[Tutor] setup.py "script" vs "console_scripts" Was: if __name__=='main' vs entry points: What to teach new comers?

[Chris Warrick]

On 3 August 2017 at 09:52, Thomas Güttler <guettliml at thomas-guettler.de> wrote:
>
>
> Am 02.08.2017 um 18:06 schrieb Wolfgang Maier:
>>
>> On 08/02/2017 04:57 PM, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
>>>
>>> On Wed, Aug 02, 2017 at 10:48:39PM +1000, Ben Finney wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Thomas Güttler <guettliml at thomas-guettler.de> writes:
>>>>
>>>>> Maybe I am doing something wrong.  I was proud because I did use
>>>>> “console_scripts” entry points.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Did someone lead you to believe it was wrong? Setuptools console_scripts
>>>> entry points are a good tool.
>>>>
>>>> My point was that it is an *advanced* tool, difficult to use and also
>>>> difficult to explain because the concepts are advanced.
>>>
>>>
>>> Can you explain the use-case for when somebody might want to use
>>> console_scripts entry points?
>>>
>>> I have a module with a main() function and an "if __name__ == ..."
>>> guard. Under what circumstances is that not sufficient, and I would want
>>> console_scripts?
>>>
>>
>> If you install things using pip/setuptools and have defined a
>> console_scripts entry point for it, then the corresponding wrapper
>> script will be installed in whatever is considered the scripts directory
>> at install time on that machine. With a bit of luck the entry point will
>> thus be executable directly without any end-user intervention (like
>> adding folders to $PATH and chmodding files).
>> Personally, I always found it straightforward to write the wrapper
>> script myself, then define this as a 'scripts' file in the package
>> layout of my setup.py, but people's MMV.
>
>
>
> I was not aware of "scripts" in setup.py. But I found docs:
>
>   http://python-packaging.readthedocs.io/en/latest/command-line-scripts.html
>
> Why are there two ways: "script" vs "console_scripts entry-point"?

Simple: `scripts` are legacy. `entry_points` are the new thing.
There’s also a third approach: gui_scripts entry_points, which work
the same way on Linux/*nix, but on Windows, it means that running your
script by opening the created .exe files does not show a console
window. Note that stdout/stderr do not work in that mode under
Windows, which can lead to spurious application crashes.  (GUI-only
processes cannot use stdout/stderr because they don’t have a console
attached)

I’ll take the liberty to link my (better) blog post about this:
https://chriswarrick.com/blog/2014/09/15/python-apps-the-right-way-entry_points-and-scripts/

-- 
Chris Warrick <https://chriswarrick.com/>
PGP: 5EAAEA16