Why I am going to talk at Pycon ...

I started to develop SPE when I was still using Windows back in 2002. By using Python and wxPython, I hoped SPE would run smoothly on all platforms. That was wishful thinking. Luckily the community stepped in: Linux users started sending me patches and Mac users collected money to buy me a Mac Mini. Many years ago I go I switched to Ubuntu and at that moment I've felt the joy not having chosen a technology which locks you up in one platform.

Later I started developing Phatch (Photo Batch Processor) and used my experience of SPE to polish if for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. I took care of distributing it well on Linux by getting it in the major repositories (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Suse, ...). Unfortunately I lacked the time for proper distribution on Mac OS X and Windows. I am happy to announce that is going to change.

Together with Nadia Alramli (other Phatch developer) we've dived deeper in the subject of developing and distributing cross-platform applications. Our conclusion is that is it takes more time to research than to implement the code. Therefore we are eager to share our knowledge during our talk at Pycon to save you from hair-pulling behaviour. We have learnt that Python solves 90% of the cross-platform problems for you, but that the remaining 10% could be tricky. In our talk we will point the finger on several painful issues and offer solutions, hoping that they will save you time and frustration.

We prepared the talk by writing a paper (outline here), which is far more extensive than the 30 min of talk will allow us. We designed the talk to give you a good overview and to get you started. I have send the paper for review to some people I highly respect. These were some reactions:

• "Great document, I learned new things from it!" Piotr Ożarowski (Debian Python Application Package Team)


• "It's a pity I can not attend PyCon. Anyway, the subjects you are describing in the paper are seldom analyzed in such depth, and I believe the whole community will benefit from your presentation. Most interesting of all, correctly packaging and distributing an app on multiple platforms can be a deep nightmare and what you have on your paper is a beautiful example of how to avoid the most hair-pulling mistakes in doing it." Andrea Gavana (wxPython)

We will use wxPython as an example GUI toolkit, but the principles are valid for other toolkits as well. Our target audience are programmers who have already some experience on one platform but are wondering how things could be implemented on other platforms. Making your application cross-platform is the most efficient way to scale your user base.

Rather than making any bullet point slides, we did our best to make the slides visually entertaining. So even if our voices would suddenly mute, you have at least something nice to look at. As the author of SPE I made sure that all code slides have a pretty syntax highlight. Combining Pygments with Inkscape rocks!

I hope to see you at our talk at Friday 02:55pm @ Centennial II !

SPE packaged for Mac OS X

Krzysztof Olczyk did a wonderful job by packaging SPE for Mac OS X. You can download it here:
http://olczyk.krzysztof.googlepages.com/SPE.dmg

He commented:

You can install now SPE in your Macintosh in a way you do with native applcation.
Simply mount the DMG and drag the SPE to Applications folder.

Another advantage is, that now SPE will have its own icon in dock, like any application in Mac.

Have fun.

I will release soon SPE 0.8.4.e with some important bug fixes and I hope Krzysztof Olczyk will update the package for the Mac.

Please test the package and let Krystof know how it works.

Thanks Krystof!
Stani

SPE 0.8.4.c Python IDE editor released

As SPE was being developed for more than a year in subversion, I thought it is time for a release again. This is a major bugfix release. It ships updated plugins and also some new features, especially if you use Linux or Blender, for which Witold did a great job. Thanks to the big help of MOTU pochu, this is added to Ubuntu Hardy. I would also like to thank in particular the webhost Zindep.com for their support and patience.

New features:

• new versions of WinPdb debugger, PyChecker, wxGlade & XRCed gui designer
• clear output pane
• support for wxPython 2.8
• linux support for nautilus, gnome-terminal, konqueror, konsole, thunar
• improved blender support up to 2.45 (by Witold)
  

Fixes:

• sidebar sash more tolerant
• show path in title (linux)
• run with filename with spaces
• nicer debug dialog box
• kill process fix
• notebook
• insert signature
• numpad keys (by isolationism)
• find tab with nonexisting files
• add environment to SPE.py (linux)
• better warning for documentation for unsaved files
• better handling of new empty files
• many more...

