Issue #23491: Implement PEP 441: Improving Python Zip Application Support

Thanks to Paul Moore for the PEP and implementation.

1 files changed, 257 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/library/zipapp.rst b/Doc/library/zipapp.rst
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+:mod:`zipapp` --- Manage executable python zip archives
+=======================================================
+
+.. module:: zipapp
+   :synopsis: Manage executable python zip archives
+
+
+.. index::
+   single: Executable Zip Files
+
+.. versionadded:: 3.5
+
+**Source code:** :source:`Lib/zipapp.py`
+
+--------------
+
+This module provides tools to manage the creation of zip files containing
+Python code, which can be  :ref:`executed directly by the Python interpreter
+<using-on-interface-options>`.  The module provides both a
+:ref:`zipapp-command-line-interface` and a :ref:`zipapp-python-api`.
+
+
+Basic Example
+-------------
+
+The following example shows how the :ref:`command-line-interface`
+can be used to create an executable archive from a directory containing
+Python code.  When run, the archive will execute the ``main`` function from
+the module ``myapp`` in the archive.
+
+.. code-block:: sh
+
+   $ python -m zipapp myapp -m "myapp:main"
+   $ python myapp.pyz
+   <output from myapp>
+
+
+.. _zipapp-command-line-interface:
+
+Command-Line Interface
+----------------------
+
+When called as a program from the command line, the following form is used:
+
+.. code-block:: sh
+
+   $ python -m zipapp source [options]
+
+If *source* is a directory, this will create an archive from the contents of
+*source*.  If *source* is a file, it should be an archive, and it will be
+copied to the target archive (or the contents of its shebang line will be
+displayed if the --info option is specified).
+
+The following options are understood:
+
+.. program:: zipapp
+
+.. cmdoption:: -o <output>, --output=<output>
+
+   Write the output to a file named *output*.  If this option is not specified,
+   the output filename will be the same as the input *source*, with the
+   extension ``.pyz`` added.  If an explicit filename is given, it is used as
+   is (so a ``.pyz`` extension should be included if required).
+
+   An output filename must be specified if the *source* is an archive (and in
+   that case, *output* must not be the same as *source*).
+
+.. cmdoption:: -p <interpreter>, --python=<interpreter>
+
+   Add a ``#!`` line to the archive specifying *interpreter* as the command
+   to run.  Also, on POSIX, make the archive executable.  The default is to
+   write no ``#!`` line, and not make the file executable.
+
+.. cmdoption:: -m <mainfn>, --main=<mainfn>
+
+   Write a ``__main__.py`` file to the archive that executes *mainfn*.  The
+   *mainfn* argument should have the form "pkg.mod:fn", where "pkg.mod" is a
+   package/module in the archive, and "fn" is a callable in the given module.
+   The ``__main__.py`` file will execute that callable.
+
+   :option:`--main` cannot be specified when copying an archive.
+
+.. cmdoption:: --info
+
+   Display the interpreter embedded in the archive, for diagnostic purposes.  In
+   this case, any other options are ignored and SOURCE must be an archive, not a
+   directory.
+
+.. cmdoption:: -h, --help
+
+   Print a short usage message and exit.
+
+
+.. _zipapp-python-api:
+
+Python API
+----------
+
+The module defines two convenience functions:
+
+
+.. function:: create_archive(source, target=None, interpreter=None, main=None)
+
+   Create an application archive from *source*.  The source can be any
+   of the following:
+   
+   * The name of a directory, in which case a new application archive
+     will be created from the content of that directory.
+   * The name of an existing application archive file, in which case the file is
+     copied to the target (modifying it to reflect the value given for the
+     *interpreter* argument).  The file name should include the ``.pyz``
+     extension, if required.
+   * A file object open for reading in bytes mode.  The content of the
+     file should be an application archive, and the file object is
+     assumed to be positioned at the start of the archive.
+   
+   The *target* argument determines where the resulting archive will be
+   written:
+   
+   * If it is the name of a file, the archive will be written to that
+     file.
+   * If it is an open file object, the archive will be written to that
+     file object, which must be open for writing in bytes mode.
+   * If the target is omitted (or None), the source must be a directory
+     and the target will be a file with the same name as the source, with
+     a ``.pyz`` extension added.
+   
+   The *interpreter* argument specifies the name of the Python
+   interpreter with which the archive will be executed.  It is written as
+   a "shebang" line at the start of the archive.  On POSIX, this will be
+   interpreted by the OS, and on Windows it will be handled by the Python
+   launcher.  Omitting the *interpreter* results in no shebang line being
+   written.  If an interpreter is specified, and the target is a
+   filename, the executable bit of the target file will be set.
+   
+   The *main* argument specifies the name of a callable which will be
+   used as the main program for the archive.  It can only be specified if
+   the source is a directory, and the source does not already contain a
+   ``__main__.py`` file.  The *main* argument should take the form
+   "pkg.module:callable" and the archive will be run by importing
+   "pkg.module" and executing the given callable with no arguments.  It
+   is an error to omit *main* if the source is a directory and does not
+   contain a ``__main__.py`` file, as otherwise the resulting archive
+   would not be executable.
