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1 ===============
2 The Py Manual
3 ===============
4
5 -------------------------
6 Py - Served Fresh Daily
7 -------------------------
8
9 :Author: Patrick K. O'Brien
10 :Contact: pobrien@orbtech.com
11 :Organization: Orbtech_
12 :Date: $Date$
13 :Revision: $Revision$
14
15 .. _Orbtech: http://www.orbtech.com/
16
17 .. contents::
18
19
20 Introduction
21 ============
22
23 This document will show you how to use the Py programs and the Py
24 library of Python source code modules. Py is the new name for the
25 project that began as PyCrust. Py is officially part of wxPython_,
26 and includes PyCrust, so PyCrust is no longer distributed separately.
27
28 .. _wxPython: http://www.wxpython.org/
29
30
31 Developer Reference
32 ===================
33
34 Source code documentation for developers is available at:
35
36 http://www.orbtech.com/www/wx/epydoc/public/wx.py-module.html
37
38
39 What is Py?
40 ===========
41
42 Besides being `a delicious dessert`_, Py is the name for a collection
43 of whimsically-named Python programs and modules that began as the
44 PyCrust project. So Py is really several things: a set of standalone
45 programs, including the original PyCrust program, a library of Python
46 source code modules that can be used in your own programs, a set of
47 decorator classes that enhance the wxPython class library, and as many
48 examples of bad "pie" puns as I can come up with. (If you're going to
49 do something, you might as well do it all the way, right?) Py uses
50 Python and wxPython, so it works equally well on Windows, Linux and
51 Mac OS X.
52
53 .. _a delicious dessert: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie
54
55
56 PyCrust is dead! Long live Py!
57 ==============================
58
59 This project began with a program I created called PyCrust - an
60 interactive, graphical Python shell, developed using the wxPython GUI
61 toolkit. For about two years, PyCrust was hosted on SourceForge_.
62 Shortly after I created PyCrust, the wxPython folks started including
63 it in their distribution. As the PyCrust project grew, it reached a
64 point where I thought the original PyCrust name was too confining. I
65 was using the PyCrust code base to develop programs that weren't just
66 Python shells any more.
67
68 Around that same time, the wxPython folks asked me if I'd be willing
69 to move all my wxPython-related projects into the `wxPython CVS
70 repository`_, and become part of the wxPython_/wxWindows_ developer team.
71 I decided the time was right to restructure the PyCrust project.
72 During the move, the PyCrust package was renamed to "py" (lowercase
73 "p") and the collection of programs and modules as a whole became
74 known as "Py" (with a capital "P").
75
76 .. _wxPython CVS repository: http://cvs.wxwindows.org
77 .. _SourceForge: http://www.sf.net/projects/pycrust/
78 .. _wxWindows: http://www.wxwindows.org/
79
80 The original goal of PyCrust was to be the best interactive, graphical
81 Python shell (of course, I claimed it was the "flakiest" Python
82 shell). And that was all I wanted it to be. But little by little I
83 found myself developing a wider variety of tools for wxPython
84 applications. Eventually I'll create a debugger (PySlice, perhaps)
85 and whatever else is needed to one day become a complete wxPython
86 application development environment (PyFactory?). In the mean time,
87 PyCrust is still the flakiest Python shell, and the other Py programs
88 are equally tasty.
89
90 At this point, Py has standalone programs that include Python code
91 editors (PyAlaCarte and PyAlaMode), interactive Python shells (PyCrust
92 and PyShell), and a runtime wrapper (PyWrap). The runtime wrapper
93 utility provides you with runtime introspection capabilities for your
94 wxPython programs without having to include PyCrust or PyShell in your
95 program, and without having to alter one line of your source code.
96
97 Py also contains a collection of modules that you can use in your own
98 wxPython applications to provide similar services, either for your own
99 use during development, or as an interface for users of your programs.
100 These modules are the same ones used by all the Py programs. In
101 addition, Py contains a set of decorator classes that enhance the
102 wxPython class library, by dynamically attaching docstrings and call
103 signatures at runtime.
104
105
106 Py standalone programs
107 ======================
108
109 These are the standalone applications in the Py collection:
110
111 * PyAlaCarte
112 * PyAlaMode
113 * PyCrust
114 * PyFilling
115 * PyShell
116 * PyWrap
117
118
119 PyAlaCarte
120 ==========
121
122 PyAlaCarte is a Python source code editor. It is designed to have a
123 simple, single-file interface. As a standalone application, it is
124 good for simple, short editing tasks. But it is really meant to be
125 more of an example of how to embed the Py editor into a wxPython
126 application.
127
128
129 PyAlaMode
130 =========
131
132 PyAlaMode is a Python source code editor.
133
134
135 PyCrust
136 =======
137
138 PyCrust is an interactive, Python shell. But it's more than just a
139 shell. It includes a tabbed notebook containing a namespace tree
140 (PyFilling), and several other things.
141
142
143 PyFilling
144 =========
145
146 PyFilling is a namespace viewer. It isn't really useful as a
147 standalone program, but it does illustrate how to make use of the
148 underlying ``filling`` module.
149
150
151 PyShell
152 =======
153
154 PyShell is an interactive, Python shell. It shares the same base code
155 as PyCrust, but doesn't have any of the extra features that appear in
156 the PyCrust notebook interface.
157
158 .. figure:: /screenshots/PyShell.png
159
160 PyShell running on Mandrake Linux 9.1.
161
162
163 PyWrap
164 ======
165
166 PyWrap is a runtime utility that lets you run an existing wxPython
167 program with a PyCrust frame at the same time. Inside the PyCrust
168 shell namespace, the local variable ``app`` is assigned to your
169 application instance. In this way you can introspect your entire
170 application within the PyCrust shell, as well as the PyFilling
171 namespace viewer. And through the use of the Py decorator classes,
172 PyCrust can display wxPython function and method signatures as well as
173 docstrings for the entire wxPython library.
174
175
176 Py modules
177 ==========
178
179 Py was designed to be modular. That means graphical code is kept
180 separate from non-graphical code, and many of the Py modules can be
181 used by other programs. Likewise, other programs can supply some of
182 the modules needed by Py. For example, you could supply a customized
183 interpreter module and plug it in to the PyCrust standalone
184 application. As long as it supports the minimum functionality
185 required, PyCrust will work just as well with your interpreter as with
186 its default interpreter.
187
188
189 Decorator classes
190 =================
191
192 Py contains a set of decorator classes that enhance the wxPython class
193 library, by dynamically attaching docstrings and call signatures at
194 runtime.
195
196
197 Projects using Py
198 =================
199
200 * `Conflict Solver`_
201 * Gnumed_
202 * PyGist
203 * PythonCard_
204 * RPy_
205 * SciPy_
206 * Sim42_
207 * wxGasp_
208
209 .. _Conflict Solver: http://conflictsolver.sourceforge.net/
210 .. _Gnumed: http://www.gnumed.org/
211 .. _PythonCard: http://www.pythoncard.org/
212 .. _RPy: http://rpy.sourceforge.net/
213 .. _SciPy: http://www.scipy.org/
214 .. _Sim42: http://www.sim42.org/
215 .. _wxGasp: http://linus.yorktown.arlington.k12.va.us/CS/APCSC/student_sites/David_Mayo/wxGasp
216
217
218 History of changes
219 ==================
220
221 This section lists all the changes that have been made to the Py
222 programs and modules, since the beginning.
223
224 .. include:: ../wx/py/CHANGES.txt
225