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The Build System

The purpose of the build system is to make it easy for you to write configuration scripts in Python for your own bindings. The build system takes care of the details of particular combinations of platform and compiler. It supports over 50 different platform/compiler combinations.

The build system is implemented as a pure Python module called sipconfig that contains a number of classes and functions. Using this module you can write bespoke configuration scripts (e.g. PyTQt’s configure.py) or use it with other Python based build systems (e.g. Distutils and SCons).

An important feature of SIP is the ability to generate bindings that are built on top of existing bindings. For example, both PyKDE and PyQwt are built on top of PyTQt but all three packages are maintained by different developers. To make this easier PyTQt includes its own configuration module, pyqtconfig, that contains additional classes intended to be used by the configuration scripts of bindings built on top of PyTQt. The SIP build system includes facilities that do a lot of the work of creating these additional configuration modules.

sipconfig.create_config_module(module, template, content[, macros=None])

This creates a configuration module (e.g. pyqtconfig) from a template file and a string.

Parameters:
  • module – the name of the configuration module file to create.
  • template – the name of the template file.
  • content – a string which replaces every occurence of the pattern @SIP_CONFIGURATION@ in the template file. The content string is usually created from a Python dictionary using sipconfig.create_content(). content may also be a dictionary, in which case sipconfig.create_content() is automatically called to convert it to a string.
  • macros – an optional dictionary of platform specific build macros. It is only used if sipconfig.create_content() is called automatically to convert a content dictionary to a string.
sipconfig.create_content(dict[, macros=None]) → string

This converts a Python dictionary to a string that can be parsed by the Python interpreter and converted back to an equivalent dictionary. It is typically used to generate the content string for sipconfig.create_config_module().

Parameters:
  • dict – the Python dictionary to convert.
  • macros – the optional dictionary of platform specific build macros.
Returns:

the string representation of the dictionary.
sipconfig.create_wrapper(script, wrapper[, gui=0[, use_arch='']]) → string

This creates a platform dependent executable wrapper around a Python script.

Parameters:
  • script – the full pathname of the script.
  • wrapper – the full pathname of the wrapper to create, excluding any platform specific extension.
  • gui – is non-zero if a GUI enabled version of the interpreter should be used on platforms that require it.
  • use_arch – is the MacOS/X architecture to invoke python with.
Returns:

the platform specific name of the wrapper.
sipconfig.error(msg)

This displays an error message on stderr and calls sys.exit(1).

Parameter:msg – the text of the message and should not include any newline characters.
sipconfig.format(msg[, leftmargin=0[, rightmargin=78]]) → string

This formats a message by inserting newline characters at appropriate places.

Parameters:
  • msg – the text of the message and should not include any newline characters.
  • leftmargin – the optional position of the left margin.
  • rightmargin – the optional position of the right margin.
Returns:

the formatted message.
sipconfig.inform(msg)

This displays an information message on stdout.

Parameter:msg – the text of the message and should not include any newline characters.
sipconfig.parse_build_macros(filename, names[, overrides=None[, properties=None]]) → dict

This parses a qmake compatible file of build system macros and converts it to a dictionary. A macro is a name/value pair. Individual macros may be augmented or replaced.

Parameters:
  • filename – the name of the file to parse.
  • names – the list of the macro names to extract from the file.
  • overrides – the optional list of macro names and values that modify those found in the file. They are of the form name=value (in which case the value replaces the value found in the file) or name+=value (in which case the value is appended to the value found in the file).
  • properties – the optional dictionary of property name and values that are used to resolve any expressions of the form $[name] in the file.
Returns:

the dictionary of parsed macros or None if any of the overrides were invalid.
sipconfig.read_version(filename, description[, numdefine=None[, strdefine=None]]) → integer, string

This extracts version information for a package from a file, usually a C or C++ header file. The version information must each be specified as a #define of a numeric (hexadecimal or decimal) value and/or a string value.

