.. highlightlang:: cfg .. _setupcfg-spec: ******************************************* Specification of the :file:`setup.cfg` file ******************************************* :version: 0.9 This document describes the :file:`setup.cfg`, an ini-style configuration file used by Packaging to replace the :file:`setup.py` file used by Distutils. This specification is language-agnostic, and will therefore repeat some information that's already documented for Python in the :class:`configparser.RawConfigParser` documentation. .. contents:: :depth: 3 :local: Syntax ====== The ini-style format used in the configuration file is a simple collection of sections that group sets of key-value fields separated by ``=`` or ``:`` and optional whitespace. Lines starting with ``#`` or ``;`` are comments and will be ignored. Empty lines are also ignored. Example:: [section1] # comment name = value name2 = "other value" [section2] foo = bar Parsing values --------------- Here are a set of rules to parse values: - If a value is quoted with ``"`` chars, it's a string. If a quote character is present in the quoted value, it can be escaped as ``\"`` or left as-is. - If the value is ``true``, ``t``, ``yes``, ``y`` (case-insensitive) or ``1``, it's converted to the language equivalent of a ``True`` value; if it's ``false``, ``f``, ``no``, ``n`` (case-insensitive) or ``0``, it's converted to the equivalent of ``False``. - A value can contain multiple lines. When read, lines are converted into a sequence of values. Each line after the first must start with a least one space or tab character; this leading indentation will be stripped. - All other values are considered strings. Examples:: [section] foo = one two three bar = false baz = 1.3 boo = "ok" beee = "wqdqw pojpj w\"ddq" Extending files --------------- A configuration file can be extended (i.e. included) by other files. For this, a ``DEFAULT`` section must contain an ``extends`` key which value points to one or more files which will be merged into the current files by adding new sections and fields. If a file loaded by ``extends`` contains sections or keys that already exist in the original file, they will not override the previous values. Contents of :file:`one.cfg`:: [section1] name = value [section2] foo = foo from one.cfg Contents of :file:`two.cfg`:: [DEFAULT] extends = one.cfg [section2] foo = foo from two.cfg baz = baz from two.cfg The result of parsing :file:`two.cfg` is equivalent to this file:: [section1] name = value [section2] foo = foo from one.cfg baz = baz from two.cfg Example use of multi-line notation to include more than one file:: [DEFAULT] extends = one.cfg two.cfg When several files are provided, they are processed sequentially, following the precedence rules explained above. This means that the list of files should go from most specialized to most common. **Tools will need to provide a way to produce a merged version of the file**. This will be useful to let users publish a single file. Description of sections and fields ================================== Each section contains a description of its options. - Options that are marked *multi* can have multiple values, one value per line. - Options that are marked *optional* can be omitted. - Options that are marked *environ* can use environment markers, as described in :PEP:`345`. The sections are: global Global options not related to one command. metadata Name, version and other information defined by :PEP:`345`. files Modules, scripts, data, documentation and other files to include in the distribution. extension sections Options used to build extension modules. command sections Options given for specific commands, identical to those that can be given on the command line. Global options -------------- Contains global options for Packaging. This section is shared with Distutils. commands Defined Packaging command. A command is defined by its fully qualified name. *optional*, *multi* Examples:: [global] commands = package.setup.CustomSdistCommand package.setup.BdistDeb compilers Defined Packaging compiler. A compiler is defined by its fully qualified name. *optional*, *multi* Example:: [global] compilers = hotcompiler.SmartCCompiler setup_hooks Defines a list of callables to be called right after the :file:`setup.cfg` file is read, before any other processing. Each value is a Python dotted name to an object, which has to be defined in a module present in the project directory alonside :file:`setup.cfg` or on Python's :data:`sys.path` (see :ref:`packaging-finding-hooks`). The callables are executed in the order they're found in the file; if one of them cannot be found, tools should not stop, but for example produce a warning and continue with the next line. Each callable receives the configuration as a dictionary (keys are :file:`setup.cfg` sections, values are dictionaries of fields) and can make any change to it. *optional*, *multi* Example:: [global] setup_hooks = _setuphooks.customize_config Metadata -------- The metadata section contains the metadata for the project as