wxPython

wxPython is a GUI toolkit for the Python programming language. It allows Python programmers to create programs with a robust, highly functional graphical user interface, simply and easily. It is implemented as a Python extension module (native code) that wraps the popular wxWidgets cross platform GUI library, which is written in C++.

Like Python and wxWidgets, wxPython is Open Source which means that it is free for anyone to use and the source code is available for anyone to look at and modify. Or anyone can contribute fixes or enhancements to the project.

wxPython is a cross-platform toolkit. This means that the same program will run on multiple platforms without modification. Currently supported platforms are 32-bit Microsoft Windows, most Unix or unix-like systems, and Macintosh OS X.

• http://www.wxpython.org/

pyQT

PyQt is a set of Python bindings for Nokia’s Qt application framework and runs on all platforms supported by Qt including Windows, MacOS/X and Linux. There are two sets of bindings: PyQt v4 supports Qt v4; and the older PyQt v3 supports Qt v3 and earlier. The bindings are implemented as a set of Python modules and contain over 300 classes and over 6,000 functions and methods.

• http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/software/pyqt/download
• Supports lots of great libraries such as:
  • • The QtNetwork module contains classes for writing UDP and TCP clients and servers. It includes classes that implement FTP and HTTP clients and support DNS lookups. Network events are integrated with the event loop making it very easy to develop networked applications.
    • The QtOpenGL module contains classes that enable the use of OpenGL in rendering 3D graphics in PyQt applications.
    • The QtWebKit module implements a web browser engine based on the WebKit open source browser engine used by Apple’s Safari. It allows the methods and properties of Python objects to be published and appear as JavaScript objects to scripts embedded in HTML pages.
    • The QtScript module contains classes that enable PyQt applications to be scripted using Qt’s JavaScript interpreter.

PyGTK: GTK+ for Python

PyGTK lets you to easily create programs with a graphical user interface using the Python programming language. The underlying GTK+ library provides all kind of visual elements and utilities for it and, if needed, you can develop full featured applications for the GNOME Desktop.

PyGTK applications are truly multiplatform and they’re able to run, unmodified, on Linux, Windows, MacOS X and other platforms.

• http://www.pygtk.org/

Opinion

My personal opinion is that wxPython is best for many windows developers.  PyQt looks great and has many great libraries, Qt itself is a very fast C++ library so using it is beneficial.  PyGTK is also great but more common for *nix apps.

With os.system(my_command)

import os
os.system("c:\\windows\\notepad.exe")

Or with popen2.popen3(my_command)

import popen2
popen2.popen3("c:\\windows\\notepad.exe")

amfast is a new remoting library  that looks to be as sweet as pyamf (where sweet == fast and useful).  I am checking out amfast now but the speed boost alone might be worth it.  For instance, working with real-time games, when you need static content you need to grab that quickly sometimes via a content service.  The faster that link the better. It also has Twisted integration which is great for networking and SQLAlchemy integration which is in my opinion the best ORM for python (pyamf has twisted, django, pylons, sqlalchemy as well)

amfast is well documented and has some great examples.  If you have the Python addiction, check it.

Description

• AmFast is a Flash remoting framework for Python.
• AmFast can use AMF to communicate between Python and Flash, Flex, and any other system that supports AMF.
• AMF is a binary object serialization protocol used by Actionscript based applications.

Server Features

• Support for NetConnection and RemoteObject RPC.
• Support for Producer/Consumer ‘push’ messaging with HTTP polling, HTTP long-polling, and real-time HTTP streaming channels.
• Support for authentication with NetConnection and RemoteObject.
• Flexible Target mapping system to map message destinations to invokable Target objects.
• Support for ChannelSets with multiple Channels to expose resources in different ways.
• Built in Channels for CherryPy, Twisted Web, and plain WSGI.
• Support for configurable Endpoints. Use AmFast’s built-in AMF encoder/decoder C-extension, or use an external AMF encoder/decoder, such as PyAmf for a pure-Python implementation.

