[Distutils] Setuptools: omit namespace package directories?

[Jim Fulton]

On Feb 8, 2007, at 5:04 PM, Phillip J. Eby wrote:

> At 05:05 PM 2/8/2007 +0100, Thomas Lotze wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> when using namespace packages, the corresponding package  
>> directories and
>> __init__.py files must physically exist in the source tree, even  
>> though
>> they can't, by definition of a namespace package, contain anything  
>> other
>> than subordinate directories and a fixed stanza of Python code, resp.
>
> I'm not sure that's entirely true, although they *do* have to exist  
> when
> using "setup.py develop",

Yes.  I think that's the main issue, as this is a very important use  
case.
We rely on using develop eggs.


> As Jim points out, nested namespace packages are usually a bad idea  
> and
> shouldn't be created for new systems, as entry points are a better  
> way of
> supporting third-party extensions to a package.

I don't think that the nested namespace was motivated specifically by  
this.  It was simply a result of a natural human tendency to  
organize. :)

>> Since there's basically not information in those boilerplate  
>> directories
>> and __init__.py files that couldn't be inferred from a keyword  
>> parameter
>> to setup(), would it be a sensible feature request that setuptools do
>> without the physical namespace directories in the future?
>
> As I said, I'm not sure it needs them *now*, except to support  
> setup.py
> develop.

Yes, as we need this.

>   I'm not really fond of the package_dirs feature, preferring to
> use an importable layout when I do development.

The question is whether a less annoying layout can be made importable.

>   But the feature does exist
> and please feel free to let me know whether it solves your problem,

It won't because of the need to support the develop use case.

I haven't really had a chance to think about this, so I don't know  
what a solution, if there is one, would look like.  For me, this  
isn't critical, as it is merely annoying to have to create namespace  
package directories.

Jim

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