Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 1 | <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Macintosh Python crash course</TITLE></HEAD> |
| 2 | <BODY> |
| 3 | <H1><IMG SRC="html.icons/python.gif">Macintosh Python crash course</H1> |
| 4 | <HR> |
| 5 | |
| 6 | This set of documents provides an introduction to various aspects of |
| 7 | Python programming on the Mac. It is assumed that the reader is |
| 8 | already familiar with Python and, to some extent, with MacOS Toolbox |
| 9 | programming. Other readers may find something interesting here too, |
| 10 | your mileage may vary. <p> |
| 11 | |
Jack Jansen | 5f962c2 | 1996-04-10 14:52:59 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 12 | There is a companion document <a href="using.html">Using Python on the Mac</a> |
| 13 | which you should read before starting here: it explains the basics of using |
| 14 | python on the Macintosh. <p> |
| 15 | |
Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 16 | Another set of Macintosh-savvy examples, more aimed at beginners, is |
| 17 | maintained by Joseph Strout, at <A |
| 18 | HREF="http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~jstrout/python/"> |
| 19 | http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~jstrout/python/</A>. |
| 20 | <P> |
| 21 | |
Jack Jansen | 3412c5d | 1997-08-27 14:08:22 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 22 | The <a href="http://www.python.org/doc/lib/Top.html">Python Library |
| 23 | Reference</a> contains a section on <a |
| 24 | href="http://www.python.org/doc/lib/Macintosh-Specific-Services.html">Macintosh-specific |
| 25 | modules</a> that you should also read. Documentation is also available |
| 26 | in PostScript and other forms, see the <a |
| 27 | href="http://www.python.org/doc/">documentation</a> section on the |
| 28 | webserver. <p> |
Jack Jansen | 024a387 | 1996-07-18 16:07:05 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 29 | |
Jack Jansen | 968cde9 | 2000-04-22 21:48:56 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 30 | The W widget set by Just van Rossum, which is used by the Python IDE, does not |
| 31 | have complete documentation as of this writing, but Corran Webster has |
| 32 | documented most of it on his |
Jack Jansen | 2ea47f9 | 2000-04-22 22:56:09 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 33 | <A HREF="http://www.nevada.edu/~cwebster/Python/">Python Page</A>. <p> |
| 34 | |
| 35 | There are also some documentation links, as well as other MacPython-related |
| 36 | pages, in the |
| 37 | <A HREF="http://dmoz.org/Computers/Systems/Macintosh/Development/Scripting/Python/"> |
| 38 | Open Directory</A>. |
Jack Jansen | 968cde9 | 2000-04-22 21:48:56 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 39 | |
Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 40 | |
Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 41 | <H2>Table of contents</H2> |
| 42 | |
Jack Jansen | 968cde9 | 2000-04-22 21:48:56 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 43 | <blockquote><B>Note:</B> |
| 44 | Some of these documents were actually written a long time ago and have seen |
| 45 | little maintainance, so use with care. </blockquote> |
Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 46 | <UL> |
| 47 | <LI> |
Jack Jansen | 024a387 | 1996-07-18 16:07:05 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 48 | <A HREF="example0.html">Using python to create Macintosh applications, |
| 49 | part zero</A> whets your appetite by showing you how to ask the user |
| 50 | for a filename, and how to display a message. It explains about end-of-line |
| 51 | confusion while doing so. |
| 52 | |
| 53 | <LI> |
Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 54 | <A HREF="example1.html">Using python to create Macintosh applications, |
| 55 | part one</A> explains how to create a simple modal-dialog application |
| 56 | in Python. It also takes a glance at using the toolbox modules Res and |
| 57 | Dlg, and EasyDialogs for simple question-dialogs. |
| 58 | |
| 59 | <LI> |
| 60 | <A HREF="example2.html">Using python to create Macintosh applications, |
| 61 | part two</A> turns the previous example program into a more complete |
| 62 | mac application, using a modeless dialog, menus, etc. It also explains |
| 63 | how to create applets, standalone applications written in Python. |
| 64 | |
| 65 | <LI> |
Jack Jansen | d969061 | 1998-06-26 15:01:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 66 | <A HREF="freezing.html">Freezing Python programs</A> extends on this concept, |
| 67 | and shows you how to create applications that can be used on machines without |
| 68 | a full Python installed. This one is probably best skipped on first contact |
| 69 | with MacPython. |
| 70 | |
| 71 | <LI> |
Jack Jansen | 0836542 | 1996-04-19 15:56:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 72 | <A HREF="textedit.html">Using FrameWork and TextEdit</A> shows you |
| 73 | how to use <code>FrameWork</code> application framework and the |
| 74 | <code>TextEdit</code> toolbox to build a text editor. |
| 75 | |
| 76 | <LI> |
| 77 | <A HREF="waste.html">Using WASTE</A> expands on this editor by using |
| 78 | WASTE, an extended TextEdit replacement. |
Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 79 | |
| 80 | <LI> |
| 81 | <A HREF="plugins.html">Creating a C extension module on the Macintosh</A> |
| 82 | is meant for the hardcore programmer, and shows how to create an |