AMF Encoder/Decoder Features

• AMF0/AMF3 encoder/decoder written in C as a Python extension for speed.
• More than 10x faster than the PyAmf encoder/decoder (even when using PyAmf’s optional C-extension).
• Map custom classes with ClassDef objects for complete control over serialization/de-serialization.
• Full support for IExternalizable objects.
• Data persistence with SqlAlchemy including remotely-loadable lazy-loaded attributes.
• Actionscript code generation from ClassDef objects.

    classname = "ClassToLookFor"
    the_module = __import__("my.module", globals(), locals(), [classname])
    the_class = getattr(the_module, classname)
    obj = the_class()

More on introspection in Python (sometimes called Reflection in other languages like C# and Java):

• Python docs on introspection using the inspect module
• IBM page on a tour of Python introspection

How to Use

Use this script by scheduling it to run nightly or when you choose. Then make a folder under it called target or change the location in the script.

The file that will export will be a complete sql dump and stamped like the following filename, it contains the zipped up database.sql file that is your backup:
export-2009-02-03-Tuesday.zip

If you need to change settings to get flat files or other read on mysqldump utility to pass the options you need, currently it backs up in SQL format.

The Script

import os, time, sys, zipfile, datetime,calendar
from os import sep
 
# Script Parameters
# Target Directory for final Zip files
target_dir = r'target'
copy_dir = r'copy'
# The name of the sql file (this will be the same for all backups)
file_name = 'databases.sql'
# Authentication
user = '[YOUR USER]'
password = '[YOUR PASSWORD]'
# The command for the mysql dump. This could include the entire path to the executable if mysqldump is not on the path environment variable
dumpcmd = r'mysqldump'
# The host you want to connect to
host = 'localhost' 
 
args = [dumpcmd, '-C', '-f', '--host=%s' %host, '--user=%s' %user, '--password=%s' %password, '--result-file=%s' %file_name, '--all-databases']
 
os.chdir(target_dir)
cmd = ' '.join(args)
print 'Running Command: %s' %cmd.replace(password, '*'*len(password))
os.system(cmd)
 
# Below is for zipping the files and creating a redundant  backup
def getZipFileName():
	# Set time variables (
	# Note: you don't have to use some of them,
	# but they make the script easier to understand
	t = time.time(); g = time.gmtime(t)
	year = g[0]; month = g[1]; day = g[2]
 
	try:
		datetime.date(year, month, day+1)
	except:
		# Last day of the month, return month name
		root = time.strftime('%Y', g)
		if not os.access(root, os.F_OK):
			os.mkdir(root)
		return os.path.join(root, '%s.zip' %time.strftime('%b'))
 
	if int(time.strftime('%w', g)) == 0:
		# Last day of week, return week number
		cal_month = calendar.monthcalendar(year, month)
		for week in cal_month:
			if day in week:
				return 'Week%i.zip' %month.index(week)
	# Just a regular weekday...
	return '%s.zip' %time.strftime('%A')
 
# Write the zip file
zip_name = 'export-' + str(datetime.date.today()) + '-' + getZipFileName()
zip_file = os.path.abspath(zip_name)
zip = zipfile.ZipFile(zip_file, 'w', zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED)
zip.write(file_name)
zip.close()
 
# Remove uncompressed sql file
os.remove(file_name)
to_path = os.path.join(copy_dir, zip_name)
to_dir = sep.join(to_path.split(sep)[:-1])
if not os.access(to_dir, os.F_OK):
	os.makedirs(to_dir)
if os.access(to_path, os.F_OK):
	os.remove(to_path)
shutil.copy(zip_file, to_path)

• Friends
  • getFriends
  • setFriends ?
  • getFriend
  • setFriend ?
• Groups
  • getGroups
  • setGroups ?
  • getGroup
  • setGroup ?

List of API actions in OpenSocial and Facebook,

You can see they vary, having a common library for social networks and widgets are needed these days as the frameworks grow

OPEN SOCIAL API DOCS: http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/docs/0.8/reference/

OpenSocial API Reference (v0.8)

The OpenSocial JavaScript API includes two namespaces: opensocial.* and gadgets.*. This page covers the opensocial.* namespace. The gadgets.* namespace is covered in the Gadgets API Reference.

