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Guido van Rossum33fde571997-05-09 02:40:09 +00001This is Python release 1.5 alpha 1
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +00002==================================
Guido van Rossumfaf681a1996-06-20 14:32:08 +00003
Guido van Rossum33fde571997-05-09 02:40:09 +00004******************************************
5*** RELEASE RESTRICTED TO PSA MEMBERS! ***
6******************************************
Guido van Rossum627b2d71993-12-24 10:39:16 +00007
Guido van Rossum8d7d4ed1996-07-30 21:41:07 +00008What's new in this release?
9---------------------------
Guido van Rossum3ff96dd1996-07-30 18:05:04 +000010
Guido van Rossum33fde571997-05-09 02:40:09 +000011Ehm, I'll be more complete later. Som highlights: I've completed the
12Grand Renaming. It's much faster (almost twice for pystone.py -- see
13Tools/scripts.) There's an assert statement, and a -O option that
14squeezes SET_LINENO instructions and if __debug__ code. It's much
15smarter (only on Unix, so far) about the initial value for sys.path.
16See the usage message (python -h). There's an explicit structure that
17maintains all per-thread globals.
18
19Unfinished projects: documentation; multiple independent interpreters;
20better embedding support; more Windows support.
Guido van Rossum3ff96dd1996-07-30 18:05:04 +000021
22
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +000023What is Python anyway?
24----------------------
25
26Python is an interpreted object-oriented programming language, and is
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +000027often compared to Tcl, Perl, Scheme or Java. For a quick summary of
28what Python can mean for a UNIX/C programmer, read Misc/BLURB.LUTZ.
Guido van Rossumdfcf35d1996-08-26 17:52:09 +000029If you have web access, point your browser to http://www.python.org.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +000030
31
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +000032How do I learn Python?
33----------------------
34
35The official tutorial is still a good place to start (in the Doc
36directory as tut.tex; and http://www.python.org/doc/tut/tut.html).
37Aaron Watters wrote a second tutorial, that may be more accessible for
38some: http://www.wcmh.com/uworld/archives/95/tutorial/005.html.
39
40There are now also two books on Python. While these are still based
Guido van Rossum33fde571997-05-09 02:40:09 +000041on Python 1.3 or 1.4, the language is so stable now that you'd be
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +000042hard pressed to find places where the books are out of date. The
43books, both first published in October 1996 and both including a
44CD-ROM, form excellent companions to each other:
45
46 Internet Programming with Python
47 by Aaron Watters, Guido van Rossum, and James Ahlstrom
48 MIS Press/Henry Holt publishers
49 ISBN: 1-55851-484-8
50
51 Programming Python
52 by Mark Lutz
53 O'Reilly & Associates
54 ISBN: 1-56592-197-6
55
56
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +000057If you don't read instructions
58------------------------------
59
60Congratulations on getting this far. :-)
61
62To start building right away (on UNIX): type "./configure" in the
63current directory and when it finishes, type "make". The section
64Build Instructions below is still recommended reading. :-)
65
66
67Copyright issues
68----------------
69
70Python is COPYRIGHTED but free to use for all. See the full copyright
71notice at the end of this file.
72
73The Python distribution is *not* affected by the GNU Public Licence
74(GPL). There are interfaces to some GNU code but these are entirely
75optional and no GNU code is distributed with Python. For all these
76packages, GPL-free public domain versions also exist.
77
Guido van Rossum627b2d71993-12-24 10:39:16 +000078
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +000079
Guido van Rossumff840491995-09-18 22:02:47 +000080A modest plug
81=============
82
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +000083*********************************************************************
84* Without your help, I won't be able to continue to support Python! *
85*********************************************************************
Guido van Rossumff840491995-09-18 22:02:47 +000086
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +000087If you use Python, please consider joining the Python Software
88Activity (PSA). See http://www.python.org/psa/.
89
90Organizations that make heavy use of Python are especially encouraged
91to become corporate members!
Guido van Rossum627b2d71993-12-24 10:39:16 +000092
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +000093
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +000094Build instructions
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +000095==================
Guido van Rossum627b2d71993-12-24 10:39:16 +000096
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +000097Before you can build Python, you must first configure it.
98Fortunately, the configuration and build process has been streamlined
99for most Unix installations, so all you have to do is type a few
100commands, optionally edit one file, and sit back. There are some
101platforms where things are not quite as smooth; see the platform
102specific notes below. If you want to build for multiple platforms
103sharing the same source tree, see the section on VPATH below.
