From 6c4cc3653e8dd7668295f3e659b7eb4dc571b67c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Timothy Pearson Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2011 02:59:34 -0600 Subject: Initial import of SIP4 for Qt3 --- doc/html/introduction.html | 239 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 239 insertions(+) create mode 100644 doc/html/introduction.html (limited to 'doc/html/introduction.html') diff --git a/doc/html/introduction.html b/doc/html/introduction.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c952bf7 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/html/introduction.html @@ -0,0 +1,239 @@ + + + + + + + Introduction — SIP 4.10.5 Reference Guide + + + + + + + + + + +
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Navigation

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Introduction

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This is the reference guide for SIP 4.10.5. SIP is a tool for +automatically generating Python bindings for C and +C++ libraries. SIP was originally developed in 1998 for +PyQt - the Python +bindings for the Qt GUI toolkit - but is suitable for generating bindings for +any C or C++ library.

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This version of SIP generates bindings for Python v2.3 or later, including +Python v3.

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There are many other similar tools available. One of the original such tools +is SWIG and, in fact, SIP is so called because it +started out as a small SWIG. Unlike SWIG, SIP is specifically designed for +bringing together Python and C/C++ and goes to great lengths to make the +integration as tight as possible.

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The homepage for SIP is http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/sip. Here +you will always find the latest stable version and the latest version of this +documentation.

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SIP can also be downloaded from the +Mercurial repository at +http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/hg/sip.

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License

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SIP is licensed under similar terms as Python itself. SIP is also licensed +under the GPL (both v2 and v3). It is your choice as to which license you +use. If you choose the GPL then any bindings you create must be distributed +under the terms of the GPL.

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Features

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SIP, and the bindings it produces, have the following features:

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  • bindings are fast to load and minimise memory consumption especially when +only a small sub-set of a large library is being used
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  • automatic conversion between standard Python and C/C++ data types
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  • overloading of functions and methods with different argument signatures
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  • support for Python’s keyword argument syntax
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  • support for both explicitly specified and automatically generated docstrings
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  • access to a C++ class’s protected methods
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  • the ability to define a Python class that is a sub-class of a C++ class, +including abstract C++ classes
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  • Python sub-classes can implement the __dtor__() method which will be +called from the C++ class’s virtual destructor
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  • support for ordinary C++ functions, class methods, static class methods, +virtual class methods and abstract class methods
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  • the ability to re-implement C++ virtual and abstract methods in Python
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  • support for global and class variables
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  • support for global and class operators
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  • support for C++ namespaces
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  • support for C++ templates
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  • support for C++ exceptions and wrapping them as Python exceptions
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  • the automatic generation of complementary rich comparison slots
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  • support for deprecation warnings
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  • the ability to define mappings between C++ classes and similar Python data +types that are automatically invoked
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  • the ability to automatically exploit any available run time type information +to ensure that the class of a Python instance object matches the class of the +corresponding C++ instance
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  • the ability to change the type and meta-type of the Python object used to +wrap a C/C++ data type
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  • full support of the Python global interpreter lock, including the ability to +specify that a C++ function of method may block, therefore allowing the lock +to be released and other Python threads to run
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  • support for consolidated modules where the generated wrapper code for a +number of related modules may be included in a single, possibly private, +module
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  • support for the concept of ownership of a C++ instance (i.e. what part of the +code is responsible for calling the instance’s destructor) and how the +ownership may change during the execution of an application
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  • the ability to generate bindings for a C++ class library that itself is built +on another C++ class library which also has had bindings generated so that +the different bindings integrate and share code properly
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  • a sophisticated versioning system that allows the full lifetime of a C++ +class library, including any platform specific or optional features, to be +described in a single set of specification files
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  • the ability to include documentation in the specification files which can be +extracted and subsequently processed by external tools
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  • the ability to include copyright notices and licensing information in the +specification files that is automatically included in all generated source +code
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  • a build system, written in Python, that you can extend to configure, compile +and install your own bindings without worrying about platform specific issues
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  • support for building your extensions using distutils
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  • SIP, and the bindings it produces, runs under UNIX, Linux, Windows and +MacOS/X
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SIP Components

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SIP comprises a number of different components.

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  • The SIP code generator (sip). This processes .sip +specification files and generates C or C++ bindings. It is covered in detail +in Using SIP.
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  • The SIP header file (sip.h). This contains definitions and data +structures needed by the generated C and C++ code.
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  • The SIP module (sip.so or sip.pyd). This is a Python +extension module that is imported automatically by SIP generated bindings and +provides them with some common utility functions. See also +Python API for Applications.
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  • The SIP build system (sipconfig.py). This is a pure Python module +that is created when SIP is configured and encapsulates all the necessary +information about your system including relevant directory names, compiler +and linker flags, and version numbers. It also includes several Python +classes and functions which help you write configuration scripts for your own +bindings. It is covered in detail in The Build System.
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  • The SIP distutils extension (sipdistutils.py). This is a distutils +extension that can be used to build your extension modules using distutils +and is an alternative to writing configuration scripts with the SIP build +system. This can be as simple as adding your .sip files to the list of files +needed to build the extension module. It is covered in detail in +Building Your Extension with distutils.
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Qt Support

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SIP has specific support for the creation of bindings based on Nokia’s Qt +toolkit.

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The SIP code generator understands the signal/slot type safe callback mechanism +that Qt uses to connect objects together. This allows applications to define +new Python signals, and allows any Python callable object to be used as a slot.

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SIP itself does not require Qt to be installed.

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Table Of Contents

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Previous topic

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SIP Reference Guide

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Next topic

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Potential Incompatibilities with Earlier Versions

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Navigation

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+ © Copyright 2010 Riverbank Computing Limited. + Created using Sphinx 0.6.4. +
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