Using Python with qibuild projects

Introduction

Let’s say you have a C++ library in a qibuild project, called foo.

<worktree>
|__ foo
    |__ qiproject.xml
    |__ CMakeLists.txt
    |__ foo.cpp
    |__ foo.hpp

# in <worktree>/foo/CMakeLists.txt
project(foo)
find_package(qibuild)

qi_create_lib(SHARED foo foo.hpp foo.cpp)

<!-- in <worktree>/foo/qiproject.xml -->
<project version="3">
  <qibuild name="foo" />
</project>

You wish to write a C++ Python extension in another project to wrap the foo library, using the qibuild build system. Let’s say you use swig for this.

You have an interface file for swig called pyfoo.i which is going to generate a _pyfoo.so Python extension, and a foo.py to wrap the C++ extension.

<worktree>
|__ foo
    |__ qiproject.xml
    |__ CMakeLists.txt
    |__ foo.cpp
    |__ foo.hpp
|__ pyfoo
    |__ qiproject.xml
    |__ CMakeLists.txt
    |__ pyfoo.i
    |__ foo.py
    |__ foo_script.py

<!-- in pyfoo/qiproject.xml -->
<project version="3">
  <qibuild name="pyfoo">
    <depends runtime="true" buildtime="true" names="foo" />
  </qibuild>
  <qipy name="pyfoo" />
</project>

# in <worktree>/foo-py/CMakeLists.txt
project(pyfoo)

qi_swig_python(_pyfoo pyfoo.i DEPENDS FOO)

// In pyfoo.i
%module _pyfoo

%{
#include "foo.hpp"
%}

%include "foo.hpp"

# In foo.py

import _pyfoo

...

# In foo_script.py
import foo

...

def main():
    ....

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

You want to be able to build the pyfoo extension, and use foo-script.py directly without having to set PYTHONPATH to something like: <worktree>/pyfoo/build-linux64/sdk/lib.

In order to do so, you can write a setup.py for your python project (pyfoo, and use qipy to run the script)

Under the cover, everything will be done using a virtualenv and distutils.

Some useful links:

Step one: Basic checks

Just make sure your project is listed when running qipy list, and that the extension is built:

qibuild configure pyfoo
qibuild make pyfoo

Step two: Write a setup.py file

# in pyfoo/setup.py
import os
from setuptools import setup

setup(name="mymodule",
      version="0.1",
      py_modules=['foo'],
      entry_points = {
         "console_scripts" : [
           "pyfoo = foo_script:main"
          ]
      }
)

Step three: Use qipy bootstrap

qipy bootstrap

This will initialize a virtualenv in the wortkree, and should be run when changing or adding new python projects.

You can use a -c option to have several virtualenv in the wortkree.

The virtualenv will be initialized using pip install --editable, so you will be able to run your python code directly from the sources.

Also, the qi_swig_python CMake call will add the path to the extension library in a qi.pth file in the virtualenv.

Step four: Use the virtualenv

Just use qipy run instead of python

qipy run [-c config] foo_script.py

If you have several commands to run, use something like source $(qipy sourceme -q) to activate the virtualenv in your current session.

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