Guido van Rossum627b2d71993-12-24 10:39:16 +0000104
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000105You start by running the script "./configure", which figures out your
106system configuration and creates several Makefiles. (It takes a
107minute or two -- please be patient!) When it's done, you are ready to
108run make. You may want to pass options to the configure script -- see
109the section below on configuration options and variables.
110
111To build Python, you normally type "make" in the toplevel directory.
112This will recursively run make in each of the subdirectories Parser,
113Objects, Python and Modules, creating a library file in each one. The
114executable of the interpreter is built in the Modules subdirectory and
115moved up here when it is built. If you want or need to, you can also
116chdir into each subdirectory in turn and run make there manually (do
117the Modules subdirectory last!).
118
119Once you have built an interpreter, see the subsections below on
120testing, configuring additional modules, and installation. If you run
121in trouble, see the next section.
Guido van Rossum627b2d71993-12-24 10:39:16 +0000122
Guido van Rossum0a516c91994-09-12 10:58:40 +0000123
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000124Troubleshooting
125---------------
Guido van Rossum627b2d71993-12-24 10:39:16 +0000126
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000127See also the platform specific notes in the next section.
128
Guido van Rossumfaf681a1996-06-20 14:32:08 +0000129If recursive makes fail, try invoking make as "make MAKE=make".
130
131If you run into other trouble, see section 3 of the FAQ (file
132Misc/FAQ) for hints on what can go wrong, and how to fix it.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000133
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000134If you rerun the configure script with different options, remove all
135object files by running "make clean" before rebuilding. Believe it or
136not, "make clean" sometimes helps to clean up other inexplicable
137problems as well. Try it before sending in a bug report!
138
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000139If the configure script fails or doesn't seem to find things that
140should be there, inspect the config.log file.
141
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000142
143Platform specific notes
144-----------------------
145
Guido van Rossum0447a321995-10-08 01:22:33 +0000146(Some of these may no longer apply. If you find you can build Python
147on these platforms without the special directions mentioned here, let
148me know so I can remove them!)
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000149
Guido van Rossum4462e931997-01-22 21:00:32 +0000150Solaris: When using Sun's C compiler with threads, at least on Solaris
151 2.5.1, you need to add the "-mt" compiler option (the simplest
152 way is probably to specify the compiler with this option as
153 the "CC" environment variable when running the configure
154 script).
155
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000156Linux: On Linux version 1.x, once you've built Python, use it to run
157 the regen script in the Lib/linux1 directory. Apparently
158 the files as distributed don't match the system headers on
159 some Linux versions. (The "h2py" command refers to
160 Tools/scripts/h2py.py.) The modules distributed for Linux 2.x
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000161 should be okay. Shared library support now works by default
Guido van Rossum4462e931997-01-22 21:00:32 +0000162 on ELF-based x86 Linux systems. (Note: when you change the
163 status of a module from static to shared, you must remove its
164 .o file or do a "make clean".)
165
Guido van Rossum6ae5d3d1997-05-14 21:39:05 +0000166DEC Unix: When enabling threads, use --with-dec-threads, not
Guido van Rossum4462e931997-01-22 21:00:32 +0000167 --with-thread.
Guido van Rossum8eca2c21996-02-14 18:37:46 +0000168
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000169AIX: A complete overhaul of the shared library support is now in
170 place. To enable it, uncomment the LINKCC line in the Setup
171 file. See Misc/AIX-NOTES for some notes on how it's done.
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000172
Guido van Rossum6ae5d3d1997-05-14 21:39:05 +0000173 WARNING! In some versions of AIX, you get errors about
Guido van Rossuma3b4b611996-07-21 02:48:16 +0000174 Invalid Indent when running the Python test set. This appears
175 to be a bug in the AIX compiler. Rebuild Parser/tokenizer.c
Guido van Rossum6ae5d3d1997-05-14 21:39:05 +0000176 using OPT="" or OPT=-g, or use gcc. According to the latest
177 reports, it seems this compiler bug is still present in 4.2.1.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000178
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000179HP-UX: Shared library support now works by default (at least on HP-UX
180 9.x). One other problem remains: the HP ANSI C compiler (cc
181 -Aa) is too pedantic to use, but in K&R mode, it barfs on a
182 few files (complexobject.c, getargs.c and operator.c). Until
183 this is fixed, the following seems to work:
184
185 make -k # this compiles all but a few files
186 make OPT=-Aa # compile the remaining files
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000187
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000188Minix: When using ack, use "CC=cc AR=aal RANLIB=: ./configure"!