described in :PEP:`345`. Field names are case-insensitive. Fields: name Name of the project. version Version of the project. Must comply with :PEP:`386`. platform Platform specification describing an operating system supported by the distribution which is not listed in the "Operating System" Trove classifiers (:PEP:`301`). *optional*, *multi* supported-platform Binary distributions containing a PKG-INFO file will use the Supported-Platform field in their metadata to specify the OS and CPU for which the binary distribution was compiled. The semantics of the Supported-Platform field are free form. *optional*, *multi* summary A one-line summary of what the distribution does. (Used to be called *description* in Distutils1.) description A longer description. (Used to be called *long_description* in Distutils1.) A file can be provided in the *description-file* field. *optional* keywords A list of additional keywords to be used to assist searching for the distribution in a larger catalog. Comma or space-separated. *optional* home-page The URL for the distribution's home page. download-url The URL from which this version of the distribution can be downloaded. *optional* author Author's name. *optional* author-email Author's e-mail. *optional* maintainer Maintainer's name. *optional* maintainer-email Maintainer's e-mail. *optional* license A text indicating the term of uses, when a trove classifier does not match. *optional*. classifiers Classification for the distribution, as described in PEP 301. *optional*, *multi*, *environ* requires-dist name of another packaging project required as a dependency. The format is *name (version)* where version is an optional version declaration, as described in PEP 345. *optional*, *multi*, *environ* provides-dist name of another packaging project contained within this distribution. Same format than *requires-dist*. *optional*, *multi*, *environ* obsoletes-dist name of another packaging project this version obsoletes. Same format than *requires-dist*. *optional*, *multi*, *environ* requires-python Specifies the Python version the distribution requires. The value is a comma-separated list of version predicates, as described in PEP 345. *optional*, *environ* requires-externals a dependency in the system. This field is free-form, and just a hint for downstream maintainers. *optional*, *multi*, *environ* project-url A label, followed by a browsable URL for the project. "label, url". The label is limited to 32 signs. *optional*, *multi* One extra field not present in PEP 345 is supported: description-file Path to a text file that will be used to fill the ``description`` field. Multiple values are accepted; they must be separated by whitespace. ``description-file`` and ``description`` are mutually exclusive. *optional* Example:: [metadata] name = pypi2rpm version = 0.1 author = Tarek Ziadé author-email = tarek@ziade.org summary = Script that transforms an sdist archive into a RPM package description-file = README home-page = http://bitbucket.org/tarek/pypi2rpm/wiki/Home project-url: Repository, http://bitbucket.org/tarek/pypi2rpm/ RSS feed, https://bitbucket.org/tarek/pypi2rpm/rss classifier = Development Status :: 3 - Alpha License :: OSI Approved :: Mozilla Public License 1.1 (MPL 1.1) You should not give any explicit value for metadata-version: it will be guessed from the fields present in the file. Files ----- This section describes the files included in the project. packages_root the root directory containing all packages and modules (default: current directory). *optional* packages a list of packages the project includes *optional*, *multi* modules a list of packages the project includes *optional*, *multi* scripts a list of scripts the project includes *optional*, *multi* extra_files a list of patterns to include extra files *optional*, *multi* Example:: [files] packages_root = src packages = pypi2rpm pypi2rpm.command scripts = pypi2rpm/pypi2rpm.py extra_files = setup.py README .. Note:: The :file:`setup.cfg` configuration file is included by default. Contrary to Distutils, :file:`README` (or :file:`README.txt`) and :file:`setup.py` are not included by default. Resources ^^^^^^^^^ This section describes the files used by the project which must not be installed in the same place that python modules or libraries, they are called **resources**. They are for example documentation files, script files, databases, etc... For declaring resources, you must use this notation:: source = destination Data-files are declared in the **resources** field in the **file** section, for example:: [files] resources = source1 = destination1 source2 = destination2 The **source** part of the declaration are relative paths of resources files (using unix path separator **/**). For example, if you've this source tree:: foo/ doc/ doc.man scripts/ foo.sh Your setup.cfg will look like:: [files] resources = doc/doc.man = destination_doc scripts/foo.sh = destination_scripts The final paths where files will be placed are composed by : **source** + **destination**. In the