[omniORB] omniORB for Python and new IDL compiler pre-release

[Duncan Grisby]

The first pre-release of omniORBpy, omniORB's Python binding, is now
available via CVS. It currently works on Linux and Solaris, and should
be easy to port to any other Unix for which omniORB is available. NT
support is next on my list of things to do, and should be available
soon.

omniORBpy follows the official OMG Python mapping available from
ftp://ftp.omg.org/pub/docs/orbos/99-08-02.pdf

For more details about what is and is not supported in omniORBpy, see
the file `ReleaseNote' in the omniORBpy tree.

The release of omniORBpy is also the first outing for our new IDL
compiler, which has a simple Python back-end interface. If you have
ever entertained the idea of generating some special-purpose code from
your IDL, but been scared off by the complexity of available IDL
front-ends, you may want to look at the new compiler.

Both omniORBpy and the new omniidl require Python version 1.5.2.
Beware that /usr/bin/python on many Linux distributions is version
1.5.1, which is now quite out-of-date.

omniORBpy must be checked-out inside the src/lib directory of a
working omniORB 2.8 tree. You can use an existing build, or use the
following cvs commands to check-out the whole thing.

  export CVSROOT=":pserver:anonymous@cvs.uk.research.att.com:/cvsroot"
  cvs login
    (At the password prompt, enter the password cvs)
  cvs checkout omni
  cd omni/src/lib
  cvs checkout omniORBpy

You must first configure and build the main omniORB tree (according to
the normal instructions) if you haven't already done so. Then, go to
the src/lib/omniORBpy directory and do `make export'.

If you just want to look at the IDL compiler, you can check-out the
`omniidl' module from CVS, but you'll have to hack the makefiles a bit
to build it anywhere other than inside omniORBpy. There isn't any
documentation for it yet, but it should be quite obvious what's going
on if you look at idlast.py, idltype.py, and be/dump.py. In the IDL
compiler tree you'll find the beginnings of a new back-end for the C++
ORB, but it is nowhere near ready to be used yet.

There is very little documentation for any of this as yet, but with
any luck, most of it should be self explanatory.

Have fun!  Find bugs!

Duncan.

-- 
 -- Duncan Grisby  \  Research Engineer  --
  -- AT&T Laboratories Cambridge          --
   -- http://www.uk.research.att.com/~dpg1 --