Contents

• Type Conventions

• opensocial
  • Activity
    • Field
  • Address
    • Field
  • BodyType
    • Field
  • Collection
  • CreateActivityPriority
  • DataRequest
    • DataRequestFields
    • FilterType
    • PeopleRequestFields
    • SortOrder
  • DataResponse
  • Email
    • Field
  • Enum
    • Drinker
    • Gender
    • LookingFor
    • Presence
    • Smoker
  • Environment
    • ObjectType
  • EscapeType
  • IdSpec
    • Field
    • PersonId
  • MediaItem
    • Field
    • Type
  • Message
    • Field
    • Type
  • Name
    • Field
  • NavigationParameters
    • DestinationType
    • Field
  • Organization
    • Field
  • Permission
  • Person
    • Field
  • Phone
    • Field
  • ResponseItem
    • Error
  • Url
    • Field

FACEBOOK WIKI API DOCS – http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/API

Facebook REST Interface

The API uses a REST-like interface. This means that our Facebook method calls are made over the internet by sending HTTP GET or POST requests to the Facebook API REST server . Nearly any computer language can be used to communicate over HTTP with the REST server.

API Methods

Admin.getAllocation

Returns the current allocation limit for your application for the specified integration point.

Admin.getMetrics

Returns specified metrics for your application, given a time period.

Admin.getDailyMetrics

Returns specified daily metrics for your application, given a date range.

admin.getAppProperties (BETA)

Returns values of properties for your applications from the Facebook Developer application.

admin.setAppProperties (BETA)

Sets values for properties for your applications in the Facebook Developer application.

application.getPublicInfo (BETA)

Returns public information about a given application (not necessarily your own).

auth.createToken

Creates an auth_token to be passed in as a parameter to login.php and then to auth.getSession after the user has logged in.

auth.getSession

Returns the session key bound to an auth_token, as returned by auth.createToken or in the callback URL.

auth.promoteSession

Returns a temporary session secret associated to the current existing session, for use in a client-side component to an application.

auth.expireSession

Expires the session indicated in the API call, for your application.

batch.run (BETA)

Execute a list of individual API calls in a single batch.

data.getCookies (BETA)

Returns all cookies for a given user and application.

data.setCookie (BETA)

Sets a cookie for a given user and application.

events.get

Returns all visible events according to the filters specified.

events.getMembers

Returns membership list data associated with an event.

fbml.refreshImgSrc

Fetches and re-caches the image stored at the given URL.

fbml.refreshRefUrl

Fetches and re-caches the content stored at the given URL.

fbml.setRefHandle

Associates a given “handle” with FBML markup so that the handle can be used within the fb:ref FBML tag.

feed.publishStoryToUser

Publishes a News Feed story to the user corresponding to the session_key parameter.

feed.publishActionOfUser

Publishes a Mini-Feed story to the user corresponding to the session_key parameter, and publishes News Feed stories to the friends of that user.

feed.publishTemplatizedAction

Publishes a Mini-Feed story to the user or Page corresponding to the session_key or page_actor_id parameter.

fql.query

Evaluates an FQL (Facebook Query Language) query.

friends.areFriends

Returns whether or not each pair of specified users is friends with each other.

friends.get

Returns the identifiers for the current user’s Facebook friends.

friends.getAppUsers

Returns the identifiers for the current user’s Facebook friends who are signed up for the specific calling application.

friends.getLists

Returns the identifiers for the current user’s Facebook friend lists.

groups.get

Returns all visible groups according to the filters specified.

groups.getMembers

Returns membership list data associated with a group.

liveMessage.send (BETA)

Sends a “message” directly to a user’s browser, which can be handled in FBJS.

marketplace.createListing

Create or modify a listing in Marketplace.

marketplace.getCategories

Returns all the Marketplace categories.

marketplace.getListings

Return all Marketplace listings either by listing ID or by user.

marketplace.getSubCategories

Returns the Marketplace subcategories for a particular category.

marketplace.removeListing

Remove a listing from Marketplace.

marketplace.search

Search Marketplace for listings filtering by category, subcategory and a query string.

notifications.get

Returns information on outstanding Facebook notifications for current session user.

notifications.send

Sends a notification to a set of users.

notifications.sendRequest

This method is disabled.

notifications.sendEmail

Sends an email to the specified users who have the application.

pages.getInfo

Returns all visible pages to the filters specified.

pages.isAdmin

Checks whether the logged-in user is the admin for a given Page.

pages.isAppAdded

Checks whether the Page has added the application.

pages.isFan

Checks whether a user is a fan of a given Page.

photos.addTag

Adds a tag with the given information to a photo.

photos.createAlbum

Creates and returns a new album owned by the current session user.

photos.get

Returns all visible photos according to the filters specified.

photos.getAlbums

Returns metadata about all of the photo albums uploaded by the specified user.

photos.getTags

Returns the set of user tags on all photos specified.

photos.upload

Uploads a photo owned by the current session user and returns the new photo.

profile.setFBML

Sets the FBML for a user’s profile, including the content for both the profile box and the profile actions.

profile.getFBML

Gets the FBML that is currently set for a user’s profile.

users.getInfo

Returns a wide array of user-specific information for each user identifier passed, limited by the view of the current user.

users.getLoggedInUser

Gets the user ID (uid) associated with the current session.

users.hasAppPermission

Checks whether the user has opted in to an extended application permission.

users.isAppAdded

Returns whether the logged-in user has added the calling application.

users.setStatus

Updates a user’s Facebook status.