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000189
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000190SCO: 1) Everything works much better if you add -U__STDC__ to the
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000191 defs. This is because all the SCO header files are broken.
192 Anything that isn't mentioned in the C standard it's
193 conditionally excluded when __STDC__ is defined.
194
195 2) Due to the U.S. export restrictions, SCO broke the crypt
196 stuff out into a separate library, libcrypt_i.a so the LIBS
197 needed be set to:
198
199 LIBS=' -lsocket -lcrypt_i'
200
Guido van Rossuma3b4b611996-07-21 02:48:16 +0000201 3) According to at least one report, the above apply only to
202 SCO 3 -- Python builds out of the box on SCO 5.
203
Guido van Rossum4462e931997-01-22 21:00:32 +0000204SunOS: On SunOS 4.1.x, when using the SunPro C compiler, you may want
205 to use the '-Xa' option instead of '-Xc', to enable some
206 needed non-ANSI Sunisms.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000207
Guido van Rossumcc55c2d1996-10-21 15:14:27 +0000208NeXT: To build fat binaries, use the --with-next-archs switch
209 described below.
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000210
211
212Configuring additional built-in modules
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000213---------------------------------------
Guido van Rossum19e0c261995-01-17 16:36:34 +0000214
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000215You can configure the interpreter to contain fewer or more built-in
216modules by editing the file Modules/Setup. This file is initially
217copied (when the toplevel Makefile makes Modules/Makefile for the
218first time) from Setup.in; if it does not exist yet, make a copy
219yourself. Never edit Setup.in -- always edit Setup. Read the
220comments in the file for information on what kind of edits you can
221make. When you have edited Setup, Makefile and config.c in Modules
222will automatically be rebuilt the next time you run make in the
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000223toplevel directory. (When working inside the Modules directory, use
224"make Makefile; make".)
Guido van Rossum627b2d71993-12-24 10:39:16 +0000225
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000226The default collection of modules should build on any Unix system, but
227many optional modules should work on all modern Unices (e.g. try dbm,
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000228nis, termios, timing, syslog, curses, new, soundex, parser). Often
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000229the quickest way to determine whether a particular module works or not
230is to see if it will build: enable it in Setup, then if you get
231compilation or link errors, disable it -- you're missing support.
232
233On SGI IRIX, there are modules that interface to many SGI specific
234system libraries, e.g. the GL library and the audio hardware.
235
236For SunOS and Solaris, enable module "sunaudiodev" to support the
237audio device.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000238
Guido van Rossum4462e931997-01-22 21:00:32 +0000239In addition to the file Setup, you can also edit the file Setup.local.
240(the makesetup script processes both). You may find it more
241convenient to edit Setup.local and leave Setup alone. Then, when
242installing a new Python version, you can copy your old Setup.local
243file.
244
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000245
246Setting the optimization/debugging options
247------------------------------------------
248
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000249If you want or need to change the optimization/debugging options for
250the C compiler, assign to the OPT variable on the toplevel make
251command; e.g. "make OPT=-g" will build a debugging version of Python
252on most platforms. The default is OPT=-O; a value for OPT in the
253environment when the configure script is run overrides this default
254(likewise for CC; and the initial value for LIBS is used as the base
255set of libraries to link with).
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000256
257
258Testing
259-------
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000260
261To test the interpreter that you have just built, type "make test".
Guido van Rossum6ae5d3d1997-05-14 21:39:05 +0000262This runs the test set twice (once with no compiled files, once with
263the compiled files left by the previous test run). The test set
264produces some output. You can generally ignore the messages about
265skipped tests due to an optional feature that can't be imported (if
266you want to test those modules, edit Modules/Setup to configure them).
267If a messages is printed about a failed test or a traceback or core
268dump is produced, something's wrong. On some systems, test_strftime
269fails due to a non-standard implementation of strftime() in the C
270library. This can be ignored (or you can complain to your vendor).