Parameters:
  • filename – the name of the file to read.
  • description – a descriptive name of the package used in error messages.
  • numdefine – the optional name of the #define of the version as a number. If it is None then the numeric version is ignored.
  • strdefine – the optional name of the #define of the version as a string. If it is None then the string version is ignored.
Returns:

a tuple of the numeric and string versions. sipconfig.error() is called if either were required but could not be found.
sipconfig.version_to_sip_tag(version, tags, description) → string

This converts a version number to a SIP version tag. SIP uses the %Timeline directive to define the chronology of the different versions of the C/C++ library being wrapped. Typically it is not necessary to define a version tag for every version of the library, but only for those versions that affect the library’s API as SIP sees it.

Parameters:
  • version – the numeric version number of the C/C++ library being wrapped. If it is negative then the latest version is assumed. (This is typically useful if a snapshot is indicated by a negative version number.)
  • tags – the dictionary of SIP version tags keyed by the corresponding C/C++ library version number. The tag used is the one with the smallest key (i.e. earliest version) that is greater than version.
  • description – a descriptive name of the C/C++ library used in error messages.
Returns:

the SIP version tag. sipconfig.error() is called if the C/C++ library version number did not correspond to a SIP version tag.
sipconfig.version_to_string(v) → string

This converts a 3 part version number encoded as a hexadecimal value to a string.

Parameter:v – the version number.
Returns:a string.
class sipconfig.Configuration

This class encapsulates configuration values that can be accessed as instance objects. A sub-class may provide a dictionary of additional configuration values in its constructor the elements of which will have precedence over the super-class’s values.

The following configuration values are provided:

default_bin_dir
The name of the directory where executables should be installed by default.
default_mod_dir
The name of the directory where SIP generated modules should be installed by default.
default_sip_dir
The name of the base directory where the .sip files for SIP generated modules should be installed by default. A sub-directory with the same name as the module should be created and its .sip files should be installed in the sub-directory. The .sip files only need to be installed if you might want to build other bindings based on them.
platform
The name of the platform/compiler for which the build system has been configured for.
py_conf_inc_dir
The name of the directory containing the pyconfig.h header file.
py_inc_dir
The name of the directory containing the Python.h header file.
py_lib_dir
The name of the directory containing the Python interpreter library.
py_version
The Python version as a 3 part hexadecimal number (e.g. v2.3.3 is represented as 0x020303).
sip_bin
The full pathname of the SIP executable.
sip_config_args
The command line passed to configure.py when SIP was configured.
sip_inc_dir
The name of the directory containing the sip.h header file.
sip_mod_dir
The name of the directory containing the SIP module.
sip_version
The SIP version as a 3 part hexadecimal number (e.g. v4.0.0 is represented as 0x040000).
sip_version_str
The SIP version as a string. For development snapshots it will start with snapshot-.
universal
The name of the MacOS/X SDK used when creating universal binaries.
arch
The space separated MacOS/X architectures to build.
__init__([sub_cfg=None])
Parameter:sub_cfg – an optional list of sub-class configurations. It should only be used by the __init__() method of a sub-class to append its own dictionary of configuration values before passing the list to its super-class.
build_macros() → dict

Get the dictionary of platform specific build macros.

Returns:the macros dictionary.
set_build_macros(macros)

Set the dictionary of platform specific build macros to be used when generating Makefiles. Normally there is no need to change the default macros.

Parameter:macros – the macros dictionary.
class sipconfig.Makefile

This class encapsulates a Makefile. It is intended to be sub-classed to generate Makefiles for particular purposes. It handles all platform and compiler specific flags, but allows them to be adjusted to suit the requirements of a particular module or program. These are defined using a number of macros which can be accessed as instance attributes.

