Installation
============

Downloading
-----------

You can get the latest release of the SIP source code from
https://www.riverbankcomputing.com/software/sip/download.

SIP is also included with all of the major Linux distributions.  However, it
may be a version or two out of date.


Configuring
-----------

After unpacking the source package (either a ``.tar.gz`` or a ``.zip`` file
depending on your platform) you should then check for any ``README`` files
that relate to your platform.

Next you need to configure SIP by executing the :program:`configure.py` script.
For example::

    python configure.py

This assumes that the Python interpreter is on your path.  Something like the
following may be appropriate on Windows::

    c:\python37\python configure.py

If you have multiple versions of Python installed then make sure you use the
interpreter for which you wish SIP to generate bindings for.

The full set of command line options is:

.. program:: configure.py

.. cmdoption:: --version

    Display the SIP version number.

.. cmdoption:: -h, --help

    Display a help message.

.. cmdoption:: --arch <ARCH>

    Binaries for the MacOS/X architecture ``<ARCH>`` will be built.  This
    option should be given once for each architecture to be built.  Specifying
    more than one architecture will cause a universal binary to be created.

.. cmdoption:: -b <DIR>, --bindir <DIR>

    The SIP code generator will be installed in the directory ``<DIR>``.

.. cmdoption:: --configuration <FILE>

    .. versionadded:: 4.16

    ``<FILE>`` contains the configuration of the SIP build to be used instead
    of dynamically introspecting the system and is typically used when
    cross-compiling.  See :ref:`ref-configuration-files`.

.. cmdoption:: -d <DIR>, --destdir <DIR>

    The :mod:`sip` module will be installed in the directory ``<DIR>``.

.. cmdoption:: --deployment-target <VERSION>

    .. versionadded:: 4.12.1

    Each generated Makefile will set the :envvar:`MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET`
    environment variable to ``<VERSION>``.  In order to work around bugs in
    some versions of Python, this should be used instead of setting the
    environment variable in the shell.

.. cmdoption:: -e <DIR>, --incdir <DIR>

    The SIP header file will be installed in the directory ``<DIR>``.

.. cmdoption:: -k, --static

    The :mod:`sip` module will be built as a static library.  This is useful
    when building the :mod:`sip` module as a Python builtin.

.. cmdoption:: -n, --universal

    The SIP code generator and module will be built as universal binaries
    under MacOS/X.  If the :option:`--arch <configure.py --arch>` option has
    not been specified then the universal binary will include the ``i386`` and
    ``ppc`` architectures.

.. cmdoption:: --no-dist-info

    .. versionadded:: 4.19.9

    This disables the creation of the PEP 376 ``.dist-info`` directory.
    Starting with this version a ``.dist-info`` is created.  This contains
    meta-data about the installation including version information for
    dependent packages.  It also means that ``pip`` can be used to uninstall
    the package.

.. cmdoption:: --no-module

    .. versionadded:: 4.19.12

    The :mod:`sip` module will not be installed.

.. cmdoption:: --no-stubs

    .. versionadded:: 4.19

    This disables the installation of the ``sip.pyi`` type hints stub file.

.. cmdoption:: --no-tools

    .. versionadded:: 4.16

    The SIP code generator, ``sip.h`` header file and :mod:`sipconfig` module
    will not be installed.

.. cmdoption:: -p <PLATFORM>, --platform <PLATFORM>

    Explicitly specify the platform/compiler to be used by the build system,
    otherwise a platform specific default will be used.  The
    :option:`--show-platforms <configure.py --show-platforms>` option will
    display all the supported platform/compilers.

.. cmdoption:: -s <SDK>, --sdk <SDK>

    If the :option:`--universal <configure.py -n>` option was given then this
    specifies the name of the SDK directory.  If a path is not given then it is
    assumed to be a sub-directory of
    ``/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs``
    or ``/Developer/SDKs``.