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000271
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000272IMPORTANT: If the tests fail and you decide to mail a bug report,
273*don't* include the output of "make test". It is useless. Run the
Guido van Rossum6ae5d3d1997-05-14 21:39:05 +0000274test that fails manually, as follows:
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000275
Guido van Rossum6ae5d3d1997-05-14 21:39:05 +0000276 python ../Lib/test/test_whatever.py
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000277
278(substituting the top of the source tree for .. if you built in a
Guido van Rossum6ae5d3d1997-05-14 21:39:05 +0000279different directory). This runs the test in verbose mode.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000280
281
282Installing
283----------
284
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000285Installing Python was never this easy!
Guido van Rossum8d7d4ed1996-07-30 21:41:07 +0000286
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000287To install the Python binary, library modules, shared library modules
288(see below), include files, configuration files, and the manual page,
289just type "make install". This will install all platform-independent
290files in subdirectories the directory given with the --prefix option
291to configure or the 'prefix' Make variable (default /usr/local), and
292all binary and other platform-specific files in subdirectories if the
293directory given by --exec-prefix or the 'exec_prefix' Make variable
294(defaults to the --prefix directory). All subdirectories created will
295have Python's version number in their name, e.g. the library modules
Guido van Rossum33fde571997-05-09 02:40:09 +0000296are installed in "/usr/local/lib/python1.5/" by default. The Python
297binary is installed as "python1.5" and a hard link named "python" is
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000298created. The only file not installed with a version number in its
299name is the manual page, installed as "/usr/local/man/man1/python.1"
300by default.
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000301
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000302If you have a previous installation of a pre-1.4 Python that you don't
303want to replace yet, use "make altinstall". This installs the same
304set of files as "make install" except it doesn't create the hard link
Guido van Rossum33fde571997-05-09 02:40:09 +0000305to "python1.5" named "python" and it doesn't install the manual page
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000306at all.
307
308The only thing you may have to install manually is the Python mode for
309Emacs. (But then again, more recent versions of Emacs may already
310have it!) This is the file Misc/python-mode.el; follow the
311instructions that came with Emacs for installation of site specific
312files.
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000313
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000314
315Configuration options and variables
316-----------------------------------
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000317
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000318Some special cases are handled by passing options to the configure
319script.
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000320
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000321WARNING: if you rerun the configure script with different options, you
322must run "make clean" before rebuilding. Exceptions to this rule:
323after changing --prefix or --exec-prefix, all you need to do is remove
324Modules/getpath.o; after changing --with-readline, just remove
Guido van Rossum4462e931997-01-22 21:00:32 +0000325Parser/myreadline.o (but if it doesn't seem to work, always try "make
326clean" before giving up or complaining!).
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000327
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000328--with(out)-gcc: The configure script uses gcc (the GNU C compiler) if
329 it finds it. If you don't want this, or if this compiler is
330 installed but broken on your platform, pass the option
331 --without-gcc. You can also pass "CC=cc" (or whatever the
332 name of the proper C compiler is) in the environment, but the
333 advantage of using --without-gcc is that this option is
334 remembered by the config.status script for its --recheck
335 option.
Guido van Rossum76be6ed1995-01-02 18:33:54 +0000336
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000337--prefix, --exec-prefix: If you want to install the binaries and the
338 Python library somewhere else than in /usr/local/{bin,lib},
339 you can pass the option --prefix=DIRECTORY; the interpreter
340 binary will be installed as DIRECTORY/bin/python and the
341 library files as DIRECTORY/lib/python/*. If you pass
342 --exec-prefix=DIRECTORY (as well) this overrides the
343 installation prefix for architecture-dependent files (like the
344 interpreter binary). Note that --prefix=DIRECTORY also
345 affects the default module search path (sys.path), when
346 Modules/config.c is compiled. Passing make the option
347 prefix=DIRECTORY (and/or exec_prefix=DIRECTORY) overrides the
348 prefix set at configuration time; this may be more convenient
349 than re-running the configure script if you change your mind
350 about the install prefix...
Guido van Rossum76be6ed1995-01-02 18:33:54 +0000351
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000352--with-readline: You can use the GNU readline library to improve the
Guido van Rossumfaf681a1996-06-20 14:32:08 +0000353 interactive user interface. This gives you line editing and
354 command history when calling Python interactively. Unless GNU
355 readline is a standard part of your system (it is on Linux),
356 you need to configure build the GNU readline library before
357 running the configure script. Its sources are not distributed
358 with Python; you can ftp them from any GNU mirror site, or
359 from its home site:
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000360 ftp://slc2.ins.cwru.edu/pub/dist/readline-2.0.tar.gz (or
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000361 a higher version number -- using version 1.x is not
362 recommended).
