Mac/ReadMe - platform/external/python/cpython2 - Gitiles

 How to install Python 1.6a1 on your Macintosh
 ---------------------------------------------

 If this is your first encounter with Python: you definitely need the
 common user documentation (common to all platforms). You can find this
 (in various forms) on www.python.org and ftp.python.org. Through
 there, or via http://www.cwi.nl/~jack/macpython.html you can also find
 the most recent MacPython distribution.

 Mac-specific documentation is included in this distribution in folder
 Mac:Demo. The documentation is sparse, but it will have to serve for
 now. The documentation is in HTML format, start with index.html.

 Caveats
 -------
 This is an alfa version, and for this once it really means that: there
 are quite a few features that have only lightly been tested, and bugs are
 to be expected.

 Aside from the general Python 1.6 features like unicode support the
 main new features of this MacPython release is support for multithreading.
 This has not been tested very well.

 This installer installs MacPython for PowerPC only, whether a 68K distribution
 of Python 1.6 will happen is not certain at the moment. There is no Tkinter
 in this installer.

 All references to 68k, cfm68k and Tkinter in this document and in the
 installer should be ignored: it really isn't there.

 What to install
 ---------------

 There are three flavors of Python: PowerPC, cfm68k and Classic 68k
 (the FAT flavor is just a combination of the first two, which is handy
 if you want to install Python on a fileserver or so). 68K-mac owners
 should definitely use the cfm68k version if possible, since it enables
 the use of applets and dynamically loaded modules and usually has a
 smaller memory footprint. If you have an older system than MacOS 8 it
 does however need the CFM68K Runtime Enabler which is available from
 Apple (available for free from
 <http://support.info.apple.com/ftp/swhome.html>, included since MacOS
 7.6.1 and builtin to the system since MacOS 8). If your machine is
 pre-68020 you cannot use cfm68k and you can install the classic 68k
 Python.

 After the installer finishes it automatically launches the
 ConfigurePython applet, to finish configuration of your Python
 installation (except for classic 68K installations, where no extra
 configuration is needed).

 If you have a pre-system 7 macintosh: sorry, this release will not work
 on your system. Too many sys7 features are used to make a sys6 python
 easy to create.

 If you don't have enough memory: the sizes choosen are somewhat
 arbitrary. Try lowering the application sizes in the finder "get info"
 window, and seeing whether the resulting python is still usable. Some
 modules (Tkinter comes to mind) need a lot of memory, so it may also be
 necessary to increase the application size.

 A final note to CFM68K (and possibly PPC) users: the Code Fragment
 Manager can (incorrectly) produce "library not found" and other strange
 error messages when it really means that there is not enough room in the
 system heap. Decreasing (yes, *de*creasing) the size of the interpreter
 and/or enabling virtual memory may solve these problems.

 After installing
 ----------------

 The first step thing you could try is to run "compileall.py" to create
 all .pyc files, but this isn't very important, as pyc files are
 created on-the-fly as well. You may also want to skip this step if you
 are low on diskspace.

 Next, it is probably a good idea to run the automatic tests. Start
 Python and "import test.autotest". This should not print any
 errors. It will, however, print some messages about optional features
 not supported. Also, if you didn't run compileall before autotesting
 you may run out of memory the first time you run the
 tests. test_socket may also fail if you have no internet
 connection. Please also read the Relnotes file for other minor
 problems with this distribution.

 PPC and CFM68K users have a couple of applets in the main folder they
 may want to try, (68K users can use the corresponding scripts from the
 "scripts" folder):

 - EditPythonPrefs allows you to edit the preferences file, to change the
 python home folder or modify the initial sys.path setting. The default
 settings are somewhat arbitrary, you can remove tkinter if you don't use
 it and possibly add Extensions:img:Lib. - mkapplet creates a python
 applet, a tiny application written in python. Drop a python source on it
 and out comes the application. More information can be found in the
 "Mac:Demo" folder.

 If you have a slow machine you may want to disable automatic site.py import
 since site.py does not do too much on the mac (unless you make it do
 something), and it can take a few seconds.

 PPC and CFM68K users will see one more file in the python folder:
 PythonApplet. This is the template for building applets, leave it alone.
 The applet is "fat", containing both PPC and CFM68K code. Hence, applets
 built with it can be transported to machines with the other
 architecture.

 Uninstalling
 ------------

 Two items are installed in the system folder: the interpreter shared
 library "PythonCore 1.5.2b1" lives in the Extensions folder and the
 "Python 1.5.2b1 Preferences" file in the Preferences folder. All the rest
 of Python lives in the folder you installed in.

 Things to see
 -------------

 There are some readme files in the "Read me files" folder that may
 contain useful information. There is also a first stab at documentation
 (plus examples) in the Mac:Demo folder. The toplevel Demo folder has
 machine-independent demos. See the file Readme-mac for mac-specific
 notes. The Mac:Lib:test folder also has some programs that show simple
 capabilities of various modules.