+   
+   If a file object is specified for *source* or *target*, it is the
+   caller's responsibility to close it after calling create_archive.
+   
+   When copying an existing archive, file objects supplied only need
+   ``read`` and ``readline``, or ``write`` methods.  When creating an
+   archive from a directory, if the target is a file object it will be
+   passed to the ``zipfile.ZipFile`` class, and must supply the methods
+   needed by that class.
+
+.. function:: get_interpreter(archive)
+
+   Return the interpreter specified in the ``#!`` line at the start of the
+   archive.  If there is no ``#!`` line, return :const:`None`.
+   The *archive* argument can be a filename or a file-like object open
+   for reading in bytes mode.  It is assumed to be at the start of the archive.
+
+
+.. _zipapp-examples:
+
+Examples
+--------
+
+Pack up a directory into an archive, and run it.
+
+.. code-block:: sh
+
+   $ python -m zipapp myapp
+   $ python myapp.pyz
+   <output from myapp>
+
+The same can be done using the :func:`create_archive` functon::
+
+   >>> import zipapp
+   >>> zipapp.create_archive('myapp.pyz', 'myapp')
+
+To make the application directly executable on POSIX, specify an interpreter
+to use.
+
+.. code-block:: sh
+
+   $ python -m zipapp myapp -p "/usr/bin/env python"
+   $ ./myapp.pyz
+   <output from myapp>
+
+To replace the shebang line on an existing archive, create a modified archive
+using the :func:`create_archive` function::
+
+   >>> import zipapp
+   >>> zipapp.create_archive('old_archive.pyz', 'new_archive.pyz', '/usr/bin/python3')
+
+To update the file in place, do the replacement in memory using a :class:`BytesIO`
+object, and then overwrite the source afterwards.  Note that there is a risk
+when overwriting a file in place that an error will result in the loss of
+the original file.  This code does not protect against such errors, but
+production code should do so.  Also, this method will only work if the archive
+fits in memory::
+
+   >>> import zipapp
+   >>> import io
+   >>> temp = io.BytesIO()
+   >>> zipapp.create_archive('myapp.pyz', temp, '/usr/bin/python2')
+   >>> with open('myapp.pyz', 'wb') as f:
+   >>>     f.write(temp.getvalue())
+
+Note that if you specify an interpreter and then distribute your application
+archive, you need to ensure that the interpreter used is portable.  The Python
+launcher for Windows supports most common forms of POSIX ``#!`` line, but there
+are other issues to consider:
+
+* If you use "/usr/bin/env python" (or other forms of the "python" command,
+  such as "/usr/bin/python"), you need to consider that your users may have
+  either Python 2 or Python 3 as their default, and write your code to work
+  under both versions.
+* If you use an explicit version, for example "/usr/bin/env python3" your
+  application will not work for users who do not have that version.  (This
+  may be what you want if you have not made your code Python 2 compatible).
+* There is no way to say "python X.Y or later", so be careful of using an
+  exact version like "/usr/bin/env python3.4" as you will need to change your
+  shebang line for users of Python 3.5, for example.
+
+The Python Zip Application Archive Format
+-----------------------------------------
+
+Python has been able to execute zip files which contain a ``__main__.py`` file
+since version 2.6.  In order to be executed by Python, an application archive
+simply has to be a standard zip file containing a ``__main__.py`` file which
+will be run as the entry point for the application.  As usual for any Python
+script, the parent of the script (in this case the zip file) will be placed on
+:data:`sys.path` and thus further modules can be imported from the zip file.
+
+The zip file format allows arbitrary data to be prepended to a zip file.  The
+zip application format uses this ability to prepend a standard POSIX "shebang"
+line to the file (``#!/path/to/interpreter``).
+
+Formally, the Python zip application format is therefore:
+
+1. An optional shebang line, containing the characters ``b'#!'`` followed by an
+   interpreter name, and then a newline (``b'\n'``) character.  The interpreter
+   name can be anything acceptable to the OS "shebang" processing, or the Python
+   launcher on Windows.  The interpreter should be encoded in UTF-8 on Windows,
+   and in :func:`sys.getfilesystemencoding()` on POSIX.
+2. Standard zipfile data, as generated by the :mod:`zipfile` module.  The
+   zipfile content *must* include a file called ``__main__.py`` (which must be
+   in the "root" of the zipfile - i.e., it cannot be in a subdirectory).  The
+   zipfile data can be compressed or uncompressed.
+
+If an application archive has a shebang line, it may have the executable bit set
+on POSIX systems, to allow it to be executed directly.
+
+There is no requirement that the tools in this module are used to create
+application archives - the module is a convenience, but archives in the above
+format created by any means are acceptable to Python.