README.txt
1Protocol Buffers - Google's data interchange format
2Copyright 2008 Google Inc.
3
4This directory contains the Python Protocol Buffers runtime library.
5
6Normally, this directory comes as part of the protobuf package, available
7from:
8
9 http://code.google.com/p/protobuf
10
11The complete package includes the C++ source code, which includes the
12Protocol Compiler (protoc). If you downloaded this package from PyPI
13or some other Python-specific source, you may have received only the
14Python part of the code. In this case, you will need to obtain the
15Protocol Compiler from some other source before you can use this
16package.
17
18Development Warning
19===================
20
21The Python implementation of Protocol Buffers is not as mature as the C++
22and Java implementations. It may be more buggy, and it is known to be
23pretty slow at this time. If you would like to help fix these issues,
24join the Protocol Buffers discussion list and let us know!
25
26Installation
27============
28
291) Make sure you have Python 2.4 or newer. If in doubt, run:
30
31 $ python -V
32
332) If you do not have setuptools installed, note that it will be
34 downloaded and installed automatically as soon as you run setup.py.
35 If you would rather install it manually, you may do so by following
36 the instructions on this page:
37
38 http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall#installation-instructions
39
403) Build the C++ code, or install a binary distribution of protoc. If
41 you install a binary distribution, make sure that it is the same
42 version as this package. If in doubt, run:
43
44 $ protoc --version
45
464) Run the tests:
47
48 $ python setup.py test
49
50 If some tests fail, this library may not work correctly on your
51 system. Continue at your own risk.
52
53 Please note that there is a known problem with some versions of
54 Python on Cygwin which causes the tests to fail after printing the
55 error: "sem_init: Resource temporarily unavailable". This appears
56 to be a bug either in Cygwin or in Python:
57 http://www.cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/2005-07/msg01378.html
58 We do not know if or when it might me fixed. We also do not know
59 how likely it is that this bug will affect users in practice.
60
615) Install:
62
63 $ python setup.py install
64
65 This step may require superuser privileges.
66
67Usage
68=====
69
70The complete documentation for Protocol Buffers is available via the
71web at:
72
73 http://code.google.com/apis/protocolbuffers/
74