 The "scripts" folder has some sample scripts. Some are useful, some are
 just interesting to look at to see how various things work. The MkDistr,
 mkapplet and fullbuild scripts (plus the ones mentioned above) may help
 you to understand how to use AppleEvents and various other toolboxes
 from python.

 The 'img' group of modules, which handles I/O of many different image
 formats is included, but without documentation.  You can find docs at
 ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/jack/python/img (or somewhere around there).

 Finally there is a Mac:Contrib folder which contains some contributed
 software, including a Real Programming Environment and some AppleScript
 related modules.

 Upgrading from older Python releases
 ------------------------------------

 Since release 1.4 Python releases are independent of each other, with
 separate Preferences files, shared library names, etc. The good news is
 that this means you can keep your older version around if you are unsure
 whether to upgrade. The bad news is that your old preference settings
 are lost and you have to set them again.

 After you are satisfied that 1.5.2b1 works as expected you can trash
 anything in the system folder that has "python" in the name and not
 "1.5.2b1".

 The installer
 -------------

 The installer for this product was created using Installer VISE Lite
 from MindVision Software. For more information on Installer VISE Lite,
 contact:
 MindVision Software
 7201 North 7th Street
 Lincoln, NE 68521-8913
 Voice: 402-477-3269
 Fax: 402-477-1395
 Internet: mindvision@mindvision.com
 http://www.mindvision.com

 Just van Rossum <just@letterror.nl> created the installer.

 Thanks!
 -------

 Thanks go to the whole Python community with Guido in the lead, of course.
 Mac-specific thanks go to the pythonmac-sig, Just van Rossum, Corran Webster,
 Erik van Blokland, Bill Bedford, Chris Stern, Gordon Worley and all the other people
 who provided feedback, code or both!

 Feedback
 --------

 Send bug reports, suggestions, contributions and fanmail to
 <jack@cwi.nl>. However, a better way to discuss MacPython is to join the
 <pythonmac-sig@python.org> mailing list, which is explicitly meant for
 this purpose.

 Alternatively, you can try sending to comp.lang.python or
 python-list@cwi.nl, but since I read the newsgroup, not the mailinglist,
 I may miss it there (but other people may know quite a bit more than me
 anyway:-).

 Jack Jansen
 Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica
 Kruislaan 413
 1098 SJ Amsterdam
 the Netherlands

 <jack@cwi.nl>, http://www.cwi.nl/~jack
	How to install Python 1.6a1 on your Macintosh
	---------------------------------------------

	If this is your first encounter with Python: you definitely need the
	common user documentation (common to all platforms). You can find this
	(in various forms) on www.python.org and ftp.python.org. Through
	there, or via http://www.cwi.nl/~jack/macpython.html you can also find
	the most recent MacPython distribution.

	Mac-specific documentation is included in this distribution in folder
	Mac:Demo. The documentation is sparse, but it will have to serve for
	now. The documentation is in HTML format, start with index.html.

	Caveats
	-------
	This is an alfa version, and for this once it really means that: there
	are quite a few features that have only lightly been tested, and bugs are
	to be expected.

	Aside from the general Python 1.6 features like unicode support the
	main new features of this MacPython release is support for multithreading.
	This has not been tested very well.

	This installer installs MacPython for PowerPC only, whether a 68K distribution
	of Python 1.6 will happen is not certain at the moment. There is no Tkinter
	in this installer.

	All references to 68k, cfm68k and Tkinter in this document and in the
	installer should be ignored: it really isn't there.

	What to install
	---------------

	There are three flavors of Python: PowerPC, cfm68k and Classic 68k
	(the FAT flavor is just a combination of the first two, which is handy
	if you want to install Python on a fileserver or so). 68K-mac owners
	should definitely use the cfm68k version if possible, since it enables
	the use of applets and dynamically loaded modules and usually has a
	smaller memory footprint. If you have an older system than MacOS 8 it
	does however need the CFM68K Runtime Enabler which is available from
	Apple (available for free from
	<http://support.info.apple.com/ftp/swhome.html>, included since MacOS
	7.6.1 and builtin to the system since MacOS 8). If your machine is
	pre-68020 you cannot use cfm68k and you can install the classic 68k
	Python.

	After the installer finishes it automatically launches the
	ConfigurePython applet, to finish configuration of your Python
	installation (except for classic 68K installations, where no extra
	configuration is needed).

	If you have a pre-system 7 macintosh: sorry, this release will not work
	on your system. Too many sys7 features are used to make a sys6 python
	easy to create.

	If you don't have enough memory: the sizes choosen are somewhat
	arbitrary. Try lowering the application sizes in the finder "get info"
	window, and seeing whether the resulting python is still usable. Some
	modules (Tkinter comes to mind) need a lot of memory, so it may also be
	necessary to increase the application size.

