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Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +00001How to install Python 2.0b1 on your Macintosh
Jack Jansenffd61a62000-04-09 18:37:50 +00002---------------------------------------------
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +00003
4If this is your first encounter with Python: you definitely need the
5common user documentation (common to all platforms). You can find this
6(in various forms) on www.python.org and ftp.python.org. Through
7there, or via http://www.cwi.nl/~jack/macpython.html you can also find
8the most recent MacPython distribution.
9
10Mac-specific documentation is included in this distribution in folder
11Mac:Demo. The documentation is sparse, but it will have to serve for
12now. The documentation is in HTML format, start with index.html.
13
Jack Jansend0ddb661998-04-27 15:14:36 +000014Caveats
15-------
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +000016This is a beta version, so use with caution.
Jack Jansenffd61a62000-04-09 18:37:50 +000017
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +000018Aside from the general new Python 2.0 features (compared to 1.5.2, there
19was no 1.6 for the macintosh) like unicode support the main new features
20of this MacPython release is support for multithreading. This has had
21some preliminary testing, but please report any success or failure on
22the mailing list.
Jack Jansenffd61a62000-04-09 18:37:50 +000023
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +000024This installer installs MacPython for PowerPC only, if you really want
2568k support you will have to stay with 1.5.2. Or, if you are willing to
26invest the time and have access to CodeWarrior you are welcome to try
27and build a 68k distribution, most of the projects and sources are
28reasonably up to date (May 2000). Contact me for details.
Jack Jansenecbc1cc1998-01-06 12:13:16 +000029
Jack Jansen965226b2000-09-14 20:58:24 +000030This version of Python expects a recent version of Appearance, so it may
31be that users with pre MacOS 8.5 systems have trouble running it. If
32that is the case try getting CarbonLib from Apple, I am told this
33includes Appearance and NavServices. You may also have to disable the
34"Use navservices" preference for best results.
35
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +000036What to install
37---------------
38
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +000039This installer is PPC only: too many new MacOS features are not
40available on 68K, and doing workarounds, even just #ifdeffing in the
41code, is too much work for me right now. If someone wants to revive
4268K-MacPython: please do so. The project files still contain the 68K
43targets (they're simply skipped by the build process) so all that is
44needed is CodeWarrior, a source distribution and commitment.
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +000045
46The optional parts in this distribution are
47- TK+PIL: Tkinter and support modules, plus Imaging, the Python image manipulation
48 package (allows you to read, write and display images and do lots of operations on them).
49- img: another imaging package. Has more file format support and is faster
50 than imaging, but has only limited operations on images. There is a bridge
51 between the packages.
52- Numeric: the LLNL Numeric Python extension. All sorts of nifty operations
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +000053 on matrices and such. This is the most recent version from the sourceforge archive.
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +000054- Developers kit: all header files and some tools and sample projects to get you started on
55 writing Python extensions if you have CodeWarrior.
56All these except the DevKit are installed with Easy Install.
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +000057
Jack Jansen0b726951997-10-08 15:34:42 +000058After the installer finishes it automatically launches the
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +000059ConfigurePython applet, to finish configuration of your Python.
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +000060If you have previously installed another copy of 2.0b1 you should manually
61remove your preference file first (but no such action is needed for installing
62beside older MacPythons, and they will live together happily).
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +000063
64If you don't have enough memory: the sizes choosen are somewhat
65arbitrary. Try lowering the application sizes in the finder "get info"
66window, and seeing whether the resulting python is still usable. Some
67modules (Tkinter comes to mind) need a lot of memory, so it may also be
68necessary to increase the application size.
69
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +000070After installing
71----------------
72
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +000073It is probably a good idea to run the automatic tests. Start
74Python and "import test.autotest". This should print only 2 or 3 errors, about some
75AM/PM format not supported in strftime, about a MemoryError in test_longexp and
76about a memory error in test_zlib.
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +000077It will, however, print some messages about optional features
Jack Jansend0ddb661998-04-27 15:14:36 +000078not supported. Also, if you didn't run compileall before autotesting
79you may run out of memory the first time you run the
80tests. test_socket may also fail if you have no internet
81connection. Please also read the Relnotes file for other minor
82problems with this distribution.
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +000083
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +000084Using Python is most easily done from the IDE, which has a builtin editor,
85debugger and other goodies. The alternative is to use PythonInterpreter,
86which is the lowlevel interpreter with a console-window only (similar to Unix
87Python).
