CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythoncommand-linepackaging
Zach
Zach

Reputation: 24778

How to package a command line Python script

I've created a python script that's intended to be used from the command line. How do I go about packaging it? This is my first python package and I've read a bit about setuptools, but I'm still not sure the best way to do this.

Solution

I ended up using setup.py with the key configurations noted below:

setup(
....
    entry_points="""
[console_scripts]
mycommand = mypackage.mymodule:main
""",
....
)

Here's a good example in context.

Upvotes: 36

Views: 13514

Answers (5)

Ed Patrick Tan
Ed Patrick Tan

Reputation: 767

For those who are beginners in Python Packaging, I suggest going through this Python Packaging Tutorial.

Note about the tutorial:

At this time, this documentation focuses on Python 2.x only, and may not be as applicable to packages targeted to Python 3.x

Upvotes: 0

Dr. Jan-Philip Gehrcke
Dr. Jan-Philip Gehrcke

Reputation: 35731

Last month, I have written an article answering exactly your question. You can find it here: http://gehrcke.de/2014/02/distributing-a-python-command-line-application/

There, I am using only currently recommended methods (twine, pure setuptools instead of distutils, the console_scripts key in the entry_points dictionary, ...), which work for Python 2 and 3.

Upvotes: 3

Alexis Métaireau
Alexis Métaireau

Reputation: 11215

Rather than using setuptools non standard way of proceeding, it is possible to directly rely on distutils setup's function, using the scripts argument, as stated here: http://docs.python.org/distutils/setupscript.html#installing-scripts

from distutils import setup
setup(
    ...,
    scripts=['path/to/your/script',],
    ...
)

It allows you to stay compatible a) with all python versions and b) not having to rely on a setuptools as an external dependency.

Upvotes: 6

Alex Martelli
Alex Martelli

Reputation: 881575

@Zach, given your clarification in your comment to @soulmerge's answer, it looks like what you need is to write a setup.py as per the instructions regarding the distutils -- here in particular is how you register on pypi, and here on how to upload to pypi once you are registrered -- and possibly (if you need some extra functionality wrt what the distutils supply on their own) add setuptools, of which easy_install is part, via the instructions here.

Upvotes: 4

soulmerge
soulmerge

Reputation: 75704

What do you mean by packaging? If it is a single script to be run on a box that already has python installed, you just need to put a shebang into the first line of the file and that's it.

If you want it to be executed under Windows or on a box without python, though, you will need something external, like pyinstaller.

If your question is about where to put configuration/data files, you'll need to work platform-dependently (like writing into the registry or the home folder), as far as I know.

Upvotes: 2

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