[omniORB] omniORB for Python and new IDL compiler pre-release

[Rick Ethington]

Duncan,

looks interesting, and yes i have entertained an idea (showing ideas a
good time is what i like to do best) that this might support.
Do comments in the idl get passed to the python back-end? i had been
looking for an up to date version of idldoc and it had been suggested
that a new back-end for this idl compiler might be the answer. what do
you think?

Rick

Duncan Grisby wrote:
> 
> The first pre-release of omniORBpy, omniORB's Python binding, is now
> available via CVS. It currently works on Linux and Solaris, and should
> be easy to port to any other Unix for which omniORB is available. NT
> support is next on my list of things to do, and should be available
> soon.
> 
> omniORBpy follows the official OMG Python mapping available from
> ftp://ftp.omg.org/pub/docs/orbos/99-08-02.pdf
> 
> For more details about what is and is not supported in omniORBpy, see
> the file `ReleaseNote' in the omniORBpy tree.
> 
> The release of omniORBpy is also the first outing for our new IDL
> compiler, which has a simple Python back-end interface. If you have
> ever entertained the idea of generating some special-purpose code from
> your IDL, but been scared off by the complexity of available IDL
> front-ends, you may want to look at the new compiler.
> 
> Both omniORBpy and the new omniidl require Python version 1.5.2.
> Beware that /usr/bin/python on many Linux distributions is version
> 1.5.1, which is now quite out-of-date.
> 
> omniORBpy must be checked-out inside the src/lib directory of a
> working omniORB 2.8 tree. You can use an existing build, or use the
> following cvs commands to check-out the whole thing.
> 
>   export CVSROOT=":pserver:anonymous@cvs.uk.research.att.com:/cvsroot"
>   cvs login
>     (At the password prompt, enter the password cvs)
>   cvs checkout omni
>   cd omni/src/lib
>   cvs checkout omniORBpy
> 
> You must first configure and build the main omniORB tree (according to
> the normal instructions) if you haven't already done so. Then, go to
> the src/lib/omniORBpy directory and do `make export'.
> 
> If you just want to look at the IDL compiler, you can check-out the
> `omniidl' module from CVS, but you'll have to hack the makefiles a bit
> to build it anywhere other than inside omniORBpy. There isn't any
> documentation for it yet, but it should be quite obvious what's going
> on if you look at idlast.py, idltype.py, and be/dump.py. In the IDL
> compiler tree you'll find the beginnings of a new back-end for the C++
> ORB, but it is nowhere near ready to be used yet.
> 
> There is very little documentation for any of this as yet, but with
> any luck, most of it should be self explanatory.
> 
> Have fun!  Find bugs!
> 
> Duncan.
> 
> --
>  -- Duncan Grisby  \  Research Engineer  --
>   -- AT&T Laboratories Cambridge          --
>    -- http://www.uk.research.att.com/~dpg1 --