previous example, **doc/doc.man** will be placed in **destination_doc/doc/doc.man** and **scripts/foo.sh** will be placed in **destination_scripts/scripts/foo.sh**. (If you want more control on the final path, take a look at :ref:`setupcfg-resources-base-prefix`). The **destination** part of resources declaration are paths with categories. Indeed, it's generally a bad idea to give absolute path as it will be cross incompatible. So, you must use resources categories in your **destination** declaration. Categories will be replaced by their real path at the installation time. Using categories is all benefit, your declaration will be simpler, cross platform and it will allow packager to place resources files where they want without breaking your code. Categories can be specified by using this syntax:: {category} Default categories are: * config * appdata * appdata.arch * appdata.persistent * appdata.disposable * help * icon * scripts * doc * info * man A special category also exists **{distribution.name}** that will be replaced by the name of the distribution, but as most of the defaults categories use them, so it's not necessary to add **{distribution.name}** into your destination. If you use categories in your declarations, and you are encouraged to do, final path will be:: source + destination_expanded .. _example_final_path: For example, if you have this setup.cfg:: [metadata] name = foo [files] resources = doc/doc.man = {doc} And if **{doc}** is replaced by **{datadir}/doc/{distribution.name}**, final path will be:: {datadir}/doc/foo/doc/doc.man Where {datafir} category will be platform-dependent. More control on source part """"""""""""""""""""""""""" Glob syntax ''''''''''' When you declare source file, you can use a glob-like syntax to match multiples file, for example:: scripts/* = {script} Will match all the files in the scripts directory and placed them in the script category. Glob tokens are: * ``*``: match all files. * ``?``: match any character. * ``**``: match any level of tree recursion (even 0). * ``{}``: will match any part separated by comma (example: ``{sh,bat}``). .. TODO Add examples Order of declaration '''''''''''''''''''' The order of declaration is important if one file match multiple rules. The last rules matched by file is used, this is useful if you have this source tree:: foo/ doc/ index.rst setup.rst documentation.txt doc.tex README And you want all the files in the doc directory to be placed in {doc} category, but README must be placed in {help} category, instead of listing all the files one by one, you can declare them in this way:: [files] resources = doc/* = {doc} doc/README = {help} Exclude ''''''' You can exclude some files of resources declaration by giving no destination, it can be useful if you have a non-resources file in the same directory of resources files:: foo/ doc/ RELEASES doc.tex documentation.txt docu.rst Your **files** section will be:: [files] resources = doc/* = {doc} doc/RELEASES = More control on destination part """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" .. _setupcfg-resources-base-prefix: Defining a base prefix '''''''''''''''''''''' When you define your resources, you can have more control of how the final path is computed. By default, the final path is:: destination + source This can generate long paths, for example (example_final_path_):: {datadir}/doc/foo/doc/doc.man When you declare your source, you can use whitespace to split the source in **prefix** **suffix**. So, for example, if you have this source:: docs/ doc.man The **prefix** is "docs/" and the **suffix** is "doc.html". .. note:: Separator can be placed after a path separator or replace it. So these two sources are equivalent:: docs/ doc.man docs doc.man .. note:: Glob syntax is working the same way with standard source and split source. So these rules:: docs/* docs/ * docs * Will match all the files in the docs directory. When you use split source, the final path is computed this way:: destination + prefix So for example, if you have this setup.cfg:: [metadata] name = foo [files] resources = doc/ doc.man = {doc} And if **{doc}** is replaced by **{datadir}/doc/{distribution.name}**, final path will be:: {datadir}/doc/foo/doc.man Overwriting paths for categories """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" This part is intended for system administrators or downstream OS packagers. The real paths of categories are registered in the *sysconfig.cfg* file installed in your python installation. This file uses an ini format too. The content of the file is organized into several sections: * globals: Standard categories's paths. * posix_prefix: Standard paths for categories and installation paths for posix system. * other ones XXX Standard categories paths are platform independent, they generally refers to other categories, which are platform dependent. :mod:`sysconfig` will choose these category from sections matching os.name. For example:: doc = {datadir}/doc/{distribution.name} It refers to datadir category, which can be different