41. Undocumented Modules¶
Here’s a quick listing of modules that are currently undocumented, but that
should be documented. Feel free to contribute documentation for them! (Send
via email to docs@python.org.)
The idea and original contents for this chapter were taken from a posting by
Fredrik Lundh; the specific contents of this chapter have been substantially
revised.
41.1. Miscellaneous useful utilities¶
Some of these are very old and/or not very robust; marked with “hmm.”
ihooks— Import hook support (for rexec; may become obsolete). Removed in
Python 3.x.
41.2. Platform specific modules¶
These modules are used to implement the os.path module, and are not
documented beyond this mention. There’s little need to document these.
ntpath— Implementation of os.path on Win32, Win64, WinCE, and OS/2 platforms.
posixpath— Implementation of os.path on POSIX.
bsddb185— Backwards compatibility module for systems which still use the Berkeley DB
1.85 module. It is normally only available on certain BSD Unix-based systems.
It should never be used directly.
41.3. Multimedia¶
audiodev— Platform-independent API for playing audio data. Removed in Python 3.x.
linuxaudiodev— Play audio data on the Linux audio device. Replaced in Python 2.3 by the
ossaudiodev module. Removed in Python 3.x.
sunaudio— Interpret Sun audio headers (may become obsolete or a tool/demo).
Removed in Python 3.x.
toaiff— Convert “arbitrary” sound files to AIFF files; should probably become a tool
or demo. Requires the external program sox. Removed in Python 3.x.
41.4. Undocumented Mac OS modules¶
41.4.1. applesingle — AppleSingle decoder¶
Deprecated since version 2.6.
41.4.2. buildtools — Helper module for BuildApplet and Friends¶
Deprecated since version 2.4.
41.4.3. cfmfile — Code Fragment Resource module¶
cfmfile is a module that understands Code Fragments and the accompanying
“cfrg” resources. It can parse them and merge them, and is used by
BuildApplication to combine all plugin modules to a single executable.
Deprecated since version 2.4.
41.4.4. icopen — Internet Config replacement for open()¶
Importing icopen will replace the built-in open() with a version
that uses Internet Config to set file type and creator for new files.
Deprecated since version 2.6.
41.4.5. macerrors — Mac OS Errors¶
macerrors contains constant definitions for many Mac OS error codes.
Deprecated since version 2.6.
41.4.6. macresource — Locate script resources¶
macresource helps scripts finding their resources, such as dialogs and
menus, without requiring special case code for when the script is run under
MacPython, as a MacPython applet or under OSX Python.
Deprecated since version 2.6.
41.4.7. Nav — NavServices calls¶
A low-level interface to Navigation Services.
Deprecated since version 2.6.
41.4.8. PixMapWrapper — Wrapper for PixMap objects¶
PixMapWrapper wraps a PixMap object with a Python object that allows
access to the fields by name. It also has methods to convert to and from
PIL images.
Deprecated since version 2.6.
41.4.9. videoreader — Read QuickTime movies¶
videoreader reads and decodes QuickTime movies and passes a stream of
images to your program. It also provides some support for audio tracks.
Deprecated since version 2.6.
41.4.10. W — Widgets built on FrameWork¶
The W widgets are used extensively in the IDE.
Deprecated since version 2.6.
41.5. Obsolete¶
These modules are not normally available for import; additional work must be
done to make them available.
These extension modules written in C are not built by default. Under Unix, these
must be enabled by uncommenting the appropriate lines in Modules/Setup
in the build tree and either rebuilding Python if the modules are statically
linked, or building and installing the shared object if using dynamically-loaded
extensions.
timing— Measure time intervals to high resolution (use time.clock()
instead). Removed in Python 3.x.
41.6. SGI-specific Extension modules¶
The following are SGI specific, and may be out of touch with the current version
of reality.
cl— Interface to the SGI compression library.
sv— Interface to the “simple video” board on SGI Indigo (obsolete hardware).
Removed in Python 3.x.