1
2.. _undoc:
3
4********************
5Undocumented Modules
6********************
7
8Here's a quick listing of modules that are currently undocumented, but that
9should be documented.  Feel free to contribute documentation for them!  (Send
10via email to docs@python.org.)
11
12The idea and original contents for this chapter were taken from a posting by
13Fredrik Lundh; the specific contents of this chapter have been substantially
14revised.
15
16
17Miscellaneous useful utilities
18==============================
19
20Some of these are very old and/or not very robust; marked with "hmm."
21
22:mod:`ihooks`
23   --- Import hook support (for :mod:`rexec`; may become obsolete).  Removed in
24   Python 3.x.
25
26
27Platform specific modules
28=========================
29
30These modules are used to implement the :mod:`os.path` module, and are not
31documented beyond this mention.  There's little need to document these.
32
33:mod:`ntpath`
34   --- Implementation of :mod:`os.path` on Win32, Win64, WinCE, and OS/2 platforms.
35
36:mod:`posixpath`
37   --- Implementation of :mod:`os.path` on POSIX.
38
39:mod:`bsddb185`
40   --- Backwards compatibility module for systems which still use the Berkeley DB
41   1.85 module.  It is normally only available on certain BSD Unix-based systems.
42   It should never be used directly.
43
44
45Multimedia
46==========
47
48:mod:`audiodev`
49   --- Platform-independent API for playing audio data.  Removed in Python 3.x.
50
51:mod:`linuxaudiodev`
52   --- Play audio data on the Linux audio device.  Replaced in Python 2.3 by the
53   :mod:`ossaudiodev` module.  Removed in Python 3.x.
54
55:mod:`sunaudio`
56   --- Interpret Sun audio headers (may become obsolete or a tool/demo).
57   Removed in Python 3.x.
58
59:mod:`toaiff`
60   --- Convert "arbitrary" sound files to AIFF files; should probably become a tool
61   or demo.  Requires the external program :program:`sox`.  Removed in Python 3.x.
62
63
64.. _undoc-mac-modules:
65
66Undocumented Mac OS modules
67===========================
68
69
70:mod:`applesingle` --- AppleSingle decoder
71------------------------------------------
72
73.. module:: applesingle
74   :platform: Mac
75   :synopsis: Rudimentary decoder for AppleSingle format files.
76   :deprecated:
77
78.. deprecated:: 2.6
79
80
81:mod:`buildtools` --- Helper module for BuildApplet and Friends
82---------------------------------------------------------------
83
84.. module:: buildtools
85   :platform: Mac
86   :synopsis: Helper module for BuildApplet, BuildApplication and macfreeze.
87   :deprecated:
88
89
90.. deprecated:: 2.4
91
92:mod:`cfmfile` --- Code Fragment Resource module
93------------------------------------------------
94
95.. module:: cfmfile
96   :platform: Mac
97   :synopsis: Code Fragment Resource module.
98   :deprecated:
99
100
101:mod:`cfmfile` is a module that understands Code Fragments and the accompanying
102"cfrg" resources. It can parse them and merge them, and is used by
103BuildApplication to combine all plugin modules to a single executable.
104
105.. deprecated:: 2.4
106
107:mod:`icopen` --- Internet Config replacement for :meth:`open`
108--------------------------------------------------------------
109
110.. module:: icopen
111   :platform: Mac
112   :synopsis: Internet Config replacement for open().
113   :deprecated:
114
115
116Importing :mod:`icopen` will replace the built-in :meth:`open` with a version
117that uses Internet Config to set file type and creator for new files.
118
119.. deprecated:: 2.6
120
121
122:mod:`macerrors` --- Mac OS Errors
123----------------------------------
124
125.. module:: macerrors
126   :platform: Mac
127   :synopsis: Constant definitions for many Mac OS error codes.
128   :deprecated:
129
130
131:mod:`macerrors` contains constant definitions for many Mac OS error codes.
132
133.. deprecated:: 2.6
134
135
136:mod:`macresource` --- Locate script resources
137----------------------------------------------
138
139.. module:: macresource
140   :platform: Mac
141   :synopsis: Locate script resources.
142   :deprecated:
143
144
145:mod:`macresource` helps scripts finding their resources, such as dialogs and
146menus, without requiring special case code for when the script is run under
147MacPython, as a MacPython applet or under OSX Python.
148
149.. deprecated:: 2.6
150
151
152:mod:`Nav` --- NavServices calls
153--------------------------------
154
155.. module:: Nav
156   :platform: Mac
157   :synopsis: Interface to Navigation Services.
158   :deprecated:
159
160
161A low-level interface to Navigation Services.
162
163.. deprecated:: 2.6
164
165
166:mod:`PixMapWrapper` --- Wrapper for PixMap objects
167---------------------------------------------------
168
169.. module:: PixMapWrapper
170   :platform: Mac
171   :synopsis: Wrapper for PixMap objects.
172   :deprecated:
173
174
175:mod:`PixMapWrapper` wraps a PixMap object with a Python object that allows
176access to the fields by name. It also has methods to convert to and from
177:mod:`PIL` images.
178
179.. deprecated:: 2.6
180
181
182:mod:`videoreader` --- Read QuickTime movies
183--------------------------------------------
184
185.. module:: videoreader
186   :platform: Mac
187   :synopsis: Read QuickTime movies frame by frame for further processing.
188   :deprecated:
189
190
191:mod:`videoreader` reads and decodes QuickTime movies and passes a stream of
192images to your program. It also provides some support for audio tracks.
193
194.. deprecated:: 2.6
195
196
197:mod:`W` --- Widgets built on :mod:`FrameWork`
198----------------------------------------------
199
200.. module:: W
201   :platform: Mac
202   :synopsis: Widgets for the Mac, built on top of FrameWork.
203   :deprecated:
204
205
206The :mod:`W` widgets are used extensively in the :program:`IDE`.
207
208.. deprecated:: 2.6
209
210
211.. _obsolete-modules:
212
213Obsolete
214========
215
216These modules are not normally available for import; additional work must be
217done to make them available.
218
219These extension modules written in C are not built by default. Under Unix, these
220must be enabled by uncommenting the appropriate lines in :file:`Modules/Setup`
221in the build tree and either rebuilding Python if the modules are statically
222linked, or building and installing the shared object if using dynamically-loaded
223extensions.
224
225.. (lib-old is empty as of Python 2.5)
226
227   Those which are written in Python will be installed into the directory
228   \file{lib-old/} installed as part of the standard library.  To use
229   these, the directory must be added to \code{sys.path}, possibly using
230   \envvar{PYTHONPATH}.
231
232:mod:`timing`
233   --- Measure time intervals to high resolution (use :func:`time.clock`
234   instead).  Removed in Python 3.x.
235
236
237SGI-specific Extension modules
238==============================
239
240The following are SGI specific, and may be out of touch with the current version
241of reality.
242
243:mod:`cl`
244   --- Interface to the SGI compression library.
245
246:mod:`sv`
247   --- Interface to the "simple video" board on SGI Indigo (obsolete hardware).
248   Removed in Python 3.x.
249