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      1 Protocol Buffers - Google's data interchange format
      2 Copyright 2008 Google Inc.
      3 
      4 This directory contains the Python Protocol Buffers runtime library.
      5 
      6 Normally, this directory comes as part of the protobuf package, available
      7 from:
      8 
      9   http://code.google.com/p/protobuf
     10 
     11 The complete package includes the C++ source code, which includes the
     12 Protocol Compiler (protoc).  If you downloaded this package from PyPI
     13 or some other Python-specific source, you may have received only the
     14 Python part of the code.  In this case, you will need to obtain the
     15 Protocol Compiler from some other source before you can use this
     16 package.
     17 
     18 Development Warning
     19 ===================
     20 
     21 The Python implementation of Protocol Buffers is not as mature as the C++
     22 and Java implementations.  It may be more buggy, and it is known to be
     23 pretty slow at this time.  If you would like to help fix these issues,
     24 join the Protocol Buffers discussion list and let us know!
     25 
     26 Installation
     27 ============
     28 
     29 1) Make sure you have Python 2.4 or newer.  If in doubt, run:
     30 
     31      $ python -V
     32 
     33 2) 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 
     40 3) 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 
     46 4) 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 
     61 5) Install:
     62 
     63      $ python setup.py install
     64 
     65    This step may require superuser privileges.
     66 
     67 Usage
     68 =====
     69 
     70 The complete documentation for Protocol Buffers is available via the
     71 web at:
     72 
     73   http://code.google.com/apis/protocolbuffers/
     74