.. role:: code(strong)
.. role:: file(emphasis)

======================
README file for Pymacs
======================

.. contents::

There exists a  README to `Belorussian translation`__ of this README file,
and a `Romanian translation`__ of the Pymacs manual.

__ http://www.movavi.com/opensource/pymacs-be
.. By `Paul Bukhovko` bukhovko@gmail.com

__ http://webhostinggeeks.com/science/pymacs-framework-ro
.. By `Alexander Ovsov` alovsov@gmail.com

General
=======

Pymacs is a powerful tool which, once started from Emacs, allows
both-way communication between Emacs Lisp and Python.  Pymacs aims
Python as an extension language for Emacs rather than the other way
around, and this asymmetry is reflected in some design choices.  Within
Emacs Lisp code, one may load and use Python modules.  Python functions
may themselves use Emacs services, and handle Emacs Lisp objects kept in
Emacs Lisp space.

The Pymacs manual (either in `HTML format`__ or `PDF format`__ for the
latest version) has installation instructions, a full description of the
API, pointers to documented examples, to resources, and to other Pymacs
sites or projects.  The distribution also includes the Poor's Python
Pre-Processor (**pppp**) and its manual (either in `HTML format`__ or `PDF
format`__ for the latest version).

__ http://pymacs.progiciels-bpi.ca/pymacs.html
__ http://pymacs.progiciels-bpi.ca/pymacs.pdf
__ http://pymacs.progiciels-bpi.ca/pppp.html
__ http://pymacs.progiciels-bpi.ca/pppp.pdf

Source files and various distributions (either latest, pretest, or
archive) are available through:

  + https://github.com/pinard/Pymacs/

Please report problems, comments and suggestions to `François Pinard`__
at ``pinard@iro.umontreal.ca``.

__ mailto:pinard@iro.umontreal.ca

Notes for 0.24 beta2
====================

2010-11-14

Hello to all.

There is now a second Pymacs beta in the 0.24 series:

  https://github.com/pinard/Pymacs/tarball/v0.24-beta2
  https://github.com/pinard/Pymacs/zipball/v0.24-beta2

depending on if you want a tar or zip archive.

I would release 0.24 in a month or two, maybe, if it seems stable
enough.  If I get no reports, I'll likely do the release!

XEmacs support seems to be broken currently.  As I am not much of a
XEmacs user, I would like to know if there enough interest and
collaborators / testers to consider trying to resolve this?

The biggest change is Python 3 support.  This required new installation
mechanics, and a Python pre-processor written for the circumstance
(named pppp).

Some errors have been corrected, both in the code and in the manual.
The specifications are pretty stable.  The "Let" class got a "pops"
method which pops everything in a single call.  A pymacs-auto-restart
variable lets the user decide what to do if the Pymacs helper aborts.

There has been a (courageous) attempt at supporting Jython 2.2, but no
success yet.  I do not see this as a show stopper! :-)

Notes for 0.24 beta1
====================

2008-02-28

Hi!

I just pushed out the first beta in the 0.24 series:

  https://github.com/pinard/Pymacs/tarball/v0.24-beta1
  https://github.com/pinard/Pymacs/zipball/v0.24-beta1

depending on if you want a tar or zip archive.

Not much in it, besides tiny configuration issues.  For example, today,
someone reported problems using a XEmacs without support for Mule.

Notes for 0.23
==============

2008-02-15

Hello to everybody, and Emacs users in the Python community.

Here is Pymacs 0.23!  There has been a while, so I advise current Pymacs
users to switch with caution.  All reported bugs have been squashed, if
we except one about Emacs quit (``C-g``) not being obeyed gracefully.  A
few suggestions have been postponed, to be pondered later.

The manual is now in reST format, and everything Allout is gone.
Postscript and PDF files are not anymore part of the distribution, you
may find them on the Web site, or use the Makefile if you have needed
tools.  Examples have been moved out of the manual into a new contrib/
subdirectory, which also holds a few new contributions.  The example of
a Python back-end for Emacs Gnus has been deleted.

Python 1.5.2 compatibility has been dropped; use Python 2.2 or better.
The Pymacs manual explains installation procedure, now simplified.  The
pymacs-services script is gone, this should ease installing Pymacs on MS
Windows.  There is also a small, still naive validation suite.

The communication protocol has been revised: more clarity, less magic.
Zombie objects are less dreadful by default.  The API now supports False
and True constants, and Unicode strings (within limits set by Emacs).

Special thanks to those who helped me at creating or testing this
release.