[Python-Dev] Making directories and zip files executable

[Guido van Rossum]

On 9/12/07, Nick Coghlan <ncoghlan at gmail.com> wrote:
> Guido van Rossum wrote:
> > I could use a refresher on how PJE's patch solves Andy's problem.
>
> I'm not sure if you're asking about how you would execute a zip file
> after the patch has been applied, or about the mechanics of how the
> patch works. PJE's last post covered the former question, so I'll cover
> the gist of the latter.
>
> The patch works by passing the script argument to the import machinery
> to see if it is recognised as a valid sys.path entry (i.e. either a
> directory or a zip file in a default Python installation).

Ah, this is the crux! I didn't understand Phillips wording of "an
importable path". I still didn't understand your wording "recognised
as a valid sys.path entry"; both wordings suggest a link between
sys.argv[0] and the current value of sys.path, which isn't the case --
it is whether they are recognized by the "meta import hook"! This only
became clear after I re-read the patch with Phillip's and your words
in the back of my head.

I now like and approve of the patch, and said so on the tracker.

--Guido

> If it is,
> then add that location to the front of sys.path and use the -m switch
> support to execute the "__main__" module directly.
>
> If the filename passed in isn't recognised as a sys.path entry, then it
> is executed as a script as normal.
>
> Cheers,
> Nick.
>
> --
> Nick Coghlan   |   ncoghlan at gmail.com   |   Brisbane, Australia
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>              http://www.boredomandlaziness.org
>


-- 
--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)