Guido van Rossum76be6ed1995-01-02 18:33:54 +0000363
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000364 A GPL-free version was posted to comp.sources.misc in volume
365 31 and is widely available from FTP archive sites, e.g.
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000366 ftp://gatekeeper.dec.com/.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000367
368 Pass the Python configure script the option
369 --with-readline=DIRECTORY where DIRECTORY is the absolute
370 pathname of the directory where you've built the readline
Guido van Rossumfaf681a1996-06-20 14:32:08 +0000371 library. If GNU readline is a standard part of your system,
372 don't pass '=DIRECTORY'. Some hints on building and using the
373 readline library are in the FAQ (file Misc/FAQ).
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000374
Guido van Rossumfaf681a1996-06-20 14:32:08 +0000375--with-thread: On most Unix systems, you can now use multiple threads.
Guido van Rossum4462e931997-01-22 21:00:32 +0000376 To enable this, pass --with-thread. (--with-threads is an
377 alias.) If the library required for threads lives in a
378 peculiar place, you can use --with-thread=DIRECTORY. In the
379 Modules/Setup file, enable the thread module. (Threads aren't
380 enabled automatically because there are run-time penalties
381 when support for them is compiled in even if you don't use
382 them.) IMPORTANT: run "make clean" after changing (either
Guido van Rossum6ae5d3d1997-05-14 21:39:05 +0000383 enabling or disabling) this option! Note: for DEC Unix
Guido van Rossum4462e931997-01-22 21:00:32 +0000384 use --with-dec-threads instead.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000385
386--with-sgi-dl: On SGI IRIX 4, dynamic loading of extension modules is
387 supported by the "dl" library by Jack Jansen, which is
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000388 ftp'able from ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/dynload/dl-1.6.tar.Z.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000389 This is enabled (after you've ftp'ed and compiled the dl
390 library!) by passing --with-sgi-dl=DIRECTORY where DIRECTORY
391 is the absolute pathname of the dl library. (Don't bother on
392 IRIX 5, it already has dynamic linking using SunOS style
393 shared libraries.) Support for this feature is deprecated.
394
395--with-dl-dld: Dynamic loading of modules is rumoured to be supported
396 on some other systems: VAX (Ultrix), Sun3 (SunOS 3.4), Sequent
397 Symmetry (Dynix), and Atari ST. This is done using a
398 combination of the GNU dynamic loading package
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000399 (ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/dynload/dl-dld-1.1.tar.Z) and an
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000400 emulation of the SGI dl library mentioned above (the emulation
401 can be found at
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000402 ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/dynload/dld-3.2.3.tar.Z). To
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000403 enable this, ftp and compile both libraries, then call the
404 configure passing it the option
405 --with-dl-dld=DL_DIRECTORY,DLD_DIRECTORY where DL_DIRECTORY is
406 the absolute pathname of the dl emulation library and
407 DLD_DIRECTORY is the absolute pathname of the GNU dld library.
408 (Don't bother on SunOS 4 or 5, they already have dynamic
409 linking using shared libraries.) Support for this feature is
410 deprecated.
411
412--with-libm, --with-libc: It is possible to specify alternative
413 versions for the Math library (default -lm) and the C library
414 (default the empty string) using the options
415 --with-libm=STRING and --with-libc=STRING, respectively. E.g.
416 if your system requires that you pass -lc_s to the C compiler
417 to use the shared C library, you can pass --with-libc=-lc_s.
418 These libraries are passed after all other libraries, the C
419 library last.
Guido van Rossum3ff96dd1996-07-30 18:05:04 +0000420
421--with-next-archs='arch1 arch2': Under NEXTSTEP, this will build
422 all compiled binaries with the architectures listed. Includes
423 correctly setting the target architecture specific resource
Guido van Rossumcc55c2d1996-10-21 15:14:27 +0000424 directory. (This option is not supported on other platforms.)
Guido van Rossum76be6ed1995-01-02 18:33:54 +0000425
Guido van Rossumd02ba451996-07-31 17:36:01 +0000426--with-libs='libs': Add 'libs' to the LIBS that the python
427 linked against.
