renamed project to distribution

This commit is contained in:
Tarek Ziadé 2009-06-22 13:06:55 +00:00
parent 8f153bdac1
commit 45a852796f
1 changed files with 62 additions and 42 deletions

View File

@ -17,22 +17,33 @@ Abstract
This PEP proposes various enhancements for Distutils:
- A new format for the .egg-info structure.
- Some APIs to read the meta-data of a project
- Some APIs to read the meta-data of a distribution
- A replacement PEP 262
- An uninstall feature
Definitions
===========
A **project** is a distribution of one or several files, which can be Python
modules, extensions or data. It is distributed using a `setup.py` script
with Distutils and/or Setuptools. The `setup.py` script indicates where each
elements should be installed.
A **distribution** is a collection of files, which can be Python modules,
extensions or data. A distribution is managed by a special module called
`setup.py` which contains a call to the `distutils.core.setup` function.
The arguments passed to that function describe the distribution, like
its `name`, its `version`, and so on.
Disutils provides among other things **commands** that can be called
through the shell using the `setup.py` script. A `sdist` command is provided
for instance, to create a source distribution archive. An `install` command
is also provided, to perform an installation of the distribution in the Python
installation the script is invoked with::
$ python setup.py install
See the Distutils [distutils]_ documentation for more information.
Once installed, the elements are located in various places in the system, like:
- in Python's site-packages (Python modules, Python modules organized into packages,
Extensions, etc.)
- in Python's site-packages (Python modules, Python modules organized into
packages, Extensions, etc.)
- in Python's `include` directory.
- in Python's `bin` or `Script` directory.
- etc.
@ -40,15 +51,16 @@ Once installed, the elements are located in various places in the system, like:
Rationale
=========
There are two problems right now in the way projects are installed in Python:
There are two problems right now in the way distributions are installed in
Python:
- There are too many ways to do it.
- There is no API to get the metadata of installed projects.
- There is no API to get the metadata of installed distributions.
How projects are installed
--------------------------
How distributions are installed
-------------------------------
Right now, when a project is installed in Python, every elements its contains
Right now, when a distribution is installed in Python, every elements its contains
is installed in various directories.
The pure Python code for instance is installed in the `purelib` directory,
@ -60,14 +72,14 @@ various subcommands.
The `install_egg_info` subcommand is called during this process, in order to
create an `.egg-info` file in the `purelib` directory.
For example, if the `zlib` project (which contains one package) is installed,
two elements will be installed in `site-packages`::
For example, if the `zlib` distribution (which contains one package) is
installed, two elements will be installed in `site-packages`::
- zlib
- zlib-2.5.2-py2.4.egg-info
Where `zlib` is a Python package, and `zlib-2.5.2-py2.4.egg-info` is
a file containing the project metadata as described in PEP 314 [#pep314]_.
a file containing the distribution metadata as described in PEP 314 [#pep314]_.
This file corresponds to the file called `PKG-INFO`, built by
the `sdist` command.
@ -78,12 +90,12 @@ install packages in the same way that Distutils does:
- `easy_install` creates an `EGG-INFO` directory inside an `.egg` directory,
and adds a `PKG-INFO` file inside this directory. The `.egg` directory
contains in that case all the elements of the project that are supposed to
be installed in `site-packages`, and is placed in the `site-packages`
contains in that case all the elements of the distribution that are supposed
to be installed in `site-packages`, and is placed in the `site-packages`
directory.
- `pip` creates an `.egg-info` directory inside the `site-packages` directory
and adds a `PKG-INFO` file inside it. Elements of the project are then
and adds a `PKG-INFO` file inside it. Elements of the distribution are then
installed in various places like Distutils does.
They both add other files in the `EGG-INFO` or `.egg-info` directory, and
@ -93,17 +105,18 @@ Uninstall information
---------------------
Distutils doesn't provide any `uninstall` command. If you want to uninstall
a project, you have to be a power user and remove the various elements that
were installed. Then look over the `.pth` file to clean them if necessary.
a distribution, you have to be a power user and remove the various elements
that were installed. Then look over the `.pth` file to clean them if necessary.
And the process differs, depending on the tools you have used to install the
project, and if the project's `setup.py` uses Distutils or Setuptools.
distribution, and if the distribution's `setup.py` uses Distutils or
Setuptools.
Under some circumstances, you might not be able to know for sure that you
have removed everything, or that you didn't break another project by
removing a file that was shared among several projects.
have removed everything, or that you didn't break another distribution by
removing a file that was shared among several distributions.
But there's common behavior: when you install a project, files are copied
But there's common behavior: when you install a distribution, files are copied
in your system. And there's a way to keep track of theses files, so to remove
them.
@ -115,7 +128,7 @@ To address those issues, this PEP proposes a few changes:
- a new `.egg-info` structure using a directory, based on one form of