Batching API BETA

• Batching API documentation

Data Store API BETA

• Data Store API documentation

Permissions API BETA

• Permissions API

Additional documentation

• Authentication guide
• Error codes
• Extended permissions
• Photo uploads
• Marketplace Listing Attributes
• Post-Remove URL
• Storable Information

External links

• API Test Console
• Object-Oriented Framework for Facebook Applications

Tips for Generating Good Feeds

RSS and Atom are easy to work with, but like any new format, you may encounter some problems in using them. This section attempts to address the most common issues that arise when generating a feed.

• Distinct Entries — Make sure that aggregators can tell your entries apart, by using different identifiers in rdf:about (RSS 1.0), guid (RSS 2.0) and id (Atom). This will save a lot of headaches down the road.
• Meaningful Metadata — Try to make the metadata useful on its own; for example, if you only include a short <title>, people may not know what the link is about. By the same token, if you shove an entire article into <description>, it’ll crowd people’s view of the feed, and they’re less likely to stay interested in what you have to say. Generally, you want to put enough into the feed to help someone decide whether they should follow the link.
• Encoding HTML — Although it’s tempting, refrain from including HTML markup (like <a href="...">, <b> or <p>) in your RSS feed; because you don’t know how it will be presented, doing so can prevent your feed from being displayed correctly. If you need to include a a tag in the text of the feed (e.g., the title of an entry is “Ode to <title>”), make sure you escape ampersands and angle brackets (so that it would be “Ode to &lt;title&gt;”).
• XML Entities — Remember that XML doesn’t predefine entities like HTML does; therefore, you won’t have   © and other common entities available. You can define them in the XML, or alternatively just use an character encoding that makes what you need available.
• Character Encoding — Some software generates feeds using Windows character sets, and sometimes mislabels them. The safest thing to do is to encode your feed as UTF-8 and check it by parsing it with an XML parser.
• Communicating with Viewers — Don’t use entries in your feed to communicate to your users; for example, some feeds have been known to use the <description> to dictate copyright terms. Use the appropriate element or module.
• Communicating with Machines — Likewise, use the appropriate HTTP status codes if your feed has relocated (usually, 301 Moved Permanently) or is no longer available (410 Gone or 404 Not Found).
• Making your Feed Cache-Friendly — Successful feeds see a fair amount of traffic because clients poll them often to see if they’ve changed. To support the load, Web Caching can help; see the caching tutorial.
• Validate — use the Feed Validator to catch any problems in your feed; it works with RSS and Atom. Also, don’t just run it once; make sure you regularly check your feed, so that you can catch transient errors.

Feed Tools

This is an incomplete list of tools for creating feeds and checking them to make sure that you’ve done so correctly. Note that there are many more libraries that help parsing feeds; these haven’t been included here because this tutorial focuses on the Webmaster, not consumers of feeds.

• xpath2rss — Tool for scraping Web sites using XPath expressions (a method of selecting parts of HTML and XML documents).
• Site Summaries in XHTML — Online service (also available as an XSLT stylesheet) that uses hints in your HTML to generate a feed.
• myRSS — An online, third-party automated scraping service. Doesn’t require any special markup.
• RSS.py — Python library for generating and parsing RSS.
• ROME — Java library for parsing and generating RSS and Atom feeds, as well as translating between formats.
• XML::RSS — Perl module for generating and parsing RSS.
• Online Validator – Check your RSS 1.0, 2.0 and Atom feeds.

[source]

Guess Which Movie has this story up but it is so cool I added it to the drawcode web conscious stream.

Eric Tan, who has done retro poster art for Pixar in the past with THE INCREDIBLES and RATATOUILLE, has finished up work on his new posters for WALL-E. Be sure to visit Eric’s blog where you can check out more of his work, including his retro poster for INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM.