Python bindings

These are the instructions for building the Python bindings for KDDockWidgets.

There are no bindings for QtQuick, it's assumed you're using QtWidgets.

Make sure you have PySide6, shiboken6 and shiboken6-generator installed. Their versions need to match your exact Qt version. Since Qt 6.6 all these 3 packages are in PyPi, so you can simply install them with pip. For other Qt versions, consult the respective documentation.

% python3 -m pip install shiboken6==6.6 pyside6==6.6 shiboken6_generator==6.6

A C++17 compliant C++ compiler is also required.

For more info visit https://doc.qt.io/qtforpython/shiboken6/gettingstarted.html.

Not supported:

  • debug builds
  • static builds
  • python2
  • only some 32-bit platforms are supported (see https://wiki.qt.io/Qt_for_Python)
  • Qt5. It probably works, but don't report bugs unless they are reproducible with Qt 6 as well

Tell CMake to build the bindings by passing the `-DKDDockWidgets_PYTHON_BINDINGS=True' option, followed by the make command.

The bindings will be installed to the passed -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX, which might require setting the PYTHONPATH env variable to point to that path when running applications. Alternatively, configure the bindings install location by passing -DKDDockWidgets_PYTHON_BINDINGS_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/lib/python3.9/site-packages to CMake (adjust to the python path on your system).

To run the KDDW python example

    export PYTHONPATH=/kddw/install/path # Only if needed
    cd python/examples/
    rcc -g python -o rc_assets.py ../../examples/dockwidgets/resources_example.qrc
    python3 main.py

Build Issues

  • You can override the default Python3 version found by CMake (usually the newest version available) by passing the Python3_EXECUTABLE value to CMake, i.e.
    cmake -DPython3_EXECUTABLE=/usr/bin/python3.10 ....

  • If you see errors like "Unable to locate Clang's built-in include directory" then first make sure you have llvm installed. If you still have problems try setting the environment variable LLVM_INSTALL_DIR to point to your llvm installation.

    Examples:

    export LLVM_INSTALL_DIR=/usr/local/opt/llvm-15
    set "LLVM_INSTALL_DIR=C:\Program Files\LLVM" #Windows

  • When building the examples you may encounter errors loading shared libraries from shiboken2_generator.

    Try:

    export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/python/dist-packages/PySide6/Qt/lib #linux
    export DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/python/dist-packages/PySide6/Qt/lib #Mac
    (Adjust to wherever your PySide is installed)
  • On Windows the libclang.dll that ships with QtForPython is not compatible with MSVC2. To fix this, copy the libclang.dll that comes with llvm into shiboken2, like so:
    cd C:\Python39\Lib\site-packages\shiboken6_generator
    copy libclang.dll libclang.dll.save
    copy "C:\Program Files\llvm\bin\libclang.dll" libclang.dll
    (Python3 installation in C:\Python39 and llvm in c:\Program Files\llvm. adjust as needed)
  • On macOS if you see cstdlib:145:9: error: no member named quick_exit in the global namespace with XCode 15, try making the SDKROOT env variable point to the XCode 14.2 SDK or download a more recent PySide6.