sam-t2/devtools/amd64/html/python/dist/extending.html

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<link rel="STYLESHEET" href="dist.css" type='text/css' />
<link rel="SHORTCUT ICON" href="../icons/pyfav.png" type="image/png" />
<link rel='start' href='../index.html' title='Python Documentation Index' />
<link rel="first" href="dist.html" title='Distributing Python Modules' />
<link rel='index' href='genindex.html' title='Index' />
<link rel='last' href='about.html' title='About this document...' />
<link rel='help' href='about.html' title='About this document...' />
<link rel="next" href="reference.html" />
<link rel="prev" href="examples.html" />
<link rel="parent" href="dist.html" />
<link rel="next" href="node29.html" />
<meta name='aesop' content='information' />
<title>8. Extending Distutils </title>
</head>
<body>
<DIV CLASS="navigation">
<div id='top-navigation-panel' xml:id='top-navigation-panel'>
<table align="center" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="prev" title="7.3 Single extension module"
  href="single-ext.html"><img src='../icons/previous.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Previous Page' width='32' /></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="parent" title="Distributing Python Modules"
  href="dist.html"><img src='../icons/up.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Up One Level' width='32' /></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="next" title="8.1 Integrating new commands"
  href="node29.html"><img src='../icons/next.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Next Page' width='32' /></A></td>
<td align="center" width="100%">Distributing Python Modules</td>
<td class='online-navigation'><img src='../icons/blank.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='' width='32' /></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a href="modindex.html" title="Module Index"><img src='../icons/modules.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Module Index' width='32' /></a></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="index" title="Index"
  href="genindex.html"><img src='../icons/index.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Index' width='32' /></A></td>
</tr></table>
<div class='online-navigation'>
<b class="navlabel">Previous:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="prev" href="single-ext.html">7.3 Single extension module</A>
<b class="navlabel">Up:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="parent" href="dist.html">Distributing Python Modules</A>
<b class="navlabel">Next:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="next" href="node29.html">8.1 Integrating new commands</A>
</div>
<hr /></div>
</DIV>
<!--End of Navigation Panel-->

<H1><A NAME="SECTION008000000000000000000"></A><A NAME="extending"></A>
<BR>
8. Extending Distutils
</H1>

<P>
Distutils can be extended in various ways.  Most extensions take the
form of new commands or replacements for existing commands.  New
commands may be written to support new types of platform-specific
packaging, for example, while replacements for existing commands may
be made to modify details of how the command operates on a package.

<P>
Most extensions of the distutils are made within <span class="file">setup.py</span>
scripts that want to modify existing commands; many simply add a few
file extensions that should be copied into packages in addition to
<span class="file">.py</span> files as a convenience.

<P>
Most distutils command implementations are subclasses of the
<tt class="class">Command</tt> class from <tt class="module"><a href="module-distutils.cmd.html">distutils.cmd</a></tt>.  New commands
may directly inherit from <tt class="class">Command</tt>, while replacements often
derive from <tt class="class">Command</tt> indirectly, directly subclassing the
command they are replacing.  Commands are required to derive from
<tt class="class">Command</tt>.

<P>

<p><br /></p><hr class='online-navigation' />
<div class='online-navigation'>
<!--Table of Child-Links-->
<A NAME="CHILD_LINKS"><STRONG>Subsections</STRONG></a>

<UL CLASS="ChildLinks">
<LI><A href="node29.html">8.1 Integrating new commands</a>
</ul>
<!--End of Table of Child-Links-->
</div>

<DIV CLASS="navigation">
<div class='online-navigation'>
<p></p><hr />
<table align="center" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2">
<tr>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="prev" title="7.3 Single extension module"
  href="single-ext.html"><img src='../icons/previous.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Previous Page' width='32' /></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="parent" title="Distributing Python Modules"
  href="dist.html"><img src='../icons/up.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Up One Level' width='32' /></A></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="next" title="8.1 Integrating new commands"
  href="node29.html"><img src='../icons/next.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Next Page' width='32' /></A></td>
<td align="center" width="100%">Distributing Python Modules</td>
<td class='online-navigation'><img src='../icons/blank.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='' width='32' /></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a href="modindex.html" title="Module Index"><img src='../icons/modules.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Module Index' width='32' /></a></td>
<td class='online-navigation'><a rel="index" title="Index"
  href="genindex.html"><img src='../icons/index.png'
  border='0' height='32'  alt='Index' width='32' /></A></td>
</tr></table>
<div class='online-navigation'>
<b class="navlabel">Previous:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="prev" href="single-ext.html">7.3 Single extension module</A>
<b class="navlabel">Up:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="parent" href="dist.html">Distributing Python Modules</A>
<b class="navlabel">Next:</b>
<a class="sectref" rel="next" href="node29.html">8.1 Integrating new commands</A>
</div>
</div>
<hr />
<span class="release-info">Release 2.4.2, documentation updated on 28 September 2005.</span>
</DIV>
<!--End of Navigation Panel-->
<ADDRESS>
See <i><a href="about.html">About this document...</a></i> for information on suggesting changes.
</ADDRESS>
</BODY>
</HTML>