wxPython README
---------------
-Introduction
-------------
-The code in this subtree is a Python Extension Module that enables the
-use of wxWindows from the Python language. So what is Python? Go to
-http://www.python.org to learn more but in a nutshell, it's an
-extremly cool object oriented language. It's easier than Perl and
-nearly as powerful. It runs on more platforms than Java, and by some
-reports, is even faster than Java with a JIT compiler!
-
-So why would you wan to use wxPython over just C++ and wxWindows?
-Personally I prefer using Python for everything. I only use C++ when
-I absolutly have to eek more performance out of an algorithm, and even
-then I ususally code it as an extension module and leave the majority
-of the program in Python. Another good thing to use wxPython for is
-quick prototyping of your wxWindows apps. With C++ you have to
-continuously go though the edit-compile-link-run cycle, which can be
-quite time comsuming. With Python it is only an edit-run cycle. You
-can easily build an application in a few hours with Python that would
-normally take a few days with C++. Converting a wxPython app to a
-C++/wxWindows app should be a straight forward task.
-
-This extension module attempts to mirror the class heiarchy of
-wxWindows as closely as possble. This means that there is a wxFrame
-class in wxPython that looks, smells, tastes and acts almost the same
-as the wxFrame class in the C++ version. Unfortunatly, I wasn't able
-to match things exactly because of differences in the languages, but
-the differences should be easy to absorb because they are natural to
-Python. For example, some methods that return mutliple values via
-argument pointers in C++ will return a tuple of values in Python.
-These differences have not been documented yet so if something isn't
-working the same as described in the wxWindows documents the best
-thing to do is to scan through the wxPython sources.
-
-Currently this extension module is designed such that the entire
-application will be written in Python. I havn't tried it yet, but I
-am sure that attempting to embed wxPython in a C++ wxWindows
-application will cause problems. However there is a plan to support
-this in the future.
-
-
-
-Build Instructions
-------------------
-I used SWIG (http://www.swig.org) to create the source code for the
-extension module. This enabled me to only have to deal with a small
-amount of code and only have to bother with the exceptional issues.
-SWIG takes care of the rest and generates all the repetative code for
-me. You don't need SWIG to build the extension module as all the
-generated C++ code is included in the src directory.
-
-wxPython is organized as a Python package. This means that the
-directory containing the results of the build process should be a
-subdirectory of a directory on the PYTHONPATH. (And preferably should
-be named wxPython.) You can control where the bulid process will dump
-wxPython by setting the TARGETDIR makefile variable. The default is
-$(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython, where this README.txt is located. If you
-leave it here then you should add $(WXWIN)/utils to your PYTHONPATH.
-However, you may prefer to use something that is already on your
-PYTHONPATH, such as the site-packages directory on Unix systems.
+Welcome to the wonderful world of wxPython!
+Once you have installed the wxPython extension module, you can try it
+out by going to the [install dir]\wxPython\demo directory and typing:
-Win32
------
+ python demo.py
-1. Build wxWindows with USE_RESOURCE_LOADING_IN_MSW set to 1 in
-include/wx/msw/setup.h so icons can be loaded dynamically.
+There are also some other sample files there for you to play with and
+learn from.
-2. Change into the $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/src directory.
+If you selected to install the documentation then point your browser
+to [install dir]\wxPython\docs\index.htm and you will then be looking
+at the docs for wxWindows. For the most part you can use the C++ docs
+as most classes and methods are used identically. Where there are
+differences they are documented with a "wxPython Note."
-3. Edit makefile.nt and specify where your python installation is at.
-You may also want to fiddle with the TARGETDIR variable as described
-above.
+On Win32 systems the binary self-installer creates a program group on
+the Start Menu that contains a link to running the demo and a link to
+the help file. To help you save disk space I'm now using Microsoft's
+HTML Help format. If your system doesn't know what to do with the help
+file, you can install the HTML Help Viewer as part of IE 4+, NT
+Service Pack 4+, or the HTML Workshop at
-4. Run nmake -f makefile.nt
+http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/author/htmlhelp/download.asp.
-5. If it builds successfully, congratulations! Move on to the next
-step. If not then you can try mailing me for help. Also, I will
-always have a pre-built win32 version of this extension module at
-http://starship.skyport.net/crew/robind/python.
-6. Change to the $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/tests directory.
-7. Try executing the test programs. Note that some of these print
-diagnositc or test info to standard output, so they will require the
-console version of python. For example:
-
- python test1.py
-
-To run them without requiring a console, you can use the pythonw.exe
-version of Python either from the command line or from a shortcut.
+Getting Help
+------------
+Since wxPython is a blending of multiple technologies, help comes from
+multiple sources. See the http://alldunn.com/wxPython for details on
+various sources of help, but probably the best source is the
+wxPython-users mail list. You can view the archive or subscribe by
+going to
+ http://starship.python.net/mailman/listinfo/wxpython-users
-Unix
-----
+Or you can send mail directly to the list using this address:
-NOTE: I don't have wxPython working yet with wxGTK, so if you aren't
-using Win32 you can skip the rest of this file and check back in a
-week or so.
+ wxpython-users@starship.python.net
-1. Change into the $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/src directory.
+Other Info
+----------
-2. Edit Setup.in and ensure that the flags, directories, and toolkit
-options are correct. See the above commentary about TARGETDIR.
+Please also see the following files in this directory:
-3. Run this command to generate a makefile:
+ CHANGES.txt Information about new features, fixes, etc. in
+ each release.
- make -f Makefile.pre.in boot
+ BUILD.txt Instructions for building wxPython on various
+ platforms.
-4. Run these commands to build and then install the wxPython extension
-module:
+ licence.txt Text of the wxWindows license.
- make
- make install
+----------------
+Robin Dunn
+robin@alldunn.com
-5. Change to the $(WXWIN)/utils/wxPython/tests directory.
-6. Try executing the test programs. For example:
- python test1.py
-------------------------
-8/8/1998
-Robin Dunn
-robin@alldunn.com
projects / wxWidgets.git / blobdiff