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== Introduction ==

The usual way of developing Maemo applications is using either Scratchbox or [[MADDE]], which are quite heavy for Python development. An alternative is using [http://github.com/astraw/stdeb stdeb], a set of extensions to distutils that allows generating Debian packages, both binary and source, that can be installed on the device or sent to the [[extras-devel]] repository.

This tutorial will show how to integrate it into your project, build the packages and upload them to extras-devel.

== Prerequisites ==

This tutorial is aimed at Debian-based systems, as some stdeb commands requires the dpkg tools installed. If you're using another distro, please refer to the section

Also, you should get the [http://github.com/astraw/stdeb git] version of stdeb to use the debianize command, as it is a new addition and not yet available in the repositories. Run the following commands to install it:

# Clone the git repository
 git clone http://github.com/astraw/stdeb.git
 
 # Enter source package
 cd stdeb
 
 # Build .deb (making use of stdeb package directory in sys.path).
 python setup.py --command-packages=stdeb.command bdist_deb
 
 # Install it
 sudo dpkg -i deb_dist/python-stdeb_0.5.1+git-1_all.deb

As only python2.5 is supported in pymaemo, it should be installed if you want to create binary packages. On Ubuntu Lucid (10.04), you can install it from [https://launchpad.net/~fkrull/+archive/deadsnakes this ppa], following the instructions [http://www.codigomanso.com/en/2010/05/google-app-engine-en--10-4-lucid-lynx/ here].

== Preparing the package ==

As stdeb extends distutils, it is necessary that you have a working setup.py script. For our example application, which consists of a [http://pymaemo.garage.maemo.org/stdeb_example/myscript-app/myscript single script] named "myscript" and support files like [http://pymaemo.garage.maemo.org/stdeb_example/myscript-app/myscript.desktop .desktop]<ref name="desktop">[[Desktop file format]]</ref> and an [http://pymaemo.garage.maemo.org/stdeb_example/myscript-app/myscript.png icon]<ref name="icon">[[Packaging#Displaying an icon in the Application Manager next to your package]]</ref>, the [http://pymaemo.garage.maemo.org/stdeb_example/myscript-app/setup.py setup.py] will look like this:
<source lang="python">
from distutils.core import setup

setup(
    name='myscript',
    version='0.1',
    author='Lauro Moura',
    author_email='lauro.neto@donotspamme.com',
    scripts=['myscript'],
    data_files=[('share/applications/hildon', ['myscript.desktop']),
                ('share/pixmaps', ['myscript.png'])],
)
</source>
A file named [http://pymaemo.garage.maemo.org/stdeb_example/myscript-app/stdeb.cfg stdeb.cfg] in the same directory as setup.py is required, with stdeb Maemo-specific options. A detailed list of options can be found in the [http://github.com/astraw/stdeb stdeb website].

[DEFAULT]
 XS-Python-Version: 2.5 # Only version currently supported by PyMaemo.
 Package:myscript # Binary package name. stdeb adds the prefix "python-" by default
 Section: user/development # Section should start with user/ to appear in the menu.
 Depends: python-gtk2 # extra dependencies go here

<b>Warning 1</b>: Make sure to use [[Maemo_packaging#Sections|an allowed section]].

<b>Warning 2</b>: The <code>Depends</code> field in stdeb.cfg will be used on your debian/control file, so fill it correctly with all the dependencies of your application - otherwise it will break when you try to install it. For instance, [http://gitorious.org/twcano/twcano twcano] depends on the following packages: <code>python-simplejson, pyside-qt4-maemo5, pyside-qt4-webkit and python-twitter</code>, so the <code>Depends</code> field should be filled this way:

Depends: python-simplejson, pyside-qt4-maemo5, pyside-qt4-webkit, python-twitter

== Building the packages ==

The basic command is

python setup.py --command-packages=stdeb.command bdist_deb

It'll create a folder called deb_dist with the source and binary packages. Alternatively, the "sdist_dsc" command will create only the source package.

After generating, you can copy the package to your device and install it (requires an [[SSH]] server):

$ scp myscript_0.1-1_all.deb root@<n900 ip>:/root
 $ ssh root@<n900 ip>
 # dpkg -i myscript_0.1-1_all.deb

== Building a basic debian directory ==

Another useful command is ''debianize''. It will read the configuration file and write a directory named debian in the same directory. This can be used for manually creating the packages using dpkg tools directly. For a detailed usage example see the [http://github.com/astraw/stdeb#debianize-distutils-command stdeb website].

Note: sdist_dsc and bdist_deb do '''not''' use this directory, generating a new one in the source dir under deb_dist/.

== Uploading to extras ==

To upload to extras, use the debianize command and then call dpkg-buildpackage:

$ dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -uc -us -S

This command will create the .dsc, .tar.gz and .changes files that can be used to [[uploading to Extras-devel|upload the application to extras-devel]].

== Support for non-Debian systems ==

{{ambox
| type = notice
| image= 
| text = Keep in mind that the support for non-Debian systems is '''experimental''': it is not as funcional as the stdeb approach shown above and may not work for your package. Also, these instructions may change without notice. }}

If you're using a distro not based on Debian, you can still create source packages for uploading to extras-devel, but won't be able to create binary packages (.deb).

For doing this, you will need the sdist_deb module available [http://gitorious.org/pymaemo/sboxless here]; just clone it in some directory and point the PYTHONPATH environment variable there.

Now create a file called sboxless.cfg, which will contain additional information for generating the package. For now, you can add additional runtime dependencies for your package. If you want to add python-twitter as dependency, just write

[control]
 depends=python-twitter

The file is mandatory, so if you don't want to add any dependency, just leave the field empty ('depends=').

Now, run the sdist_deb command:

PYTHONPATH=/path/to/sboxless python setup.py --command-packages=sboxless  sdist_deb

The source files will be generated on the ./dist directory.

== References ==

[[Category:Python]]
[[Category:Packaging]]

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Editing PyMaemo/Scratchboxless packaging guide

@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
   [DEFAULT]
   XS-Python-Version: 2.5 # Only version currently supported by PyMaemo.
-  Package:my-script # Binary package name. stdeb adds the prefix "python-" by default
+  Package:myscript # Binary package name. stdeb adds the prefix "python-" by default
   Section: user/development # Section should start with user/ to appear in the menu.
   Depends: python-gtk2 # extra dependencies go here