428
Guido van Rossum76be6ed1995-01-02 18:33:54 +0000429
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000430Building for multiple architectures (using the VPATH feature)
431-------------------------------------------------------------
432
433If your file system is shared between multiple architectures, it
434usually is not necessary to make copies of the sources for each
435architecture you want to support. If the make program supports the
436VPATH feature, you can create an empty build directory for each
437architecture, and in each directory run the configure script (on the
438appropriate machine with the appropriate options). This creates the
439necessary subdirectories and the Makefiles therein. The Makefiles
440contain a line VPATH=... which points to directory containing the
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000441actual sources. (On SGI systems, use "smake -J1" instead of "make" if
442you use VPATH -- don't try gnumake.)
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000443
444For example, the following is all you need to build a minimal Python
445in /usr/tmp/python (assuming ~guido/src/python is the toplevel
446directory and you want to build in /usr/tmp/python):
447
448 $ mkdir /usr/tmp/python
449 $ cd /usr/tmp/python
450 $ ~guido/src/python/configure
451 [...]
452 $ make
453 [...]
454 $
455
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000456Note that Modules/Makefile copies the original Setup file to the build
457directory if it finds no Setup file there. This means that you can
458edit the Setup file for each architecture independently. For this
459reason, subsequent changes to the original Setup file are not tracked
460automatically, as they might overwrite local changes. To force a copy
461of a changed original Setup file, delete the target Setup file. (The
462makesetup script supports multiple input files, so if you want to be
463fancy you can change the rules to create an empty Setup.local if it
464doesn't exist and run it with arguments $(srcdir)/Setup Setup.local;
465however this assumes that you only need to add modules.)
466
467
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000468Building on non-UNIX systems
469----------------------------
470
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000471Building Python for a PC is now a piece of cake!
Guido van Rossum8d7d4ed1996-07-30 21:41:07 +0000472
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000473Enter the directory "PC" and read the file "readme.txt". Most popular
474non-Unix PC platforms and compilers are supported (Unix ports to the
475PC such as Linux, FreeBSD or Solaris-x86 of course use the standard
476Unix build instructions).
477
478For the Mac, a separate source distribution will be made available,
479for use with the CodeWarrior compiler. If you are interested in Mac
480development, join the PythonMac Special Interest Group
481(http://www.python.org/sigs/pythonmac-sig/, or send email to
482pythonmac-sig-request@python.org).
483
484Of course, there are also binary distributions available for these
485platforms -- see http://www.python.org/python/.
486
487To port Python to a new non-UNIX system, you will have to fake the
488effect of running the configure script manually (for Mac and PC, this
489has already been done for you). A good start is to copy the file
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000490config.h.in to config.h and edit the latter to reflect the actual
491configuration of your system. Most symbols must simply be defined as
4921 only if the corresponding feature is present and can be left alone
493otherwise; however RETSIGTYPE must always be defined, either as int or
494as void, and the *_t type symbols must be defined as some variant of
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000495int if they need to be defined at all.
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000496
497
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000498
499Miscellaneous issues
500====================
501
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000502Documentation
503-------------
504
505All documentation is provided in the subdirectory Doc in the form of
506LaTeX files. In order of importance for new users: Tutorial (tut),
507Library Reference (lib), Language Reference (ref), Extending (ext).
508Especially the Library Reference is of immense value since much of
509Python's power (including the built-in data types and functions!) is
510described here.
511
Guido van Rossumdfcf35d1996-08-26 17:52:09 +0000512To print the documentation from the LaTeX files, chdir into the Doc
513subdirectory, type "make" (let's hope you have LaTeX installed!), and
514send the four resulting PostScript files (tut.ps, lib.ps, ref.ps, and
515ext.ps) to the printer. See the README file there. If you don't have
516LaTeX, you can ftp the PostScript files from the ftp archives (see
517below).
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000518
Guido van Rossumdfcf35d1996-08-26 17:52:09 +0000519All documentation is also available on-line via the Python web site
520(http://www.python.org/, see below). It can also be downloaded
521separately from the ftp archives (see below) in Emacs INFO, HTML or
522PostScript form -- see the web site or the FAQ (file Misc/FAQ) for
523more info.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000524
525
526Emacs mode
527----------
528
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000529There's an excellent Emacs editing mode for Python code; see the file
530Misc/python-mode.el. Originally written by Tim Peters, it is now
531maintained by Barry Warsaw <bwarsaw@cnri.reston.va.us>.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000532
533
Guido van Rossum8d7d4ed1996-07-30 21:41:07 +0000534Web site
535--------
536
537Python's own web site has URL http://www.python.org/. Come visit us!
