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+.. _setup-config:
+
+************************************
+Writing the Setup Configuration File
+************************************
+
+Often, it's not possible to write down everything needed to build a distribution
+*a priori*: you may need to get some information from the user, or from the
+user's system, in order to proceed.  As long as that information is fairly
+simple---a list of directories to search for C header files or libraries, for
+example---then providing a configuration file, :file:`setup.cfg`, for users to
+edit is a cheap and easy way to solicit it.  Configuration files also let you
+provide default values for any command option, which the installer can then
+override either on the command-line or by editing the config file.
+
+The setup configuration file is a useful middle-ground between the setup script
+---which, ideally, would be opaque to installers [#]_---and the command-line to
+the setup script, which is outside of your control and entirely up to the
+installer.  In fact, :file:`setup.cfg` (and any other Distutils configuration
+files present on the target system) are processed after the contents of the
+setup script, but before the command-line.  This has  several useful
+consequences:
+
+.. % (If you have more advanced needs, such as determining which extensions
+.. % to build based on what capabilities are present on the target system,
+.. % then you need the Distutils ``auto-configuration'' facility.  This
+.. % started to appear in Distutils 0.9 but, as of this writing, isn't mature
+.. % or stable enough yet for real-world use.)
+
+* installers can override some of what you put in :file:`setup.py` by editing
+  :file:`setup.cfg`
+
+* you can provide non-standard defaults for options that are not easily set in
+  :file:`setup.py`
+
+* installers can override anything in :file:`setup.cfg` using the command-line
+  options to :file:`setup.py`
+
+The basic syntax of the configuration file is simple::
+
+   [command]
+   option=value
+   ...
+
+where *command* is one of the Distutils commands (e.g. :command:`build_py`,
+:command:`install`), and *option* is one of the options that command supports.
+Any number of options can be supplied for each command, and any number of
+command sections can be included in the file.  Blank lines are ignored, as are
+comments, which run from a ``'#'`` character until the end of the line.  Long
+option values can be split across multiple lines simply by indenting the
+continuation lines.
+
+You can find out the list of options supported by a particular command with the
+universal :option:`--help` option, e.g. ::
+
+   > python setup.py --help build_ext
+   [...]
+   Options for 'build_ext' command:
+     --build-lib (-b)     directory for compiled extension modules
+     --build-temp (-t)    directory for temporary files (build by-products)
+     --inplace (-i)       ignore build-lib and put compiled extensions into the
+                          source directory alongside your pure Python modules
+     --include-dirs (-I)  list of directories to search for header files
+     --define (-D)        C preprocessor macros to define
+     --undef (-U)         C preprocessor macros to undefine
+     --swig-opts          list of SWIG command line options        
+   [...]
+
+Note that an option spelled :option:`--foo-bar` on the command-line  is spelled
+:option:`foo_bar` in configuration files.
+
+For example, say you want your extensions to be built "in-place"---that is, you
+have an extension :mod:`pkg.ext`, and you want the compiled extension file
+(:file:`ext.so` on Unix, say) to be put in the same source directory as your
+pure Python modules :mod:`pkg.mod1` and :mod:`pkg.mod2`.  You can always use the
+:option:`--inplace` option on the command-line to ensure this::
+
+   python setup.py build_ext --inplace
+
+But this requires that you always specify the :command:`build_ext` command
+explicitly, and remember to provide :option:`--inplace`. An easier way is to
+"set and forget" this option, by encoding it in :file:`setup.cfg`, the
+configuration file for this distribution::
+
+   [build_ext]
+   inplace=1
+
+This will affect all builds of this module distribution, whether or not you
+explicitly specify :command:`build_ext`.  If you include :file:`setup.cfg` in
+your source distribution, it will also affect end-user builds---which is
+probably a bad idea for this option, since always building extensions in-place
+would break installation of the module distribution.  In certain peculiar cases,
+though, modules are built right in their installation directory, so this is
+conceivably a useful ability.  (Distributing extensions that expect to be built
+in their installation directory is almost always a bad idea, though.)
+
+Another example: certain commands take a lot of options that don't change from
+run to run; for example, :command:`bdist_rpm` needs to know everything required
+to generate a "spec" file for creating an RPM distribution.  Some of this
+information comes from the setup script, and some is automatically generated by
+the Distutils (such as the list of files installed).  But some of it has to be
+supplied as options to :command:`bdist_rpm`, which would be very tedious to do
+on the command-line for every run.  Hence, here is a snippet from the Distutils'
+own :file:`setup.cfg`::
+
+   [bdist_rpm]
+   release = 1
+   packager = Greg Ward <gward@python.net>
+   doc_files = CHANGES.txt
+               README.txt
+               USAGE.txt
+               doc/
+               examples/
+
+Note that the :option:`doc_files` option is simply a whitespace-separated string
+split across multiple lines for readability.
+
+
+.. seealso::
+
+   :ref:`inst-config-syntax` in "Installing Python Modules"
+      More information on the configuration files is available in the manual for
+      system administrators.
+
+
+.. rubric:: Footnotes
+
+.. [#] This ideal probably won't be achieved until auto-configuration is fully
+   supported by the Distutils.
+