The following instance attributes are provided to help in fine tuning the generated Makefile:

chkdir
A string that will check for the existence of a directory.
config
A reference to the configuration argument that was passed to Makefile.__init__().
console
A reference to the console argument that was passed to the Makefile.__init__().
copy
A string that will copy a file.
extra_cflags
A list of additional flags passed to the C compiler.
extra_cxxflags
A list of additional flags passed to the C++ compiler.
extra_defines
A list of additional macro names passed to the C/C++ preprocessor.
extra_include_dirs
A list of additional include directories passed to the C/C++ preprocessor.
extra_lflags
A list of additional flags passed to the linker.
extra_lib_dirs
A list of additional library directories passed to the linker.
extra_libs
A list of additional libraries passed to the linker. The names of the libraries must be in platform neutral form (i.e. without any platform specific prefixes, version numbers or extensions).
generator
A string that defines the platform specific style of Makefile. The only supported values are UNIX, MSVC, MSVC.NET, MINGW and BMAKE.
mkdir
A string that will create a directory.
rm
A string that will remove a file.
__init__(configuration[, console=0[, qt=0[, opengl=0[, python=0[, threaded=0[, warnings=None[, debug=0[, dir=None[, makefile="Makefile"[, installs=None[, universal=None[, arch=None]]]]]]]]]]]])
Parameters:
  • configuration – the current configuration and is an instance of the Configuration class or a sub-class.
  • console – is set if the target is a console (rather than GUI) target. This only affects Windows and is ignored on other platforms.
  • qt – is set if the target uses TQt. For TQt v4 a list of TQt libraries may be specified and a simple non-zero value implies TQtCore and TQtGui.
  • opengl – is set if the target uses OpenGL.
  • python – is set if the target uses Python.h.
  • threaded – is set if the target requires thread support. It is set automatically if the target uses TQt and TQt has thread support enabled.
  • warnings – is set if compiler warning messages should be enabled. The default of None means that warnings are enabled for SIP v4.x and disabled for SIP v3.x.
  • debug – is set if debugging symbols should be generated.
  • dir – the name of the directory where build files are read from (if they are not absolute file names) and Makefiles are written to. The default of None means the current directory is used.
  • makefile – the name of the generated Makefile.
  • installs – the list of extra install targets. Each element is a two part list, the first of which is the source and the second is the destination. If the source is another list then it is a list of source files and the destination is a directory.
  • universal – the name of the SDK if universal binaries are to be created under MacOS/X. If it is None then the value is taken from the configuration.
  • arch – the space separated MacOS/X architectures to build. If it is None then the value is taken from the configuration.
clean_build_file_objects(mfile, build)

This generates the Makefile commands that will remove any files generated during the build of the default target.

Parameters:
  • mfile – the Python file object of the Makefile.
  • build – the dictionary created from parsing the build file.
finalise()
This is called just before the Makefile is generated to ensure that it is fully configured. It must be reimplemented by a sub-class.
generate()
This generates the Makefile.
generate_macros_and_rules(mfile)

This is the default implementation of the Makefile macros and rules generation.

Parameter:mfile – the Python file object of the Makefile.
generate_target_clean(mfile)

This is the default implementation of the Makefile clean target generation.

Parameter:mfile – the Python file object of the Makefile.
generate_target_default(mfile)

This is the default implementation of the Makefile default target generation.

Parameter:mfile – the Python file object of the Makefile.
generate_target_install(mfile)

This is the default implementation of the Makefile install target generation.

Parameter:mfile – the Python file object of the Makefile.
install_file(mfile, src, dst[, strip=0])

This generates the Makefile commands to install one or more files to a directory.

Parameters:
  • mfile – the Python file object of the Makefile.
  • src – the name of a single file to install or a list of a number of files to install.
  • dst – the name of the destination directory.
  • strip – is set if the files should be stripped of unneeded symbols after having been installed.
optional_list(name) → list

This returns an optional Makefile macro as a list.

Parameter:name – the name of the macro.
Returns:the macro as a list.
optional_string(name[, default=""])

This returns an optional Makefile macro as a string.

Parameters:
  • name – the name of the macro.
  • default – the optional default value of the macro.
Returns:

the macro as a string.
parse_build_file(filename) → dict

This parses a build file (created with the -b SIP command line option) and converts it to a dictionary. It can also validate an existing dictionary created through other means.