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000538There are a number of mirrors, listed on the home page -- try a mirror
539that's close you you.
Guido van Rossum8d7d4ed1996-07-30 21:41:07 +0000540
541
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000542Ftp site
543--------
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000544
Guido van Rossum8d7d4ed1996-07-30 21:41:07 +0000545Python's own ftp site is ftp.python.org, directory /pub/python. See
546the FAQ (file Misc/FAQ) for a list of other ftp sites carrying the
Guido van Rossumfaf681a1996-06-20 14:32:08 +0000547Python distribution.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000548
549
550Newsgroup and mailing list
551--------------------------
552
Guido van Rossumdfcf35d1996-08-26 17:52:09 +0000553There are a newsgroup and a mailing list devoted to Python. The
554newsgroup, comp.lang.python, contains exactly the same messages as the
555mailing list (though not always in the same order, due to the
556mysterious nature of the Usenet news distribution algorithm). To
557subscribe to the mailing list, send mail containing your real name and
558e-mail address to "python-list-request@cwi.nl". Use the same address
559if you want to unsibscribed. (A real person reads these messages, so
560no LISTPROC or Majordomo commands, please, and please be patient --
561normal turn-around time is about one working day.)
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000562
Guido van Rossumdfcf35d1996-08-26 17:52:09 +0000563The Python web site contains a search form that lets you search the
564newsgroup archives (or the web site itself). Click on the "search"
565link in the banner menu on any page of http://www.python.org/.
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000566
567
568Bug reports
569-----------
570
Guido van Rossumdfcf35d1996-08-26 17:52:09 +0000571Bugs are best reported to the comp.lang.python newsgroup or the Python
Guido van Rossumcc55c2d1996-10-21 15:14:27 +0000572mailing list -- see the section "Newsgroup and mailing list" above.
Guido van Rossumdfcf35d1996-08-26 17:52:09 +0000573Before posting, check the newsgroup archives (see above) to see if
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +0000574your bug has already been reported!
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000575
576
577Questions
578---------
579
580For help, if you can't find it in the manuals, the FAQ or on the web
581site, it's best to post to the comp.lang.python or the Python mailing
582list (see above). If you specifically don't want to involve the
583newsgroup or mailing list, send questions to python-help@python.org.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000584
585
586The Tk interface
587----------------
588
589Tk (the user interface component of John Ousterhout's Tcl language) is
590also usable from Python. Since this requires that you first build and
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000591install Tcl/Tk, the Tk interface is not enabled by default. It works
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +0000592with Tcl 7.5 and Tk 4.1 as well as with Tcl 7.4 and Tk 4.0. I didn't
593have the time to test it with Tcl 7.6 and Tk 4.2 yet, but it might
594well work.
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000595
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +0000596See http://www.sunlabs.com/research/tcl/ for more info on where to get
Guido van Rossum33fde571997-05-09 02:40:09 +0000597Tcl/Tk. Also http://sunscript.sun.com/.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000598
599To enable the Python/Tk interface, once you've built and installed
600Tcl/Tk, all you need to do is edit two lines in Modules/Setup; search
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000601for the string "_tkinter". Uncomment one (normally the first) of the
602lines beginning with "#_tkinter" and un-comment the line beginning
603with "#TKPATH". If you have installed Tcl/Tk or X11 in unusual
604places, you will have to edit the first line to fix or add -I and -L
605options. See the Build Instructions above for more details.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000606
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000607There is little documentation on how to use Tkinter; however most of
608the Tk manual pages apply quite straightforwardly. Begin with
609fetching the "Tk Lifesaver" document,
610e.g. ftp://ftp.python.org/pub/python/doc/tkinter-doc.tar.gz (a gzipped
611tar file containing a PostScript file) or the on-line version
612http://www.python.org/doc/life-preserver/index.html. Reading the
613Tkinter.py source will reveal most details on how Tkinter calls are
614translated into Tcl code.
615
616There are demos in the Demo/tkinter directory, in the subdirectories
617guido, matt and www (the matt and guido subdirectories have been
618overhauled to use more recent Tkinter coding conventions).
