README

README for the eric4 IDE
    
    Installation
    
        Installing eric4 is a simple process. Just execute the install.py script
        (type python install.py -h for some help). Please note that the installation
        has to be performed using the administrators account (i.e. root on linux). 
        This installs a wrapper script in the standard executable directory 
        (default: /usr/local/bin on linux) called eric4.
        
        If you want to uninstall the package just execute the uninstall script. This 
        gets rid of all installed files. In this case please send an email to the
        below mentioned address and tell me your reason. This might give me a hint on
        how to improve eric4.
        
        If the required packages (Qt4, QScintilla2, sip and PyQt4) are not installed, 
        please get them and install them in the following order (order is important).
        
            1. Install Qt4
            
            2. Build and install sip
            
            3. Build and install QScintilla2
            
            4. Build and install PyQt4
            
            5. Build and install QScintilla2 Python bindings
            
            6. Install eric4
        
        If you want to use the interfaces to other supported software packages, you may
        install them in any order and at any time.
    
    Installation of translations
    
        Translations of the eric4 IDE are available as separate downloads. There
        are two ways to install them.
        
        The first possibility is to install them together with eric4. In order
        to do that, simply extract the downloaded archives into the same place
        as the eric4 archive and follow the installation instructions above.
        
        The second possibility is to install them separately. Extract the
        downloaded archives and execute the install-i18n.py script (type
        python install-i18n.py -h for some help). This way you can make the
        translations available to everybody or just to the user executing the
        installation command (if using the -p switch).
    
    Running
    
        Just call up eric4, which will start the IDE. Use the "what is"-help
        (arrow with ?) to get some help. Sorry, there is no documentation yet.
        To start the unit test module in a standalone variant simply call up 
        eric4-unittest. This will show the same dialog (though with a little bit less
        functionality) as if started from within eric4. The helpviewer can be
        started as a standalone program by executing the eric4-helpviewer script.
        
        Please note, the first time you start eric4 it will recognize, that it
        hasn't been configured yet and will show the configuration dialog.
        Please take your time and go through all the configuration items.
        However, every configuration option has a meaningful default value.
    
    Tray starter
    
        eric4 comes with a little utility called "eric4-tray". This embeds an icon
        in the system tray, which contains a context menu to start eric4 and all
        it's utilities. Double clicking this icon starts the eric4 IDE.
    
    Autocompletion/Calltips
    
        eric4 provides an interface to the QScintilla auto-completion and calltips
        functionality. QScintilla2 comes with API files for Python and itself. PyQt4
        contains an API file as well. These are installed by default, if the correct
        installation order (see above) is followed. An API file for eric4 is
        installed in the same place.
        
        In order to use autocompletion and calltips in eric4 please configure these
        functions in the "Preferences Dialog" on the "Editor -> APIs", 
        "Editor -> Autocompletion" and "Editor -> Calltips" pages.
    
    Remote Debugger
    
        In order to enable the remote debugger start eric4, open the preferences
        dialog and configure the settings on the debugger pages.
        
        The remote login must be possible without any further interaction (i.e.
        no password prompt). If the remote setup differs from the local one you
        must configure the Python interpreter and the Debug Client to be used
        in the Preferences dialog. eric4 includes two different versions of the
        debug client. DebugClient.py is the traditional debugger and
        DebugClientThreads is a multithreading variant of the debug client.
        Please copy all needed files to a place accessible through the Python path
        of the remote machine and set the entries of the a.m. configuration tab
        accordingly. 
    
    Passive Debugging
    
        Passive debugging mode allows the startup of the debugger from outside
        of the IDE. The IDE waits for a connection attempt. For further details
        see the file README-passive-debugging.txt
    
    Plugin System
    
        eric4 contains a plugin system, that is used to extend eric4's 
        functionality. Some plugins are part of eric4. Additional plugins
        are available via the Internet. Please use the built in plug-in
        repository dialog to get a list of available (official) plugins
        and to download them. For more details about the plug-in system
        please see the documentation area.
    
    Interfaces to additional software packages
    
        At the moment eric4 provides interfaces to the following software
        packages.
        
            Qt-Designer 
                This is part of the Qt distribution and is used to generate user
                interfaces.
            
            Qt-Linguist 
                This is part of the Qt distribution and is used to generate translations.
            
            Qt-Assistant 
                This is part of the Qt distribution and may be used to display help files.
            
            Subversion 
                This is another version control system available from 
                <subversion.tigris.org>. It is meant to be the successor of CVS.
                Eric4 supports two different Subversion interfaces. One is using
                the svn command line tool, the other is using the PySvn Python
                interface <pysvn.tigris.org>. The selection is done automatically
                depending on the installed software. The PySvn interface is prefered.
                This automatism can be overridden an a per project basis using
                the "User Properties" dialog.
            
            coverage.py 
                This is a tool to check Python code coverage. A slightly modified
                version is part of the eric4 distribution. The original version is
                available from <www.nedbatchelder.com/code/modules/coverage.html>
            
            tabnanny 
                This is a tool to check Python code for white-space related problems. It
                is part of the standard Python installation.
            
            profile 
                This is part of the standard Python distribution and is used to profile
                Python source code.
            
            cyclops 
                This is a tool to detect variable cycles which can cause the garbage
                collector being unable to do his job.
    
    Interfaces to additional software packages via plugins
    
        Some of the interfaces provided as plugins are as follows.
        
            CVS 
                This is a version control system available from <www.cvshome.org>.
            
            pylint
                This is a tool to check the source code according to various rules.
                It is available from <http://www.logilab.org/projects/pylint>.
            
            cx_Freeze
                This is a tool for packaging Python programs. It is available from
                <http://starship.python.net/crew/atuining/cx_Freeze>
    
    Internationalization
    
        eric4 and it's tools are prepared to show the UI in different
        languages, which can be configured via the preferences dialog. The Qt and
        QScintilla translations are searched in the translations directory given
        in the preferences dialog (Qt page). If the translations cannot be found, 
        some part of the MMI might show English texts even if you have selected 
        something else. If you are missing eric4 translations for your language 
        and are willing to volunteer for this work please send me an email naming 
        the country code and I will send you the respective Qt-Linguist file.
    
    Window Layout
    
        eric4 provides different window layouts. In these layouts, the shell window
        and the file browser may be embedded or be separat windows. The first layout
        uses dock windows and the last one provides independant windows.
    
    Source code documentation
    
        eric4 has a built in source code documentation generator, which is
        usable via the commandline as well. For further details please see
        the file README-eric4-doc.txt
    
    License
    
        eric4 (and the others) is released under the conditions of the GPL. See 
        separate license file for more details. Third party software included in
        eric4 is released under their respective license and contained in the
        eric4 distribution for convenience. 
    
    Bugs and other reports
    
        Please send bug reports, feature requests or contributions to eric bugs address.
        After the IDE is installed you can use the "Report Bug..." entry of the Help menu.
        This will send a message to <eric4-bugs@die-offenbachs.de>