| 83 | extension module in C. It also handles using Modulator to create the |
| 84 | boilerplate for your module, and creating dynamically-loadable modules |
Jack Jansen | 968cde9 | 2000-04-22 21:48:56 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 85 | on PowerPC Macs. It assumes you use CodeWarrior for you development. |
| 86 | |
| 87 | <LI> |
| 88 | <A HREF="mpwextensions.html">Creating C extension modules using MPW</A> |
| 89 | is a companion document, written by Corran Webster, which explains how you |
| 90 | can develop Python extensions using Apple's free MPW compiler environment. |
Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 91 | |
| 92 | <LI> |
| 93 | <A HREF="applescript.html">Using Open Scripting Architecture from Python</A> explains |
| 94 | how to create a Python module interfacing to a scriptable application, |
| 95 | and how to use that module in your python program. |
Jack Jansen | 4122216 | 1996-05-20 11:32:49 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 96 | |
| 97 | <LI> |
Jack Jansen | 09da209 | 1996-09-09 01:48:03 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 98 | <A HREF="cgi.html">Using python to create CGI scripts</A> is a preliminary |
| 99 | introduction to writing CGI scripts in Python and to writing scriptable applications |
| 100 | in Python. |
| 101 | |
| 102 | <LI> |
Jack Jansen | 3638935 | 1996-08-07 13:19:16 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 103 | <A HREF="building.html">Building Mac Python from source</A> explains |
Jack Jansen | 4122216 | 1996-05-20 11:32:49 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 104 | how to build a PPC or 68K interpreter from a source distribution. |
Jack Jansen | 6ad8d13 | 1997-01-15 16:53:37 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 105 | |
| 106 | <LI> |
| 107 | <A HREF="embed.html">Embedding Python on the Mac</A> is a minimal example of |
| 108 | how to embed Python in other Mac applications. |
| 109 | |
Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 110 | </UL> |
| 111 | |
Jack Jansen | 0836542 | 1996-04-19 15:56:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 112 | The Python distribution contains a few more examples, all unexplained: |
| 113 | <UL> |
| 114 | <LI> |
| 115 | <I>PICTbrowse</I> is an application that locates PICT |
| 116 | resources and displays them, it demonstrates some quickdraw and the |
Jack Jansen | 1c4d96f | 1999-01-21 14:30:55 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 117 | resource and list managers. In the same folder you will find the very |
Jack Jansen | b06007a | 1999-12-23 14:45:41 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 118 | similar scripts ICONbrowse and cicnbrowse. oldPICTbrowse is the same program |
| 119 | but form the pre-Appearance era, it uses a dialog with a user item and |
| 120 | creates and manages its own List object. |
Jack Jansen | 0836542 | 1996-04-19 15:56:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 121 | |
| 122 | <LI> |
| 123 | <I>Imgbrowse</I> displays image files in |
| 124 | many different formats (gif, tiff, pbm, etc). It shows how to use the |
| 125 | img modules on the mac. |
| 126 | |
| 127 | <LI> |
| 128 | <I>Quicktime</I> has the standard <code>MovieInWindow</code> and |
| 129 | <code>VerySimplePlayer</code> examples, re-coded in Python. |
| 130 | |
| 131 | <LI> |
| 132 | <I>Resources</I>, <I>Sound</I> and <I>Speech</I> have some examples |
Jack Jansen | a2139fe | 1998-02-25 15:40:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 133 | on using the respective managers. In the <i>Mac:Lib</i> folder you |
| 134 | will also find modules that do useful things with the Communications |
| 135 | Toolbox, the Finder interface, etc. |
Jack Jansen | 5073b37 | 1998-04-27 15:06:50 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 136 | |
| 137 | <LI> |
| 138 | <I>Printing</I> has an example on using the Printing module to, you guessed |
| 139 | it, print from Python. The code is somewhat self-documenting. Donated |
| 140 | by Just van Rossum, who also donated the Printing module itself. |
Jack Jansen | 0836542 | 1996-04-19 15:56:08 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 141 | </UL> |
| 142 | |
Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 143 | At some point in the (possibly distant) future, I will add chapters on |
| 144 | how to use bgen to create modules completely automatic and how to make |
| 145 | your Python program scriptable, but that will have to wait. <p> |
| 146 | |
| 147 | <HR> |
| 148 | |
| 149 | Please let me know if you miss critical information in this |
| 150 | document. I am quite sure that I will never find the time to turn it |
| 151 | into a complete MacPython programmers guide (which would probably be a |
Jack Jansen | a2139fe | 1998-02-25 15:40:35 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 152 | 400-page book instead of 10 lousy html-files), but it should contain |
Jack Jansen | a630813 | 1996-03-18 13:38:52 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 153 | at least the information that is neither in the standard Python |
| 154 | documentation nor in Inside Mac or other Mac programmers |
| 155 | documentation. <p> |
| 156 | |
| 157 | <HR> |
| 158 | <A HREF="http://www.cwi.nl/~jack">Jack Jansen</A>, |
Jack Jansen | 968cde9 | 2000-04-22 21:48:56 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 159 | <A HREF="mailto:jack@cwi.nl">jack@cwi.nl</A>, 22-Apr-00. |
Jack Jansen | 024a387 | 1996-07-18 16:07:05 +0000 | [diff] [blame] | 160 | </BODY></HTML> |