[PythonCE] 2.6 update

[Christopher Fairbairn]

Hi,

On 23/03/2008, at 5:07 AM, Alexandre Delattre wrote:
> Btw, I have a suggestion to make compiling/porting C extension  
> modules easier in future PythonCE builds:
>
> Indeed, the functions implemented in wince_compatibility.c are not  
> available from a C extension module.
>
> Using the __declspec(dllexport) notation for these function would  
> allow extensions to dynamically link with them, and benefit for  
> instance of proper errno and current directory support.

While Joseph has been concentrating on getting a Python 2.6 merge up  
and running I have been working on some related things to hopefully  
make a future merge into the Python trunk more acceptable/easier.

One of them is essentially the changes you suggest above. With a few  
additional modifications it helps reduce the number of #ifdef  
MS_WINCE required through the core Python source code, and it makes  
them not only available for extension modules but also other  
supporting libraries such as libsdl etc.

I'm particularly keen to get the SDL graphics library compiled with  
access to Python's concept of a current working directory etc, as  
this will mean a lot of pygame based projects will run on PythonCE  
without major changes. Using the existing pygame/libsdl ports  
requires all file paths to be replaced with full paths to any graphic  
or sound resources etc. My changes to how wince_compatibility.c works  
means although libsdl will get access to Python's current working  
directory concept etc, it still doesn't have a direct dependency on  
PythonCE being installed (i.e. SDL still works without PythonCE  
installed).

The other change I have been experimenting with is a replacement of  
the SCONS based build system for PythonCE. The Win32 desktop versions  
of Python are currently built via a series of Visual Studio 2008  
project files. I have started writing a little script that converts  
these project files so that they build for Pocket PC 2003 (in a  
similar fashion to an existing script which converts the VS2008 files  
into a format compatible with VS2005). My progress seems to be going  
well.

My hope is that if we can start building using the same process as  
the desktop it will be easier to get the changes submitted upstream.  
Any changes the core Python developers make to how Python builds for  
the desktop would instantly be reflected in the PythonCE build  
process. This also helps resolve some of the differences that  
currently occur between the desktop and PythonCE builds.

How many people are currently building PythonCE with Embedded Visual  
C v4? One thing Joseph and myself have been thinking about is further  
developing the work I have been doing to produce a script that would  
convert the VS2008 based project files into a format compatible with  
Embedded Visual C. This isn't of particular interest to me (as I have  
been using Visual Studio to build PythonCE for quite a while), but I  
do realise that unlike for the desktop there isn't a free version of  
Visual Studio that is capable of developing PDA applications.

Hope this helps,
Christopher Fairbairn