.. cmdoption:: --stubsdir <DIR>

    .. versionadded:: 4.19

    ``<DIR>`` is the name of the directory where the ``sip.pyi`` type hints
    stub file is installed.  By default this is the directory where the
    :mod:`sip` module is installed.

.. cmdoption:: -u, --debug

    The :mod:`sip` module will be built with debugging symbols.

.. cmdoption:: -v <DIR>, --sipdir <DIR>

    By default ``.sip`` files will be installed in the directory ``<DIR>``.

.. cmdoption:: --show-platforms

    The list of all supported platform/compilers will be displayed.

.. cmdoption:: --show-build-macros

    The list of all available build macros will be displayed.

.. cmdoption:: --sip-module <NAME>

    The :mod:`sip` module will be created with the fully qualified name
    ``<NAME>`` rather than the default ``sip``.  See :ref:`ref-private-sip` for
    how to use this to create a private copy of the :mod:`sip` module.  Also
    see the :option:`-n <sip -n>` option of the code generator.

.. cmdoption:: --sysroot <DIR>

    .. versionadded:: 4.16

    ``<DIR>`` is the name of an optional directory that replaces ``sys.prefix``
    in the names of other directories (specifically those specifying where the
    various SIP components will be installed and where the Python include
    directories can be found).  It is typically used when cross-compiling or
    when building a static version of SIP.  See :ref:`ref-configuration-files`.

.. cmdoption:: --target-py-version <VERSION>

    .. versionadded:: 4.16

    ``<VERSION>`` is the major and minor version (e.g. ``3.4``) of the version
    of Python being targetted.  By default the version of Python being used to
    run the :program:`configure.py` script is used.  It is typically used when
    cross-compiling.  See :ref:`ref-configuration-files`.

.. cmdoption:: --use-qmake

    .. versionadded:: 4.16

    Normally the :program:`configure.py` script uses SIP's own build system to
    create the Makefiles for the code generator and module.  This option causes
    project files (``.pro`` files) used by Qt's :program:`qmake` program to be
    generated instead.  :program:`qmake` should then be run to generate the
    Makefiles.  This is particularly useful when cross-compiling.

The :program:`configure.py` script takes many other options that allows the
build system to be finely tuned.  These are of the form ``name=value`` or
``name+=value``.  The :option:`--show-build-macros <configure.py
--show-build-macros>` option will display each supported ``name``, although not
all are applicable to all platforms.

The ``name=value`` form means that ``value`` will replace the existing value of
``name``.

The ``name+=value`` form means that ``value`` will be appended to the existing
value of ``name``.

For example, the following will disable support for C++ exceptions (and so
reduce the size of module binaries) when used with GCC::

    python configure.py CXXFLAGS+=-fno-exceptions

A pure Python module called ``sipconfig.py`` is generated by
:program:`configure.py`.  This defines each ``name`` and its corresponding
``value``.  Looking at it will give you a good idea of how the build system
uses the different options.  It is covered in detail in
:ref:`ref-build-system`.


Configuring for MinGW
*********************

SIP, and the modules it generates, can be built with MinGW, the Windows port of
GCC.  You must use the :option:`--platform <configure.py -p>` command line
option to specify the correct platform.  For example::

    c:\python37\python configure.py --platform win32-g++


Configuring for the Borland C++ Compiler
****************************************

SIP, and the modules it generates, can be built with the free Borland C++
compiler.  You must use the :option:`--platform <configure.py -p>` command line
option to specify the correct platform.  For example::

    c:\python37\python configure.py --platform win32-borland

You must also make sure you have a Borland-compatible version of the Python
library.  If you are using the standard Python distribution (built using the
Microsoft compiler) then you must convert the format of the Python library.
For example::

    coff2omf python37.lib python37_bcpp.lib


.. _ref-private-sip:

Configuring a Private Copy of the ``sip`` Module
************************************************

.. versionadded:: 4.12

The :mod:`sip` module is intended to be be used by all the SIP generated
modules of a particular Python installation.  For example PyQt4 and PyQt5 are
completely independent of each other but, historically, used the same
:mod:`sip` module.  However, this meant that all the generated modules must be
built against a compatible version of SIP.  If you do not have complete control
over the Python installation then this may be difficult or even impossible to
achieve.

