<li>support for building your extensions using distutils</li> +<li>SIP, and the bindings it produces, runs under UNIX, Linux, Windows and +MacOS/X</li> +</ul> +</div> +<div class="section" id="sip-components"> +<h2>SIP Components<a class="headerlink" href="#sip-components" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> +<p>SIP comprises a number of different components.</p> +<ul class="simple"> +<li>The SIP code generator (<strong>sip</strong>). This processes <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">.sip</span></tt> +specification files and generates C or C++ bindings. It is covered in detail +in <a class="reference external" href="using.html#ref-using"><em>Using SIP</em></a>.</li> +<li>The SIP header file (<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sip.h</span></tt>). This contains definitions and data +structures needed by the generated C and C++ code.</li> +<li>The SIP module (<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sip.so</span></tt> or <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sip.pyd</span></tt>). This is a Python +extension module that is imported automatically by SIP generated bindings and +provides them with some common utility functions. See also +<a class="reference external" href="python_api.html#ref-python-api"><em>Python API for Applications</em></a>.</li> +<li>The SIP build system (<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sipconfig.py</span></tt>). This is a pure Python module +that is created when SIP is configured and encapsulates all the necessary +information about your system including relevant directory names, compiler +and linker flags, and version numbers. It also includes several Python +classes and functions which help you write configuration scripts for your own +bindings. It is covered in detail in <a class="reference external" href="build_system.html#ref-build-system"><em>The Build System</em></a>.</li> +<li>The SIP distutils extension (<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">sipdistutils.py</span></tt>). This is a distutils +extension that can be used to build your extension modules using distutils +and is an alternative to writing configuration scripts with the SIP build +system. This can be as simple as adding your .sip files to the list of files +needed to build the extension module. It is covered in detail in +<a class="reference external" href="distutils.html#ref-distutils"><em>Building Your Extension with distutils</em></a>.</li> +</ul> +</div> +<div class="section" id="qt-support"> +<h2>Qt Support<a class="headerlink" href="#qt-support" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> +<p>SIP has specific support for the creation of bindings based on Nokia’s Qt +toolkit.</p> +<p>The SIP code generator understands the signal/slot type safe callback mechanism +that Qt uses to connect objects together. This allows applications to define +new Python signals, and allows any Python callable object to be used as a slot.</p> +<p>SIP itself does not require Qt to be installed.</p> +</div> +</div> + + + </div> + </div> + </div> + <div class="sphinxsidebar"> + <div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper"> + <h3><a href="index.html">Table Of Contents</a></h3> + <ul> +<li><a class="reference external" href="#">Introduction</a><ul> +<li><a class="reference external" href="#license">License</a></li> +<li><a class="reference external" href="#features">Features</a></li> +<li><a class="reference external" href="#sip-components">SIP Components</a></li> +<li><a class="reference external" href="#qt-support">Qt Support</a></li> +</ul> +</li> +</ul> + + <h4>Previous topic</h4> + <p class="topless"><a href="index.html" + title="previous chapter">SIP Reference Guide</a></p> + <h4>Next topic</h4> + <p class="topless"><a href="incompatibilities.html" + title="next chapter">Potential Incompatibilities with Earlier Versions</a></p> + <div id="searchbox" style="display: none"> + <h3>Quick search</h3> + <form class="search" action="search.html" method="get"> + <input type="text" name="q" size="18" /> + <input type="submit" value="Go" /> + <input type="hidden" name="check_keywords" value="yes" /> + <input type="hidden" name="area" value="default" /> + </form> + <p class="searchtip" style="font-size: 90%"> + Enter search terms or a module, class or function name. + </p> + </div> + <script type="text/javascript">$('#searchbox').show(0);</script> + </div> + </div> + <div class="clearer"></div> + </div> + <div class="related"> + <h3>Navigation</h3> + <ul> + <li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px"> + <a href="genindex.html" title="General Index" + >index</a></li> + <li class="right" > + <a href="modindex.html" title="Global Module Index" + >modules</a> |</li> + <li class="right" > + <a href="incompatibilities.html" title="Potential Incompatibilities with Earlier Versions" + >next</a> |</li> + <li class="right" > + <a href="index.html" title="SIP Reference Guide" + >previous</a> |</li> + <li><a href="index.html">SIP 4.10.5 Reference Guide</a> »</li> + </ul> + </div> + <div class="footer"> + © Copyright 2010 Riverbank Computing Limited. + Created using <a href="http://sphinx.pocoo.org/">Sphinx</a> 0.6.4. + </div> + </body> +</html>
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