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<h1>Python XPCOM Package</h1>
<p>Mozilla CVS Version - Last updated May 2001</p>
<p>This is the readme for the Python interface to <b>XPCOM</b>.</p>
<p><b>XPCOM </b>is an acronym for "Cross Platform COM". It has
come out of the <a href="http://www.mozilla.org">Mozilla</a> project, which
maintains the <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/projects/xpcom/">main XPCOM
project pages.</a> The Python XPCOM package is a set of Python bindings to
XPCOM, allowing a Python programmer to both use and implement XPCOM
interfaces. If you don't know what <a href="http://www.python.org">Python</a>
is, then none of this probably interests you at all!</p>
<p>This readme has links to the following information:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="doc/configure.html">Building, Configuring and
Testing the Python
XPCOM Package</a></li>
<li><a href="doc/tutorial.html">A tutorial for the Python XPCOM package</a></li>
<li>Some <a href="doc/advanced.html">advanced
topics and other miscellaneous information</a></li>
<li><a href="doc/architecture.html">Information on the architecture</a></li>
<li>A list of the <a href="#KnownBugs">known issues and bugs</a>, the <a href="#ReleaseHistory">release
history</a> and the <a href="doc/credits.html">PyXPCOM acknowledgements</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Note: <b>This package requires Python 1.6 or later</b>; we recommend using
the latest
official Python version (currently 2.1). This package works
very well with the latest <a href="http://www.ActiveState.com/Products/ActivePython">ActivePython</a>,
and does not require any external modules or packages beyond what is provided in
the core Python release for each platform.</p>
<h2>About the Python XPCOM Package</h2>
<p>The Python XPCOM Package was developed by <a href="http://www.ActiveState.com">ActiveState
Tool Corporation</a>, and came out of their <a href="http://www.ActiveState.com/Products/Komodo">Komodo
project</a>. The Python XPCOM package is released under the <a href="http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/">Mozilla
Public License (MPL)</a></p>
<p>Please see the <a href="doc/credits.html">credits file</a> for a list of
contributors. </p>
<h2><a name="KnownBugs">Known Bugs</a>/Issues</h2>
<ul>
<li>No attempt is made to recurse sub-directories of the main
"components" directory. This is because we may decide on some
smart scheme for recursion (similar to Python packages), and don't want people
to rely on simple recursive searches.</li>
<li>No management of the PythonPath is done by the package. You must
arrange for the Python <i>xpcom</i> package to be on your PythonPath.
Significantly, the XPCOM <i> components</i> directory is not on the PythonPath and
generally cannot be, as Python will often find other DLLs in this directory and
attempt to use them as Python modules. This means that Python module
files will not be found in the <i> components</i> directory, even when referenced by
another component - thus, a component can not import another component
source file as a regular module! It is thought that when we know what to
do with sub-directories of the <i> components</i> directory (as described above), some
automated PythonPath support will be provided, so Python components and regular
Python modules the component depends on can exist in the same directory
structure.</li>
<li>No unregistration support at all. The main Python Component Loader supports
unregistration, but the actual Python objects themselves do not support unregistration. It is unclear if the Component Loader
unregistration process needs to manually remove each component it is responsible
for.</li>
<li>All Python-implemented components unconditionally support
weak-references. There is no way to disable this feature for any or all
components. It is unclear if there is a need to prevent this, but it is
documented here just in case!</li>
</ul>
<h2><a name="ReleaseHistory">Release History</a></h2>
<h3>Version 0.90 - January 2001</h3>
<ul>
<li>First public release.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 0.91 - January 2001</h3>
<ul>
<li>Fix a seg fault on Linux when PYTHONPATH is not set.</li>
<li>Changes to allow building with stand-alone XPCOM.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 0.92 - May 2001</h3>
<p>Implement interface flattening. You should (almost) never need to use <i>QueryInterface()</i>!
We are still 100% backwards compatible, so usage of QI still works - just is
generally not necessary.</p>
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