I have a code which I'd like people to be able to use as a stand alone python program, or to import as a module for their own codes. Is there a way to package a module which can also include a program that can be run from the command line?
I.e. from the command-line:
> ZHermesCode
or within ipython or a python script:
import ZHermesCode
Look up Setuptools automatic script creation. For example, python-scss uses this technique to make scss an executable shell command.
In setup.py:
setup(
# ...
entry_points={
'console_scripts': [
'scss = scss.tool:main',
]
},
)
Then defining a function main in scss/tool.py. It also uses the technique mentioned by Loocid to make the tool.py file itself directly executable (as opposed to the wrapper script that is publicly installed by setuptools according to the recipe above):
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()
If you use:
if name == '__main__':
The code held in that 'if' statement will only be ran if someone runs your program from the command line.
If someone was to import your module instead, the code will not run.
Eg
def test(st):
return(st)
if name == "__main__":
print(test("hello"))
If you run this program from the command line, it will print "hello". However, someone could also import this module and have access to the "test" function to use in their own programs.
