ETA for Win32all under Python 2.2?

[David Bolen]

David Brady <daves_spam_dodging_account at yahoo.com> writes:

> Did you see the part where I said "anything you could
> fix yourself"?  You have apparently overlooked my vast
> capacity for ignorance.  It's vast.  It's vaster
> than... well, it's really vast, okay?  Vast.

Perhaps I was misreading it, but that earlier comment of yours seemed
to say that the "longstanding rule in [your] family" should have
precluded asking about something you could do yourself, so the
response here seemed reasonable, since it said you could do it
yourself :-)

> Where do I get the package to build?

The top level ActiveState pages for the win32all package
(http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Downloads/ActivePython/Extensions/Win32all)
contain a reference to accessing with CVS, which points you to Mark's
original win32all pages at
http://starship.python.net/crew/mhammond/cvs.html.

> How do I build the package?

For the most part, you just pick the top level workspace/project file
(it's already set up for VC 6) and build as any other VC 6 project.
You do have to set up the directories where you have your Python
installation first.

It should be covered in the win32all web pages, which have a pointer
to the specific build instructions at
http://starship.python.net/crew/mhammond/win32/BuildingExtensions.html.

> If your reply has anything to do with CVS, how the
> heck do I get at it from Win32?  (Lots of people have
> told me they've heard of other people doing this, but
> I'm starting to think it's an urban legend.)

Just use a Win32 binary of CVS.  If you've got a Cygwin environment,
you should have one already, or there's a native NT binary available
at http://www.cvsnt.com.

I personally prefer the command line, but you can also use WinCVS as
covered on Mark's win32all pages as noted above, including a reference
on where to get it (http://www.wincvs.org).

> > (if it doesn't, please submit a bug report).
> 
> *sigh*  Vast, man, vast.  How do I submit a bug
> report?

Not that vast - although slightly grey at the moment now that Mark is
no longer with ActiveState, but the ActiveState pages (above) have a
Bug Reports option along the right edge, where you can submit bug
reports.  Or, given the current state of affairs, probably just an
e-mail to Mark.

> -dB
> P.S. Please note, I may be ignorant, but I'm not
> stupid.  If there is a good place that explains how to
> get and build Python and its packages, I'll happily
> wade through the documentation.  It's *finding* the
> documentation that's killing me.

I think most of this is pretty clear but perhaps it's finding that
first page that is tricky.  For win32all start with the ActiveState
pages for the package, or via Mark's original win32all page
http://starship.python.net/crew/mhammond/win32.

As for Python itself, it's not that different - you can either
download the specific version source from the main download location
(http://www.python.org/download - get the .tgz file since that has
source since Unix systems typically build from source), or access it
via CVS from the SourceForge project (http://python.sourceforge.net)
and check out the FAQ for accessing the tree via CVS.  Then just check
out the tag you want for the release you want.

Once you have the source, build instructions are included in various
readme's in it, and there are again VC project files that you can
select to make the build.  It's pretty painless, particularly if
you're used to VC.

--
-- David
-- 
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