Parameter:filename – is the name of the build file, or is a dictionary to be validated. A valid dictionary will contain the name of the target to build (excluding any platform specific extension) keyed by target; the names of all source files keyed by sources; and, optionally, the names of all header files keyed by headers.
Returns:a dictionary corresponding to the parsed build file.
platform_lib(clib[, framework=0]) → string

This converts a library name to a platform specific form.

Parameters:
  • clib – the name of the library in cannonical form.
  • framework – is set if the library is implemented as a MacOS framework.
Returns:

the platform specific name.
ready()
This is called to ensure that the Makefile is fully configured. It is normally called automatically when needed.
required_string(name) → string

This returns a required Makefile macro as a string.

Parameter:name – the name of the macro.
Returns:the macro as a string. An exception is raised if the macro does not exist or has an empty value.
class sipconfig.ModuleMakefile

This class is derived from sipconfig.Makefile.

This class encapsulates a Makefile to build a generic Python extension module.

__init__(self, configuration, build_file[, install_dir=None[, static=0[, console=0[, opengl=0[, threaded=0[, warnings=None[, debug=0[, dir=None[, makefile="Makefile"[, installs=None[, strip=1[, export_all=0[, universal=None[, arch=None]]]]]]]]]]]]]])
Parameters:
finalise()
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.finalise().
generate_macros_and_rules(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_macros_and_rules().
generate_target_clean(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_target_clean().
generate_target_default(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_target_default().
generate_target_install(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_target_install().
module_as_lib(mname) → string

This gets the name of a SIP v3.x module for when it is used as a library to be linked against. An exception will be raised if it is used with SIP v4.x modules.

Parameter:mname – the name of the module.
Returns:the corresponding library name.
class sipconfig.ParentMakefile

This class is derived from sipconfig.Makefile.

This class encapsulates a Makefile that sits above a number of other Makefiles in sub-directories.

__init__(self, configuration, subdirs[, dir=None[, makefile[, ="Makefile"[, installs=None]]]])
Parameters:
generate_macros_and_rules(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_macros_and_rules().
generate_target_clean(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_target_clean().
generate_target_default(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_target_default().
generate_target_install(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_target_install().
class sipconfig.ProgramMakefile

This class is derived from sipconfig.Makefile.

This class encapsulates a Makefile to build an executable program.

__init__(configuration[, build_file=None[, install_dir=None[, console=0[, qt=0[, opengl=0[, python=0[, threaded=0[, warnings=None[, debug=0[, dir=None[, makefile="Makefile"[, installs=None[, universal=None[, arch=None]]]]]]]]]]]]]])
Parameters:
build_command(source) → string, string

This creates a single command line that will create an executable program from a single source file.

Parameter:source – the name of the source file.
Returns:a tuple of the name of the executable that will be created and the command line.
finalise()
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.finalise().
generate_macros_and_rules(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_macros_and_rules().
generate_target_clean(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_target_clean().
generate_target_default(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_target_default().
generate_target_install(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_target_install().
class sipconfig.PythonModuleMakefile

This class is derived from sipconfig.Makefile.

This class encapsulates a Makefile that installs a pure Python module.

__init__(self, configuration, dstdir[, srcdir=None[, dir=None[, makefile="Makefile"[, installs=None]]]])
Parameters:
generate_macros_and_rules(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_macros_and_rules().
generate_target_install(mfile)
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.generate_target_install().
class sipconfig.SIPModuleMakefile

This class is derived from sipconfig.ModuleMakefile.

This class encapsulates a Makefile to build a SIP generated Python extension module.

__init__(self, configuration, build_file[, install_dir=None[, static=0[, console=0[, opengl=0[, threaded=0[, warnings=None[, debug=0[, dir=None[, makefile="Makefile"[, installs=None[, strip=1[, export_all=0[, universal=None[, arch=None[, prot_is_public=0]]]]]]]]]]]]]]])
Parameters:
finalise()
This is a reimplementation of sipconfig.Makefile.finalise().

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