between platforms. In posix system, it may be:: datadir = /usr/share So the final path will be:: doc = /usr/share/doc/{distribution.name} The platform-dependent categories are: * confdir * datadir * libdir * base Defining extra categories """"""""""""""""""""""""" .. TODO Examples """""""" These examples are incremental but work unitarily. Resources in root dir ''''''''''''''''''''' Source tree:: babar-1.0/ README babar.sh launch.sh babar.py :file:`setup.cfg`:: [files] resources = README = {doc} *.sh = {scripts} So babar.sh and launch.sh will be placed in {scripts} directory. Now let's move all the scripts into a scripts directory. Resources in sub-directory '''''''''''''''''''''''''' Source tree:: babar-1.1/ README scripts/ babar.sh launch.sh LAUNCH babar.py :file:`setup.cfg`:: [files] resources = README = {doc} scripts/ LAUNCH = {doc} scripts/ *.sh = {scripts} It's important to use the separator after scripts/ to install all the shell scripts into {scripts} instead of {scripts}/scripts. Now let's add some docs. Resources in multiple sub-directories ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Source tree:: babar-1.2/ README scripts/ babar.sh launch.sh LAUNCH docs/ api man babar.py :file:`setup.cfg`:: [files] resources = README = {doc} scripts/ LAUNCH = {doc} scripts/ *.sh = {scripts} doc/ * = {doc} doc/ man = {man} You want to place all the file in the docs script into {doc} category, instead of man, which must be placed into {man} category, we will use the order of declaration of globs to choose the destination, the last glob that match the file is used. Now let's add some scripts for windows users. Complete example '''''''''''''''' Source tree:: babar-1.3/ README doc/ api man scripts/ babar.sh launch.sh babar.bat launch.bat LAUNCH :file:`setup.cfg`:: [files] resources = README = {doc} scripts/ LAUNCH = {doc} scripts/ *.{sh,bat} = {scripts} doc/ * = {doc} doc/ man = {man} We use brace expansion syntax to place all the shell and batch scripts into {scripts} category. Extension sections ------------------ If a project includes extension modules written in C or C++, each one of them needs to have its options defined in a dedicated section. Here's an example:: [files] packages = coconut [extension=_fastcoconut] name = coconut._fastcoconut language = cxx sources = cxx_src/cononut_utils.cxx cxx_src/python_module.cxx include_dirs = /usr/include/gecode /usr/include/blitz extra_compile_args = -fPIC -O2 -DGECODE_VERSION=$(./gecode_version) -- sys.platform != 'win32' /DGECODE_VERSION='win32' -- sys.platform == 'win32' The section name must start with ``extension=``; the righ-hand part is currently discarded. Valid fields and their values are listed in the documentation of the :class:`packaging.compiler.extension.Extension` class; values documented as Python lists translate to multi-line values in the configuration file. In addition, multi-line values accept environment markers on each line, after a ``--``. Command sections ---------------- To pass options to commands without having to type them on the command line for each invocation, you can write them in the :file:`setup.cfg` file, in a section named after the command. Example:: [sdist] # special function to add custom files manifest-builders = package.setup.list_extra_files [build] use-2to3 = True [build_ext] inplace = on [check] strict = on all = on Option values given in the configuration file can be overriden on the command line. See :ref:`packaging-setup-config` for more information. Extensibility ============= Every section can have fields that are not part of this specification. They are called **extensions**. An extension field starts with ``X-``. Example:: [metadata] name = Distribute X-Debian-Name = python-distribute Changes in the specification ============================ The versioning scheme for this specification is **MAJOR.MINOR**. Changes in the specification will cause the version number to be updated. Changes to the minor number reflect backwards-compatible changes: - New fields and sections (optional or mandatory) can be added. - Optional fields can be removed. The major number will be incremented for backwards-incompatible changes: - Mandatory fields or sections are removed. - Fields change their meaning. As a consequence, a tool written to consume 1.5 has these properties: - Can read 1.1, 1.2 and all versions < 1.5, since the tool knows what optional fields weren't there. .. XXX clarify - Can also read 1.6 and other 1.x versions: The tool will just ignore fields it doesn't know about, even if they are mandatory in the new version. If optional fields were removed, the tool will just consider them absent. - Cannot read 2.x and should refuse to interpret such files. A tool written to produce 1.x should have these properties: - Writes all mandatory fields. - May write optional fields. Acknowledgments =============== This specification includes work and feedback from these people: - Tarek Ziadé - Julien Jehannet - Boris Feld - Éric Araujo (If your name is missing, please :ref:`let us know `.)