	A final note to CFM68K (and possibly PPC) users: the Code Fragment
	Manager can (incorrectly) produce "library not found" and other strange
	error messages when it really means that there is not enough room in the
	system heap. Decreasing (yes, decreasing) the size of the interpreter
	and/or enabling virtual memory may solve these problems.

	After installing
	----------------

	The first step thing you could try is to run "compileall.py" to create
	all .pyc files, but this isn't very important, as pyc files are
	created on-the-fly as well. You may also want to skip this step if you
	are low on diskspace.

	Next, it is probably a good idea to run the automatic tests. Start
	Python and "import test.autotest". This should not print any
	errors. It will, however, print some messages about optional features
	not supported. Also, if you didn't run compileall before autotesting
	you may run out of memory the first time you run the
	tests. test_socket may also fail if you have no internet
	connection. Please also read the Relnotes file for other minor
	problems with this distribution.

	PPC and CFM68K users have a couple of applets in the main folder they
	may want to try, (68K users can use the corresponding scripts from the
	"scripts" folder):

	- EditPythonPrefs allows you to edit the preferences file, to change the
	python home folder or modify the initial sys.path setting. The default
	settings are somewhat arbitrary, you can remove tkinter if you don't use
	it and possibly add Extensions:img:Lib. - mkapplet creates a python
	applet, a tiny application written in python. Drop a python source on it
	and out comes the application. More information can be found in the
	"Mac:Demo" folder.

	If you have a slow machine you may want to disable automatic site.py import
	since site.py does not do too much on the mac (unless you make it do
	something), and it can take a few seconds.

	PPC and CFM68K users will see one more file in the python folder:
	PythonApplet. This is the template for building applets, leave it alone.
	The applet is "fat", containing both PPC and CFM68K code. Hence, applets
	built with it can be transported to machines with the other
	architecture.

	Uninstalling
	------------

	Two items are installed in the system folder: the interpreter shared
	library "PythonCore 1.5.2b1" lives in the Extensions folder and the
	"Python 1.5.2b1 Preferences" file in the Preferences folder. All the rest
	of Python lives in the folder you installed in.

	Things to see
	-------------

	There are some readme files in the "Read me files" folder that may
	contain useful information. There is also a first stab at documentation
	(plus examples) in the Mac:Demo folder. The toplevel Demo folder has
	machine-independent demos. See the file Readme-mac for mac-specific
	notes. The Mac:Lib:test folder also has some programs that show simple
	capabilities of various modules.

	The "scripts" folder has some sample scripts. Some are useful, some are
	just interesting to look at to see how various things work. The MkDistr,
	mkapplet and fullbuild scripts (plus the ones mentioned above) may help
	you to understand how to use AppleEvents and various other toolboxes
	from python.

	The 'img' group of modules, which handles I/O of many different image
	formats is included, but without documentation. You can find docs at
	ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/jack/python/img (or somewhere around there).

	Finally there is a Mac:Contrib folder which contains some contributed
	software, including a Real Programming Environment and some AppleScript
	related modules.

	Upgrading from older Python releases
	------------------------------------

	Since release 1.4 Python releases are independent of each other, with
	separate Preferences files, shared library names, etc. The good news is
	that this means you can keep your older version around if you are unsure
	whether to upgrade. The bad news is that your old preference settings
	are lost and you have to set them again.

	After you are satisfied that 1.5.2b1 works as expected you can trash
	anything in the system folder that has "python" in the name and not
	"1.5.2b1".

	The installer
	-------------

	The installer for this product was created using Installer VISE Lite
	from MindVision Software. For more information on Installer VISE Lite,
	contact:
	MindVision Software
	7201 North 7th Street
	Lincoln, NE 68521-8913
	Voice: 402-477-3269
	Fax: 402-477-1395
	Internet: mindvision@mindvision.com
	http://www.mindvision.com

	Just van Rossum <just@letterror.nl> created the installer.

	Thanks!
	-------

	Thanks go to the whole Python community with Guido in the lead, of course.
	Mac-specific thanks go to the pythonmac-sig, Just van Rossum, Corran Webster,
	Erik van Blokland, Bill Bedford, Chris Stern, Gordon Worley and all the other people
	who provided feedback, code or both!

	Feedback
	--------

	Send bug reports, suggestions, contributions and fanmail to
	<jack@cwi.nl>. However, a better way to discuss MacPython is to join the
	<pythonmac-sig@python.org> mailing list, which is explicitly meant for
	this purpose.

	Alternatively, you can try sending to comp.lang.python or
	python-list@cwi.nl, but since I read the newsgroup, not the mailinglist,
	I may miss it there (but other people may know quite a bit more than me
	anyway:-).

	Jack Jansen
	Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica
	Kruislaan 413
	1098 SJ Amsterdam
	the Netherlands

	<jack@cwi.nl>, http://www.cwi.nl/~jack