view docs/rendered/_sources/pymonkey.txt @ 106:1e6523de9df1

Fixed docs to represent the much-simplified build process, fixed the test target to work w/ default build options, moved doctest output dir into build dir.
author Atul Varma <varmaa@toolness.com>
date Sun, 16 Aug 2009 12:53:46 -0700
parents c41f1d2e8f9d
children df607254de2d
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:mod:`pymonkey` --- Access SpiderMonkey from Python
===================================================

.. module:: pymonkey
   :synopsis: Access SpiderMonkey from Python

.. testsetup:: *

   import pymonkey

This module offers a low-level interface to the `Mozilla SpiderMonkey
<https://developer.mozilla.org/en/SpiderMonkey>`_ JavaScript engine.

.. exception:: error

   This is the type of any SpiderMonkey-related errors thrown by this
   module.

.. data:: undefined

   This is the singleton that represents the JavaScript value
   ``undefined``, as Python has no equivalent representation
   (JavaScript's ``null`` is mapped to Python's ``None`` object).
   For instance:

     >>> cx = pymonkey.Runtime().new_context()
     >>> cx.evaluate_script(cx.new_object(), '', '<string>', 1)
     pymonkey.undefined

   This object also has a "falsy" value:

     >>> if not pymonkey.undefined:
     ...   print "See, it's falsy!"
     See, it's falsy!

.. class:: Object

   This is the type of JavaScript objects. Such objects can only be
   created via Pymonkey calls like :meth:`Context.new_object()` or
   through the execution of JS code, but this type object can be used
   with Python's built-in :func:`isinstance()` to verify that an
   object is a JS object, like so:

     >>> obj = pymonkey.Runtime().new_context().new_object()
     >>> isinstance(obj, pymonkey.Object)
     True

   .. method:: get_runtime()

      Returns the :class:`Runtime` that the object belongs to.

.. class:: Function

   This is the type of JavaScript functions, which is a subtype of
   :class:`Object`.

.. class:: Context

   This is the type of JavaScript context objects. Contexts can only
   be created via a call to :meth:`Runtime.new_context()`, but this
   type object can be used with Python's built-in :func:`isinstance()`
   to verify that an object is a context, like so:

     >>> cx = pymonkey.Runtime().new_context()
     >>> isinstance(cx, pymonkey.Context)
     True

   .. method:: get_runtime()

      Returns the :class:`Runtime` that the context belongs to.

   .. method:: new_object([private_obj])

      Creates a new :class:`Object` instance and returns
      it. ``private_obj`` is any Python object that is privately
      stored within the new JS object; it can be retrieved using
      :meth:`get_object_private()`.

   .. method:: new_function(callable, name)

      Creates a new :class:`Function` instance that wraps the
      given Python callable.  In JS-land, the function will
      have the given name.

      When the function is executed from JavaScript, `callable`
      will be passed three positional arguments.

      The first argument is a :class:`Context` that represents the
      JS context which is calling the function.

      The second argument is an :class:`Object` that represents the
      value of ``this`` for the duration of the call.

      The third argument is a tuple containing the arguments
      passed to the function.

   .. method:: get_object_private(object)

      Returns the ``private_obj`` passed to :meth:`new_object()`
      when `object` was first created. If it doesn't exist, ``None``
      is returned.

      If `object` was created with :meth:`new_function()`, then this
      method returns the Python callable wrapped by `object`.

      This functionality is useful if you want to securely represent
      Python objects in JS-land.

   .. method:: clear_object_private(object)

      Clears the ``private_obj`` passed to :meth:`new_object()`
      when `object` was first created. If it doesn't exist, this
      function returns nothing.

      If `object` was created with :meth:`new_function()`, then this
      method effectively "unbinds" the Python callable wrapped by
      `object`. If `object` is later called, an exception will be
      raised.

   .. method:: evaluate_script(globalobj, code, filename, lineno)

      Evaluates the text `code` using `globalobj` as the global
      object/scope.

      It's assumed that `code` is coming from the file named by `filename`;
      the first line of `code` is assumed to be line number `lineno` of
      `filename`. This metadata is very useful for debugging stack traces,
      exceptions, and so forth.

   .. method:: call_function(thisobj, func, args)

      Calls a JavaScript function.

      `thisobj` is an :class:`Object` that will be used as the value
      of ``this`` when the function executes, `func` is the
      :class:`Function` to execute, and `args` is a tuple of arguments
      to pass to the function.

   .. method:: init_standard_classes(object)

      Defines the standard JavaScript classes on the given
      :class:`Object`, such as ``Array``, ``eval``, ``undefined``, and
      so forth. For more information, see the documentation to
      `JS_InitStandardClasses()
      <https://developer.mozilla.org/en/SpiderMonkey/JSAPI_Reference/JS_InitStandardClasses>`_,
      which this method wraps.

.. class:: Runtime()

   Creates a new JavaScript runtime. JS objects created by the runtime
   may only interact with other JS objects of the same runtime.

   .. method:: new_context()

      Creates a new Context object and returns it. Contexts are best
      conceptualized as threads of execution in a JS runtme; each one
      has a program counter, a current exception state, and so
      forth. JS objects may be freely accessed and changed by contexts
      that are associated with the same JS runtime as the objects.