To get around this problem you can build a private copy of the :mod:`sip`
module that installed as part of your package.  To do this you use the
:option:`--sip-module <configure.py --sip-module>` option to specify the fully
qualified name of your private copy.  You can also use the
:option:`--no-tools <configure.py --no-tools>` option to specify that nothing
else but the :mod:`sip` module is installed.

Note that SIP v5 will only support private copies of the :mod:`sip` module.

.. versionadded:: 4.19.9

In order use the private copy of the :mod:`sip` module you must use the
:option:`-n <sip -n>` option when generating the bindings code.

.. versionadded:: 4.19.12

If you always use private copies of the :mod:`sip` module and do not want the
legacy shared copy to be installed then specify the
:option:`--no-module <configure.py --no-module>` option.


Building
--------

The next step is to build SIP by running your platform's ``make`` command.  For
example::

    make

The final step is to install SIP by running the following command::

    make install

(Depending on your system you may require root or administrator privileges.)

This will install the various SIP components.


.. _ref-configuration-files:

Configuring with Configuration Files
------------------------------------

The :program:`configure.py` script normally introspects the Python installation
of the interpreter running it in order to determine the names of the various
files and directories it needs.  This is fine for a native build of SIP but
isn't appropriate when cross-compiling.  In this case it is possible to supply
a configuration file, specified using the
:option:`--configuration <configure.py --configuration>` option, which contains
definitions of all the required values.

The format of a configuration file is as follows:

- a configuration item is a single line containing a name/value pair separated
  by ``=``

- a value may include another value by embedding the name of that value
  surrounded by ``%(`` and ``)``

- comments begin with ``#`` and continue to the end of the line

- blank lines are ignored.

:program:`configure.py` provides the following preset values for a
configuration:

``py_major``
    is the major version number of the target Python installation.

``py_minor``
    is the minor version number of the target Python installation.

``sysroot``
    is the name of the system root directory.  This is specified with the
    :option:`--sysroot <configure.py --sysroot>` option.

The following is an example configuration file::

    # The target Python installation.
    py_platform = linux
    py_inc_dir = %(sysroot)/usr/include/python%(py_major)%(py_minor)

    # Where SIP will be installed.
    sip_bin_dir = %(sysroot)/usr/bin
    sip_module_dir = %(sysroot)/usr/lib/python%(py_major)/dist-packages

The following values can be specified in the configuration file:

``py_platform``
    is the target Python platform.

``py_inc_dir``
    is the target Python include directory containing the ``Python.h`` file.

``py_conf_inc_dir``
    is the target Python include directory containing the ``pyconfig.h`` file.
    If this isn't specified then it defaults to the value of ``py_inc_dir``.

``py_pylib_dir``
    is the target Python library directory.

``sip_bin_dir``
    is the name of the target directory where the SIP code generator will be
    installed.  It can be overridden by the
    :option:`--bindir <configure.py -b>` option.

``sip_inc_dir``
    is the name of the target directory where the ``sip.h`` file will be
    installed.  If this isn't specified then it defaults to the value of
    ``py_inc_dir``.  It can be overridden by the
    :option:`--incdir <configure.py -e>` option.

``sip_module_dir``
    is the target directory where the :mod:`sip` module will be installed.  It
    can be overridden by the :option:`--destdir <configure.py -d>` option.

``sip_sip_dir``
    is the name of the target directory where generated ``.sip`` files will be
    installed by default.  It is only used when creating the :mod:`sipconfig`
    module.  It can be overridden by the :option:`--sipdir <configure.py -v>`
    option.
