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Introduction
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============
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This is the reference guide for SIP 4.10.5. SIP is a tool for
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automatically generating `Python <http://www.python.org>`__ bindings for C and
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C++ libraries. SIP was originally developed in 1998 for
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`PyQt <http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/pyqt>`__ - the Python
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bindings for the Qt GUI toolkit - but is suitable for generating bindings for
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any C or C++ library.
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This version of SIP generates bindings for Python v2.3 or later, including
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Python v3.
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There are many other similar tools available. One of the original such tools
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is `SWIG <http://www.swig.org>`__ and, in fact, SIP is so called because it
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started out as a small SWIG. Unlike SWIG, SIP is specifically designed for
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bringing together Python and C/C++ and goes to great lengths to make the
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integration as tight as possible.
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The homepage for SIP is http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/sip. Here
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you will always find the latest stable version and the latest version of this
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documentation.
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SIP can also be downloaded from the
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`Mercurial <http://mercurial.selenic.com/>`__ repository at
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http://www.riverbankcomputing.com/hg/sip.
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License
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-------
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SIP is licensed under similar terms as Python itself. SIP is also licensed
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under the GPL (both v2 and v3). It is your choice as to which license you
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use. If you choose the GPL then any bindings you create must be distributed
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under the terms of the GPL.
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Features
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--------
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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
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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,
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including abstract C++ classes
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- Python sub-classes can implement the :meth:`__dtor__` method which will be
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called from the C++ class's virtual destructor
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- support for ordinary C++ functions, class methods, static class methods,
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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 Q_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
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types that are automatically invoked
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- the ability to automatically exploit any available run time type information
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to ensure that the class of a Python instance object matches the class of the
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corresponding C++ instance
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- the ability to change the type and meta-type of the Python object used to
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wrap a C/C++ data type
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- full support of the Python global interpreter lock, including the ability to
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specify that a C++ function of method may block, therefore allowing the lock
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to be released and other Python threads to run
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- support for consolidated modules where the generated wrapper code for a
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number of related modules may be included in a single, possibly private,
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module
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- support for the concept of ownership of a C++ instance (i.e. what part of the
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code is responsible for calling the instance's destructor) and how the
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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
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on another C++ class library which also has had bindings generated so that
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the different bindings integrate and share code properly
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- a sophisticated versioning system that allows the full lifetime of a C++
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class library, including any platform specific or optional features, to be
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described in a single set of specification files
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- the ability to include documentation in the specification files which can be
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extracted and subsequently processed by external tools
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- the ability to include copyright notices and licensing information in the
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specification files that is automatically included in all generated source
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code
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- a build system, written in Python, that you can extend to configure, compile
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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
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MacOS/X
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SIP Components
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--------------
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SIP comprises a number of different components.
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- The SIP code generator (:program:`sip`). This processes :file:`.sip`
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specification files and generates C or C++ bindings. It is covered in detail
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in :ref:`ref-using`.
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- The SIP header file (:file:`sip.h`). This contains definitions and data
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structures needed by the generated C and C++ code.
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- The SIP module (:file:`sip.so` or :file:`sip.pyd`). This is a Python
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extension module that is imported automatically by SIP generated bindings and
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provides them with some common utility functions. See also
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:ref:`ref-python-api`.
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- The SIP build system (:file:`sipconfig.py`). This is a pure Python module
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that is created when SIP is configured and encapsulates all the necessary
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information about your system including relevant directory names, compiler
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and linker flags, and version numbers. It also includes several Python
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classes and functions which help you write configuration scripts for your own
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bindings. It is covered in detail in :ref:`ref-build-system`.
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- The SIP distutils extension (:file:`sipdistutils.py`). This is a distutils
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extension that can be used to build your extension modules using distutils
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and is an alternative to writing configuration scripts with the SIP build
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system. This can be as simple as adding your .sip files to the list of files
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needed to build the extension module. It is covered in detail in
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:ref:`ref-distutils`.
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Qt Support
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----------
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SIP has specific support for the creation of bindings based on Nokia's Qt
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toolkit.
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The SIP code generator understands the signal/slot type safe callback mechanism
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that Qt uses to connect objects together. This allows applications to define
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new Python Q_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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