Py2deb
On the maemo platform, software is distributed using the Debian package system. If you don't develop in Scratchbox, but directly on the device, you need a tool to properly put together your software for distribution as such a .deb package. For this, you can either use PyPackager or py2deb, both developed by Khertan:
- Use PyPackager to build a .deb package for redistribution in maemo.org/downloads, on your private homepage or wherever. There's no PyPackager for Fremantle yet.
- Use Py2Deb to prepare a package structure suitable for autobuilder, so that users can later download it directly from the Extras repository using the Application Manager of the tablets.
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Install py2deb
Install python2.5-py2deb (it can be found in the extras-devel repository)
Prerequisites
Create a folder /myapp under your /MyDocs folder (e.g. "/home/user/MyDocs/mclock"). Then add the following files and folders:
- A subfolder /src that contains all your source files in a folder structure which represents the way your app files will install on the device (See mClock example in next section of this article) - and with the correct permissions set!
- The icon for your software package (e.g. mclock.png, 48x48 pixels), the one that will be visible for your package in the application manager.
- A copy of the "build_myapp.py" file, named and edited to your needs (e.g. build_mclock.py) as seen below
Example /src folder structure
Files needed for the Hildon desktop integration:
/src/usr/share/applications/hildon/mClock.desktop /src/usr/share/dbus-1/services/mClock.service /src/usr/share/icons/hicolor/48x48/hildon/mclock.png /src/usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/hildon/mclock.png (64x64 pixel)
mClock.desktop file
[Desktop Entry] Version=1.0.0 Version of this file, NOT of the app. Keep it at 1.0.0 Encoding=UTF-8 Name=mClock Name of the app as seen in Menu Comment=Clock & day/night map Description of the app as seen as subtitle in Menu in Finger mode Exec=/opt/mClock/mClock.py Link to the app Icon=mclock Name of our icon file, without the trailing .png part X-Icon-path=/usr/share/icons Path to the icon X-Window-Icon=mclock Name of our icon file, without the trailing .png part (again?!) Type=Application X-Osso-Service=com.nokia.mclock X-Osso-Type=application/x-executable StartupWMClass=mClock Only needed because it's a PyGame app (would be automatic with GTK)
mclock.service
[D-BUS Service] Name=com.nokia.mclock MUST begin with com.nokia. due to a bug, anything else WONT work Exec=/opt/mClock/mClock.py Link to the app
Files of the application itself:
/src/opt/mClock /src/opt/mClock/mClock.py /src/opt/mClock/sun.py /src/opt/mClock/img/0-Night.jpg /src/opt/mClock/img/1-Winter-January.jpg /src/opt/mClock/img/2-Spring-April.jpg /src/opt/mClock/img/3-Summer-July.jpg /src/opt/mClock/img/4-Fall-October.jpg /src/opt/mClock/img/sun.png
mClock.py should begin with:
#!/usr/bin/env python
and be executable
Setup the build_myapp.py code
Copy the following code to create your own build_myapp.py, then edit according to your needs:
#!/usr/bin/python2.5
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
## This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
## it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published
## by the Free Software Foundation; version 2 only.
##
## This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
## but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
## MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
## GNU General Public License for more details.
##
import py2deb
import os
if __name__ == "__main__":
try:
os.chdir(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0]))
except:
pass
print
p=py2deb.Py2deb("mclock") #This is the package name and MUST be in lowercase! (using e.g. "mClock" fails miserably...)
p.description="A simple clock for maemo, incl. a day/night world map.\nPress D-Pad or bottom left to switch view mode.\nESC to exit.\nLeft/right D-Pad (or touching l/r border of screen)\nto change season."
p.author="Tom Waelti"
p.mail="twaelti@gmail.com"
p.depends = "python2.5, python-osso, python-dbus, python2.5-gtk2, python2.5-pygame"
Edit this based on your import statements (e.g. you probably won't need pygame)
p.section="user/other"
When editing the .section, make sure to use an allowed section - otherwise autobuilder will give a warning.
