Documentation/Maemo Eclipse Tutorial/Installing PluThon

= Installing PluThon =

PluThon is an Eclipse-based IDE that provides Python development support, source editing, project building, on-device run/debug/profiling as well as on-device Debian installation package creation and deployment. It is based on Eclipse Ganymede (3.4.2) and PyDev (Python IDE for Eclipse). PluThon communicates with your Maemo device using the various network clients and servers that Maemo PC Connectivity project provides.

With PluThon and Maemo PC Connectivity installed, you can flash your Maemo device, run, debug, and profile Python applications on Maemo devices. You can also create Debian installation packages for your application and install the application on the Maemo device.

Maemo PC Connectivity must be installed to the Maemo device and host PC before all features provided by Maemo Eclipse IDE are usable. See more information from Maemo PC Connectivity Tutorial .

= PluThon IDE =

You can install PluThon completely from an archive or add it to an existing Eclipse 3.4.2 installation through Maemo update sites.

You can install PluThon on a variety of hosts. The "Supported Environments" section describes the supported hosts. The "Installing PluThon IDE" section describes how to install PluThon.

Supported Maemo Releases
The supported Maemo releases are:


 * Maemo 4.1.2 Diablo (OS2008) with N800, N810, and N810 WiMAX Edition
 * Maemo 5.0 Fremantle (OS2009) with N900

PluThon Development Environment
The PluThon development environment consists of Eclipse IDE and a Maemo device. These are essential and you cannot use PluThon without them.

Even though PluThon deploys applications that run entirely on a device, you need a Python interpreter installed locally to support the editor and the run/debug mechanism in PyDev.

It is recommended that you use the same version of Python that is on the Maemo device, currently Python 2.5. For more information, see the instructions at Python 2.5.4 official release. PluThon configures PyDev to read the library sources of the host for code completion. If you are not concerned about differences, you can also install Python 2.4 or 2.6 on the host.

Python runtime and bindings libraries must be installed on the Maemo device. To install these, select Project &gt; Validate Installed Packages. This validation operation is also done automatically when you create a new Python project.

= Supported Environments =

Host Operating Systems Supported
Supported operating systems for host PC are listed in table 4.1. Only 32-bit operating systems are supported and tested, e.g. Maemo does not provide official support for any 64-bit operating system.


 * Note 1
 * PluThon should work if Eclipse IDE and Host PC Connectivity runs properly.


 * Note 2
 * The Host PC Connectivity has not been fully ported to this OS causing restrictions to the supported functionality.


 * Note 3
 * On newer Linux distributions, some components like GTK+ and xulrunner have changed in ways that make Eclipse difficult to launch. You need to use provided pluthon.sh script to launch ESbox and work around the issues.

= Installing PluThon IDE =

Java Runtime
Eclipse 3.4.2 requires Java 1.5 or newer:


 * Sun Java 5.0 or Sun Java 6
 * IBM JRE 5.0+
 * OpenJDK 6+

These JREs are available as packages in your distribution or you can download them directly from the above websites.

Method 1: Full Product Archive (Recommended)

 * PluThon is distributed as a full Eclipse product archive that contains Eclipse, the Mica framework, and PluThon. This is the easiest way to ensure you have the right versions of the plugins and features.
 * Download the product archive, extract it, and get started. Follow these instructions [/node5.html#sec:eclipse_tutorial_installation_product_archives 3.2]

Method 2: Eclipse Update Site

 * If you already have a custom Eclipse 3.4.2 installation or want to build one, you can use the Eclipse Software Updates mechanism to download, install and upgrade PluThon and Mica from the Internet.
 * Newer versions of Eclipse than 3.4.x are not supported because of the hard dependencies on the Eclipse packages used.
 * Follow these instructions [/node5.html#sec:eclipse_tutorial_installation_via_update_site 3.3]