[PyKDE] Is PyKDE good for my project?

[Jim Bublitz]

On Monday 21 June 2004 22:07, Maurizio Colucci wrote:

> I am evaluating PyKDE for my project.

> 1)
> Can I write a kicker applet completely in PyKDE? If so, could you please
> give me some hint how to do it? (e.g., where do I put the init() function,
> where do I copy the .py file, how do I cope with the requirement of having
> a .la file...).

> If I can't, what is the least amount of C++ code I have to write?

The status of panel applet support is a little murky at the moment. It was 
included in PyKDE-3.8, but removed from PyKDE-3.11 (and you don't want to go 
back to 3.8). It will eventually be part of an addon package separate from 
PyKDE (but requiring PyKDE), but the people (including me) doing the 
development haven't worked out the details yet.

I have working code (including installation) and could probably send you 
something if you're in a real hurry (let me know). Otherwise, a general 
release is probably a month or more away (probably "more"). It requires sip 
4.0, which is available in rc form now and final release soon.

Basically, the panel applet/extension (about the same for both) interface uses 
a single C++ lib to handle all instances of Python-based applets or 
extensions - you just need to install this, along with libpythonize.so, which 
is a very simple wrapper for the Python interpreter. You don't need to write 
any C++.

There is an appletInstall.py application (needs some cleanup, but working) 
which will simplify installing Python-based panel applets. Assume you write 
someApplet.py: In someApplet.py, you need a factory function ("createApplet" 
- the code is pretty much the same for all cases) and a class sub-classed 
from KPanelApplet that actually implements your applet. What the installer 
does is:

1. Creates a .desktop file that references "libsomeApplet.so" and places it
in the share/apps/kicker/applets directory along with your Python file.

2. Creates a symlink in the appropriate directory from libsomeApplet.so to 
libpykpanelapplet.so (the single applet interface lib)

3. Creates a fake libsomeApplet.la file in the approprieate directory

(The installer does some file renaming too - your file will be installed as 
someApplet_py_applet.py - not usually a big deal).

When kicker reads the .desktop file, it loads libpykpanelapplet (via the 
symlinked name and fake .la file). libpykpanelapplet has the required 'init' 
function which loads the Python interpreter supplied in the libpythonize.so 
lib (if not already loaded), loads the requested Python applet script into 
the interpreter, runs the factory function and returns a KPanelApplet * for 
your applet back to kicker. sip handles all of the Python<=>C++ conversions 
(in the createApplet function, which you can mostly just cut and paste).

Because of the way Python<=>C++ conversions are now handled, applets may be a 
little more difficult to debug - I still have to look into that.

> 2)
>
> Can I use KHTML with pyKDE? My app needs integrated web browsing.

There is a KHTML part example (pyKHTMLPart.py) in the examples/ directory of 
PyKDE. All it does is load and display www.kde.org (it needs an active 'net 
connection running of course). From there you can use the appropriate signals 
and slots and additional KDE classes in PyKDE to create as much of a web 
browser as you need.

I haven't looked at using KHTML as a plain widget lately, but the KParts 
interface is probably a better way to go and you end up with a widget anyway.

Jim