[PythonCE] pygame / distutils

[Adam Walley]

Hi, Rene.

Thanks for the clarification on pygame-ctypes. The link where I found the
SCUMMVM SDL libraries is here:

http://users.uoa.gr/~knakos/scummvm/libraries/release-0-10-0/wince-gcc-libs.tar.bz2

There are a number of files in there, including a .diff file which may shed
some light on some of the difficulties in compiling the SDL libraries. The
SDL version used is 1.2.6. I believe the latest one is 1.2.13, but I think
this should not be a big issue to update later.

As far as my progress goes, I have got a small pythonCE script running,
which draws some coloured squares to the screen (kind of like one of the
slide transition effects in powerpoint). The busy indicator no longer
interferes with the display :D

Now, I am working on a bit of code to allow user input. I am adapting the
code to allow key presses of the PDA's hardware function keys to be
detected. I would like this to be a small module that can be used in
PythonCE to get the scancode from any key press (from the SIP or the
hardware keys). I know that SDL provides this, but I am not sure if it will
allow the hardware keys to be detected.

>From what I understand, there is some extra work in writing a PYD module, in
contrast to writing a DLL that is called with ctypes. I have not looked into
this in great detail yet, but ultimately, I would like to get some DLLs
written in the correct form so they can be used as PYDs. I guess there are
some basic rules for Python to 'talk' with its package modules.

Anyhow, your plan sounds good, so if there's any way I can help just let me
know.

Adam


On 15/08/2008, René Dudfield <renesd at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> What is the best way to compile extensions for python CE ?
>
> Adam: do you have a link to those SCUMVM files?
>
> Any further progress?
>
> Why not pygame-ctypes?  It was slow, buggy, and non-portable - and C
> pygame worked fine.  The author was paid to do it, and stopped when
> the money ran out and moved on to pyglet.  pygame has a bunch of C
> code which just can't run fast enough in python.  Pygame is not just a
> SDL wrapper, it's got a bunch of other code in it too.  ctypes has an
> overhead for each call which is annoying for real time apps.
> However... pygame-ctypes is still useful for some things, and if pypy
> ever gets fast it will become more important (assuming they never
> release a C api for pypy).
>
> anyway...
>
>
> I'd going to try the following order of things...
> - get a simple C program to compile and run on the device.
> - get a simple C python extension module working.
> - get a simple SDL program working.
> - get some pygame modules running.
> - get full pygame test suite working.
> - port pygame example programs so they work ok on pythonCE too.
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 6:47 PM, Adam Walley <adam.walley at gmail.com> wrote:
> > My plans, exactly ;-) BTW why was pygame-ctypes abandoned? Reading some
> of
> > the past info on it, it seemed like a great idea to use the ctypes
> module.
> >
> > 2008/8/7 René Dudfield <renesd at gmail.com>
> >>
> >> nice work :)
> >>
> >> It can be easier to first try and get the SDL test programs compiling.
> >>  Then try and get a really simple, minimal python extension
> >> compiling... and you guessed it, try and get them both compiling
> >> together :)
> >>
> >> There's a few wince folks hanging out on the libsdl mailing list if
> >> you have troubles there.
> >>
> >> cu,
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 9:02 PM, Adam Walley <adam.walley at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >> > Well, I have been attempting to get something working, but have been
> >> > struggling to get the SDL compiled correctly (without SDL, there is no
> >> > point
> >> > in trying to get pygame working). In my investigations, I came across
> >> > the
> >> > SCUMM forum. Now the SCUMMVM appears to be a fully working product on
> >> > various platforms including WinCE. My attempts to compile some simple
> >> > test
> >> > programs using the SDL source available from the official SDL site
> >> > failed
> >> > (mostly because the source will not compile 'as is' and needs some
> >> > tweaking
> >> > which is probably beyond my capabilities). However, the SCUMM forum
> >> > pointed
> >> > me to a set of libraries from 'knakos'. I quickly set up a new
> project,
> >> > with
> >> > my simple test program, and lo! it compiled first time and tested
> >> > correctly
> >> > on my WM5 device. I assume these SCUMM libraries have already been
> >> > adapted
> >> > to work on WinCE, and since the SCUMM idea is to get retro graphical
> >> > games
> >> > working, I think that pygame will probably get all the functionality
> it
> >> > needs from them.
> >> >
> >> > Now, on to getting pygame working! I will attempt to get some of the
> >> > pygame
> >> > source modules compiled as PYDs to see if they will import and work
> >> > under
> >> > PythonCE. I have not yet attempted to get a DLL compiled using these
> new
> >> > libraries so may yet hit a wall. I will report back with any news.
> >> >
> >> > Rene, thanks for your comments. It's nice to know there is interest
> from
> >> > the
> >> > pygame side.
> >> >
> >> > If anyone else would like to provide comments/advice/code to get
> pygame
> >> > working, it will be welcomed.
> >> >
> >> > Adam.
> >> >
> >> > On 06/08/2008, René Dudfield <renesd at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> Hi,
> >> >>
> >> >> if anyone has any project files to build pygame on pythonce I'd love
> >> >> to have them included with pygame.  I'm an author/maintainer of
> pygame
> >> >> and have commit access to svn, so could add project files if someone
> >> >> makes them... I could also add a pygame download for python CE to the
> >> >> pygame.org download page.
> >> >>
> >> >> Or you could add compilation instructions to the pygame wiki here:
> >> >> http://pygame.org/wiki/CompilePythonCE
> >> >>
> >> >> I have a winCE phone so would love to be able to get pygame running
> on
> >> >> it
> >> >> :)
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >> cheers,
> >> >> _______________________________________________
> >> >> PythonCE mailing list
> >> >> PythonCE at python.org
> >> >> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythonce
> >> >
> >> >
> >
> >
>
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