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000619
620Note that there's a Python module called "Tkinter" (capital T) which
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000621lives in Lib/tkinter/Tkinter.py, and a C module called "_tkinter"
622(lower case t and leading underscore) which lives in
623Modules/_tkinter.c. Demos and normal Tk applications only import the
624Python Tkinter module -- only the latter uses the C _tkinter module
625directly. In order to find the C _tkinter module, it must be compiled
626and linked into the Python interpreter -- the _tkinter line in the
627Setup file does this. In order to find the Python Tkinter module,
628sys.path must be set correctly -- the TKPATH assignment in the Setup
629file takes care of this, but only if you install Python properly
630("make install libinstall"). (You can also use dynamic loading for
631the C _tkinter module, in which case you must manually fix up sys.path
632or set $PYTHONPATH for the Python Tkinter module.)
Guido van Rossum84c8c7f1995-08-28 02:44:24 +0000633
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000634
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000635Distribution structure
636----------------------
637
638Most subdirectories have their own README file. Most files have
639comments.
640
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000641BUGS A list of known bugs (not completely up-to-date)
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000642Demo/ Demonstration scripts, modules and programs
643Doc/ Documentation (LaTeX sources)
644Grammar/ Input for the parser generator
645Include/ Public header files
646Lib/ Python library modules
647Makefile.in Source from which config.status creates Makefile
648Misc/ Miscellaneous files
649Modules/ Implementation of most built-in modules
650Objects/ Implementation of most built-in object types
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +0000651PC/ PC porting files (DOS, Windows, NT, OS/2)
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000652Parser/ The parser and tokenizer and their input handling
653Python/ The "compiler" and interpreter
654README The file you're reading now
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +0000655TODO A list of things that could be done (not up-to-date)
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000656Tools/ Some useful programs written in Python
657acconfig.h Additional input for the autoheader program
658config.h.in Source from which config.status creates config.h
659configure Configuration shell script (GNU autoconf output)
660configure.in Configuration specification (GNU autoconf input)
661install-sh Shell script used to install files
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000662
663The following files will (may) be created in the toplevel directory by
664the configuration and build processes:
665
Guido van Rossum6d9cc801996-08-01 17:31:22 +0000666Makefile Build rules
667config.cache cache of configuration variables
668config.h Configuration header
669config.log log from last configure run
670config.status status from last run of configure script
671python The executable interpreter
672tags, TAGS Tags files for vi and Emacs
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000673
674
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000675Author's address
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000676================
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000677
678Guido van Rossum
Guido van Rossumfaf681a1996-06-20 14:32:08 +0000679CNRI
6801895 Preston White Drive
Guido van Rossum8d7d4ed1996-07-30 21:41:07 +0000681Reston, VA 20191
Guido van Rossumfaf681a1996-06-20 14:32:08 +0000682USA
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000683
Guido van Rossumd0fe8451996-08-26 03:02:37 +0000684E-mail: guido@cnri.reston.va.us or guido@python.org
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000685
686
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000687
688Copyright notice
689================
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000690
691The Python source is copyrighted, but you can freely use and copy it
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000692as long as you don't change or remove the copyright notice:
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000693
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000694----------------------------------------------------------------------
Guido van Rossumaf5b83e1995-01-04 19:02:35 +0000695Copyright 1991-1995 by Stichting Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam,
696The Netherlands.
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000697
698 All Rights Reserved
699
Guido van Rossumc561e5d1994-08-23 13:52:46 +0000700Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its
701documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted,
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000702provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that
Guido van Rossumc561e5d1994-08-23 13:52:46 +0000703both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000704supporting documentation, and that the names of Stichting Mathematisch
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +0000705Centrum or CWI or Corporation for National Research Initiatives or
706CNRI not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to
707distribution of the software without specific, written prior
708permission.
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000709
Guido van Rossumf501b4e1996-10-25 14:32:48 +0000710While CWI is the initial source for this software, a modified version
711is made available by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives
712(CNRI) at the Internet address ftp://ftp.python.org.
713
714STICHTING MATHEMATISCH CENTRUM AND CNRI DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES WITH
715REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
716MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS, IN NO EVENT SHALL STICHTING MATHEMATISCH
717CENTRUM OR CNRI BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL
718DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR
719PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER
720TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR
721PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.
Guido van Rossum91cb9d21995-04-10 11:47:38 +0000722----------------------------------------------------------------------
Guido van Rossum433c8ad1994-08-01 12:07:07 +0000723
724
Guido van Rossumfaf681a1996-06-20 14:32:08 +0000725--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)