Installing on Debian(unstable) and Ubuntu Hardy:

sudo apt-get install spe

Installing on all other platforms:

1. Download either the zip or tar ball from here
   
2. Unzip it where you want and do NOT rename the _spe folder
3. Start SPE from within the _spe folder with "python SPE.py"
   

Latest wxGlade, XRCed and Winpdb in subversion

So SPE is up to date again. The Winpdb debugger now features autocompletion. It is looking for a new name, as most people associate win with Windows (while winpdb is being developed on ubuntu now). The new XRCed (gui designer for wxpython) looks really slick. This is a screenshot on ubuntu:

SPE 0.8.4.b works fine in Ubuntu Gutsy

The latest version of SPE 0.8.4.b works very well in Ubuntu Gutsy. It is available through subversion. However the repository package is outdated, as it is still on 0.8.2.a What SPE needs to solve this issue is a Debian packager with love for python. This is the related bug on launchpad, from which I quote Scott:
"Ubuntu gets this package from Debian and it appears that it's been orphaned in Debian.
(...) it'd be hugely helpful if someone concerned about spe would adopt it in Debian. There is a Debian Python Applications Team with active DD support, so you need not be a DD to do this."
If you are not a packager it would be nice if you leave your comment on the launchpad bug.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/spe/+bug/124896
So this gets more attention and will be fixed sooner as there is more demand. If someone steps up to package this for debian, I will release a new version of SPE.

Latest wxGlade in SPE subversion

I've uploaded the latest wxGlade cvs into the subversion repository of SPE.

Last WinPdb debugger 1.0.9 in SPE subversion

The last version of WinPdb debugger 1.0.9 has hit the SPE 0.8.4 subversion repository. What is now especially nice is that when you debug a python file from SPE, WinPdb remembers it when you have to relaunch the script. In case you don't know WinPdb:

Winpdb is a GPL python debugger, with support for smart breakpoints, multiple threads, namespace modification, embedded debugging, password encrypted communication and speed of up to 20 times that of pdb.

What I like especially about WinPdb, is that it is perfect for gui debugging as it supports multiple threads, that you can change variables on the fly (with exec variable=new_value in the shell) and... the amazing speed for a debugger. It almost runs programs at normal speed. SPE gives you the option to start running a program normally and to let WinPdb break in from the moment you want to debug. WinPdb has been fixed for Ubuntu and Mac, so now it is the best open source python debugger for Linux, Mac and Windows.

These are all the changes of 1.0.9:

• Bug fix of bug 1654010 - window gets bigger on every session.
• Bug fix of bug 1373074 - 2 Window menus on mac.
• Bug fix of bug 1654011 - clipping long path names at the left.
• Bug fix of bug 1654009 - List indices are sorted wrong.
• Bug fix of bug 1610393 - Problems with wx-2.7.2-msw-unicode.
• Bug fix of bug 1481097 - "# -*- coding: " problem.
• + fixes for tons of unreported bugs.
• Feature request 1654155 - More compact variable list on OS X.
• Feature request 1446799 - Restarting.
• Feature request 1364935 - remember command line file.

In the latest release of SPE 0.8.3.c shipped with Winpdb 1.0.6 , so the changes of WinPdb might interest you as well:

• Bug fix of bug 1358842 - Wrong terminal command in RHEL4.
• Bug fix of bug 1559668 - not work with Ubuntu Dapper 6.06.
• Bug fix of bug 1476311 - script launch fails with gnome-terminal.
• Bug fix of bug 1492500 - Filtering should work anywhere.
• Bug fix of bug 1445514 - Doesn't work with *.pyw scripts.
• Bug fix of bug 1491470 - Slightly difficult to use a custom terminal in rpdb2.
• Bug fix of bug 1546181 - Sort names alphabetically.
• Bug fix of bug 1481097 - "# -*- coding: " problem.
• Fixed exception handling on CPython 2.4.x and CPython 2.5.
• Fixed some compatibility issues with wxPython 2.7.

SPE: Call for testers!