the `EggFormats` standard from `setuptools` [#eggformats]_.
- new APIs in `pkgutil` to be able to query the information of installed
projects.
distributions.
- a de-facto replacement for PEP 262
- an uninstall function in Distutils.
@ -131,7 +144,7 @@ Notice that this change is based on the standard proposed by `EggFormats`.
Although, this standard proposes two ways to install files :
- a self-contained directory that can be zipped or left unzipped and that
contains the project files *and* the `.egg-info` directory.
contains the distribution files *and* the `.egg-info` directory.
- a distinct `.egg-info` directory located in the site-packages directory.
@ -259,9 +272,9 @@ lower-case string matching `[a-z0-9_\-\.]`.
It will default to `distutils` if not provided.
When a project is installed, the INSTALLER file is generated in the
When a distribution is installed, the INSTALLER file is generated in the
`.egg-info` directory with this value, to keep track of **who** installed the
project. The file is a single-line text file.
distribution. The file is a single-line text file.
New APIs in pkgutil
===================
@ -269,7 +282,9 @@ New APIs in pkgutil
To use the `.egg-info` directory content, we need to add in the standard
library a set of APIs. The best place to put these APIs seems to be `pkgutil`.
The API is organized in five classes:
The API is organized in five classes that work with directories and Zip files
(so its works with files included in Zip files, see PEP 273 for more details
[pep273]_.
- ``Distribution``: manages an `.egg-info` directory.
- ``ZippedDistribution``: manages an `.egg-info` directory contained in a zip
@ -280,8 +295,6 @@ The API is organized in five classes:
some `.egg.info` directory.
- ``DistributionDirectories``: manages ``EggInfoDirectory`` instances.
XXX mention PEP 273
Distribution class
------------------
@ -412,16 +425,16 @@ from ``dict``::
Iterates over all ``Distribution`` and ``ZippedDistribution`` contained
in ``DistributionDirectory`` and ``ZippedDistributionDirectory`` instances.
- ``get_distribution(project_name)`` -> ``Distribution`` (or
- ``get_distribution(dist_name)`` -> ``Distribution`` (or
``ZippedDistribution``) or None.
Returns a ``Distribution`` (or ``ZippedDistribution``) instance for the
given project name. If not found, returns None.
given distribution name. If not found, returns None.
- ``get_file_users(path)`` -> Iterator of ``Distribution`` (or
``ZippedDistribution``) instances.
Iterates over all projects to find out which project uses the file.
Iterates over all distributions to find out which distributions use the file.
Returns ``Distribution`` (or ``ZippedDistribution``) instances.
.egg-info functions
@ -450,7 +463,7 @@ The new functions added in the ``pkgutil`` are :
- ``get_file_users(path)`` -> iterator of ``Distribution`` (or
``ZippedDistribution``) instances.
Iterates over all projects to find out which project uses ``path``.
Iterates over all distributions to find out which distributions uses ``path``.
``path`` can be a local absolute path or a relative '/'-separated path.
All these functions use the same global instance of ``DistributionDirectories``
@ -507,12 +520,13 @@ standard and will fullfill the requirements described in PEP 262, like the
Adding an Uninstall function
============================
Distutils already provides a very basic way to install a project, which is running
the `install` command over the `setup.py` script of the distribution.
Distutils already provides a very basic way to install a distribution, which
is running the `install` command over the `setup.py` script of the
distribution.
Distutils will provide a very basic ``uninstall`` function, that will be added
in ``distutils.util`` and will take the name of the project to uninstall as
its argument. ``uninstall`` will use the APIs desribed earlier and remove all
in ``distutils.util`` and will take the name of the distribution to uninstall
as its argument. ``uninstall`` will use the APIs desribed earlier and remove all
unique files, as long as their hash didn't change. Then it will remove
empty directories left behind.
@ -523,7 +537,7 @@ empty directories left behind.
['/opt/local/lib/python2.6/site-packages/zlib/file1',
'/opt/local/lib/python2.6/site-packages/zlib/file2']
If the project is not found, a ``DistutilsUninstallError`` will be raised.
If the distribution is not found, a ``DistutilsUninstallError`` will be raised.
Filtering
---------
@ -556,7 +570,7 @@ Installer marker
As explained earlier in this PEP, the `install` command adds an `INSTALLER`
file in the `.egg-info` directory with the name of the installer.
To avoid removing projects that where installed by another packaging system,
To avoid removing distributions that where installed by another packaging system,
the ``uninstall`` function takes an extra argument ``installer`` which default
to ``distutils``.
@ -571,7 +585,7 @@ this argument. If not, it will raise a ``DistutilsUninstallError``::
>>> uninstall('zlib', installer='cool-pkg-manager')
This allows a third-party application to use the ``uninstall`` function
and make sure it's the only program that can remove a project it has
and make sure it's the only program that can remove a distribution it has
previously installed. This is useful when a third-party program that relies
on Distutils APIs does extra steps on the system at installation time,
it has to undo at uninstallation time.
@ -605,6 +619,12 @@ References
.. [#eggformats]
http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EggFormats
.. [#pep273]
http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0273
.. [distutils]
http://docs.python.org/distutils
Aknowledgments
==============