p.icon = "/home/user/MyDocs/mclock/mClock.png"
p.arch="all" #should be all for python, any for all arch
p.urgency="low" #not used in maemo onl for deb os
p.distribution="fremantle"
p.repository="extras-devel"
p.xsbc_bugtracker="http://bugs.maemo.org"
# p.postinstall="""#!/bin/sh
# chmod +x /usr/bin/mclock.py""" #Set here your post install script
# p.postremove="""#!/bin/sh
# chmod +x /usr/bin/mclock.py""" #Set here your post remove script
# p.preinstall="""#!/bin/sh
# chmod +x /usr/bin/mclock.py""" #Set here your pre install script
# p.preremove="""#!/bin/sh
# chmod +x /usr/bin/mclock.py""" #Set here your pre remove script
version = "0.5.7" #Version of your software, e.g. "1.2.0" or "0.8.2"
build = "1" #Build number, e.g. "1" for the first build of this version of your software. Increment for later re-builds of the same version of your software.
#Text with changelog information to be displayed in the package "Details" tab of the Maemo Application Manager
changeloginformation = "Fixed (large) icon."
dir_name = "src" #Name of the subfolder containing your package source files (e.g. usr\share\icons\hicolor\scalable\myappicon.svg, usr\lib\myapp\somelib.py). We suggest to leave it named src in all projects and will refer to that in the wiki article on maemo.org
#Thanks to DareTheHair from talk.maemo.org for this snippet that recursively builds the file list
for root, dirs, files in os.walk(dir_name):
real_dir = root[len(dir_name):]
fake_file = []
for f in files:
fake_file.append(root + os.sep + f + "|" + f)
if len(fake_file) > 0:
p[real_dir] = fake_file
print p
r = p.generate(version,build,changelog=changeloginformation,tar=True,dsc=True,changes=True,build=False,src=True)
When editing the .section, make sure to use an allowed section - otherwise autobuilder will give a warning.
Run your build_myapp.py code
Open "X Terminal" on your device and change directory into your folder (e.g. "cd /home/user/MyDocs/mclock"). Then run your code using "run-standalone.sh python2.5 ./buildmyapp.py" (e.g. "run-standalone.sh python2.5 /home/user/MyDocs/mclock/build_mclock.py") in Xterm. py2deb will now package your files. In the process, it might also ask about (or complain if its missing) your PGP/GPG passphrase so that it can sign your source package - this can however safely be ignored, as autobuilder doesn't require package signing anymore since late 2008. Once this is done successfully, your /MyDocs/myapp folder will contain three new files, e.g.
- mclock_0.5.6-1.changes (the changelog)
- mclock_0.5.6-1.dsc (the package description)
- mclock_0.5.6-1.tar.gz (the packed source files)
Upload to autobuilder
The 3 files created can now be "fed" to the Autobuilder who will build the final debian package and then push your app into the Extras Devel repository.
Check this section to learn about uploading to autobuilder (Using the webbased assistant is probably the easiest way to get started).
Track autobuilder
After your upload, autobuilder will try to build your package. This will take about 5-10 minutes.
Once it has finished (or failed :-), you will get an email with the result of the autobuild as the subject (e.g. "[fremantle]: mclock 0.5.6-1 OK") and some log details in the message body. It will also include a link to the detailed logs (e.g. for mClock) so that you can learn more about any errors etc. The results of your build will also show up in the extras-cauldron-builds Archives.
Upon successfull build, it will take another few minutes for the application to show up in the Extras Devel repository, e.g. as mclock_0.5.7-1_all.deb.
Test your package
If your build was OK, you can now refresh your Application Manager (make sure that you did add and enable the extras-devel repository!) and install your application from there. Ask some friends in the maemo community (mailing lists, ITT, IRC) to test your package.
Promote your package
Once testing provided good results, you are ready to promote your package, meaning that it will now become available in the "real" extras repository.