I've been working a lot on fixing SPE and upgrading it with the latest plugins. The winpdb debugger no longer fails and wxGlade crashes are history. Is that not great? Are you eager to try it out yourself? Please do! Get it from subversion and test it for any critical bug, so I can iron it out. I have been patching a lot for Ubuntu users, who will be very pleased with this release, and I'd like to thank Jurjen a lot for his work on Mac issues. This is a definitely a release everyone should upgrade to, wether you use windows, mac or linux!

Here is an overview what has been done:

The focus in this release is bugfixing, plugin upgrades and compatibility with wxPython 2.8, but it also still works on wxPython 2.6

Upgrades:
- WinPdb to 1.0.8 (not fail in timely manner anymore)
- wxGlade to latest cvs (support for wxWindows2.8)

New features:
- Save as copy
- Clear output pane

Fixes
- output: escape html characters in tab & respect spaces
- preserve file permissions and avoid erasing file
- wxversion handling at startup
- font dialog
- recent files sorted by lowercase
- default buttons on all dialog
- mac: run terminal commands (jurjen)
- mac: pychecker
- ubuntu: switch to file
- some critical bug fixes which could have crashed SPE in the past
- much more ...

PS. Winpdb does not work well on Mac & wxpython2.8 Nir is working on an update. So when it comes out it will be included with SPE.

SPE now works on wxPython2.8 and how to switch

Today I switched on my laptop from wxPython2.6 to wxPython2.8 SPE seemed to work quite OK already, except: the bottom panel took too much place and was not draggable to a smaller size. After fixing this annoying bug, I am happily coding now with SPE on wxPython 2.8 For those who want to try out before I release, follow the subversion instructions. I tested the new SPE on Ubuntu (wxPython 2.6 & 2.8) and on Windows (wxPython 2.8). If anybody knows a good subversion client for the Mac, please comment.

sudo wxPython 2.8 has major new features such as AUI (Advanced User Interface), anti-alias graphics (Graphicscontext) and a lot of new widgets (RichTextCtrl, CustomTreeCtrl, SearchCtrl a la Firefox, ...). This might be useful for SPE in the future, but at the moment SPE stays backwards compatible with wxPython 2.6.


On Feisty wxPython is already included in repositories, just type:

sudo apt-get install python-wxgtk2.8

On Edgy you need to use the wxPython coummunity repositories. Open /etc/apt/sources.list:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Add the following lines:

# wxPython APT repository at wxcommunity.com
deb http://wxpython.wxcommunity.com/apt/ubuntu/dapper /
deb-src http://wxpython.wxcommunity.com/apt/ubuntu/dapper /

Then copy and paste these lines in a terminal:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install python-wxgtk2.8 python-wxtools wx2.8-i18n

If you want to use XRC gui designer, you need python-xml:

sudo apt-get install python-xml

How to download the latest SPE from subversion

If you want to have the latest version of SPE, use subversion which is very easy. (Subversion is a way for multiple people around the world to work on the same program. It keeps the changes that they make to the source code of that program in sync with each other.) Do not forget first to uninstall your previous version of SPE! Windows users can uninstall SPE through 'Add/Remove programs' in the Control Panel (look for 'python-spe*', not for 'spe') and use a subversion client (tortoisesvn, rapidsvn) to get the latest SPE. Linux and mac users need just to copy and paste this in the terminal:

svn checkout svn://svn.berlios.de/python/spe/trunk/_spe

This will create a '_spe' folder. (Do not rename it to 'spe' or another name!) From this folder you can run:

python SPE.py

To browse the subversion repository online, surf to:

http://svn.berlios.de/wsvn/python/spe/trunk/_spe/

For ubuntu: to first remove SPE, type this in the terminal:

sudo apt-get remove spe kiki wxglade

To install subversion (svn), type this in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install subversion

Instructions for Tortoise SVN (thanks Richard):

1. Go to the location you want to download SPE to
2. Right click -> SVN Checkout
3. Paste svn://svn.berlios.de/python/spe/trunk/_spe into the url field
4. Click ok and it should work.

Switched from Windows to Ubuntu

I've switched from Windows to Ubuntu since half a year and I don't look back. I can recommend every python developer to do the same as the batteries included in Ubuntu are a python paradise. Of course I will continue supporting SPE on Windows and Mac as well. Watch out this blog as I will post here updates about SPE and some useful things about python, Ubuntu, UML, ...