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +000088
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +000089If your program uses Tkinter you MUST run it under PythonInterpreter, Tkinter
90and IDE are incompatible and your program will fail in strange ways.
91
Jack Jansen0b726951997-10-08 15:34:42 +000092Uninstalling
93------------
94
95Two items are installed in the system folder: the interpreter shared
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +000096library "PythonCore 2.0b1" lives in the Extensions folder and the
97"Python 2.0b1 Preferences" file in the Python subfolder in the
98Preferences folder. All the rest of Python lives in the folder you
99installed in.
Jack Jansen0b726951997-10-08 15:34:42 +0000100
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000101Things to see
102-------------
103
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +0000104Start off at Mac:Demo:index.html. Read at least the first few sections.
105
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +0000106There are also some interesting files in the "Relnotes" folder that may
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000107contain useful information. There is also a first stab at documentation
108(plus examples) in the Mac:Demo folder. The toplevel Demo folder has
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +0000109machine-independent demos.
110The Mac:Lib:test folder also has some programs that show simple
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000111capabilities of various modules.
112
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +0000113The ":Mac:scripts" folder has some sample scripts. Some are useful, some are
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000114just interesting to look at to see how various things work. The MkDistr,
115mkapplet and fullbuild scripts (plus the ones mentioned above) may help
116you to understand how to use AppleEvents and various other toolboxes
117from python.
118
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +0000119Other mac-specific goodies can be found in :Mac:Tools, of which the IDE sources
120and a CGI framework deserve special mention.
121
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000122The 'img' group of modules, which handles I/O of many different image
Jack Jansend0ddb661998-04-27 15:14:36 +0000123formats is included, but without documentation. You can find docs at
124ftp://ftp.cwi.nl/pub/jack/python/img (or somewhere around there).
125
126Finally there is a Mac:Contrib folder which contains some contributed
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +0000127software.
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000128
129Upgrading from older Python releases
130------------------------------------
131
132Since release 1.4 Python releases are independent of each other, with
133separate Preferences files, shared library names, etc. The good news is
134that this means you can keep your older version around if you are unsure
135whether to upgrade. The bad news is that your old preference settings
136are lost and you have to set them again.
137
Jack Jansen8a6cdcc2000-09-10 12:02:28 +0000138After you are satisfied that 2.0b1 works as expected you can trash
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000139anything in the system folder that has "python" in the name and not
Jack Jansen965226b2000-09-14 20:58:24 +0000140"2.0b1".
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000141
142The installer
143-------------
144
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +0000145The installer for this product was created using Installer VISE
146from MindVision Software. For more information on Installer VISE,
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000147contact:
148MindVision Software
1497201 North 7th Street
150Lincoln, NE 68521-8913
151Voice: 402-477-3269
152Fax: 402-477-1395
153Internet: mindvision@mindvision.com
154http://www.mindvision.com
155
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +0000156Just van Rossum <just@letterror.nl> created the initial version of the
157installer (with Installer Vise Lite), and Jack worked from there.
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000158
Jack Jansen01ae9eb2000-04-22 22:57:25 +0000159Thanks!
160-------
161
Jack Jansen965226b2000-09-14 20:58:24 +0000162Thanks go to the whole Python community with Guido in the lead, of
163course. Mac-specific thanks go to the pythonmac-sig, Just van Rossum,
164Corran Webster, Tony Ingraldi, Erik van Blokland, Bill Bedford, Chris
165Stern, Gordon Worley, Oliver Steele, M. Papillon, Steven Majewski, David
166Goodger, Chris Barker, Luc Lefebvre and all the other people who
167provided feedback, code or both!
Jack Jansen01ae9eb2000-04-22 22:57:25 +0000168
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000169Feedback
170--------
171
172Send bug reports, suggestions, contributions and fanmail to
Jack Jansenecbc1cc1998-01-06 12:13:16 +0000173<jack@cwi.nl>. However, a better way to discuss MacPython is to join the
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000174<pythonmac-sig@python.org> mailing list, which is explicitly meant for
175this purpose.
176
177Alternatively, you can try sending to comp.lang.python or
178python-list@cwi.nl, but since I read the newsgroup, not the mailinglist,
179I may miss it there (but other people may know quite a bit more than me
180anyway:-).
181
182Jack Jansen
Jack Jansen12a37b72000-05-06 23:01:07 +0000183Oratrix Development BV
184Valeriusplein 30
185Amsterdam
Jack Jansen83cab721997-08-26 13:25:06 +0000186the Netherlands
187
188<jack@cwi.nl>, http://www.cwi.nl/~jack