2 :mod:`platform` --- Access to underlying platform's identifying data.
3 ======================================================================
6 :synopsis: Retrieves as much platform identifying data as possible.
7 .. moduleauthor:: Marc-Andre Lemburg <mal@egenix.com>
8 .. sectionauthor:: Bjorn Pettersen <bpettersen@corp.fairisaac.com>
15 Specific platforms listed alphabetically, with Linux included in the Unix
23 .. function:: architecture(executable=sys.executable, bits='', linkage='')
25 Queries the given executable (defaults to the Python interpreter binary) for
26 various architecture information.
28 Returns a tuple ``(bits, linkage)`` which contain information about the bit
29 architecture and the linkage format used for the executable. Both values are
32 Values that cannot be determined are returned as given by the parameter presets.
33 If bits is given as ``''``, the :cfunc:`sizeof(pointer)` (or
34 :cfunc:`sizeof(long)` on Python version < 1.5.2) is used as indicator for the
35 supported pointer size.
37 The function relies on the system's :file:`file` command to do the actual work.
38 This is available on most if not all Unix platforms and some non-Unix platforms
39 and then only if the executable points to the Python interpreter. Reasonable
40 defaults are used when the above needs are not met.
43 .. function:: machine()
45 Returns the machine type, e.g. ``'i386'``. An empty string is returned if the
46 value cannot be determined.
51 Returns the computer's network name (may not be fully qualified!). An empty
52 string is returned if the value cannot be determined.
55 .. function:: platform(aliased=0, terse=0)
57 Returns a single string identifying the underlying platform with as much useful
58 information as possible.
60 The output is intended to be *human readable* rather than machine parseable. It
61 may look different on different platforms and this is intended.
63 If *aliased* is true, the function will use aliases for various platforms that
64 report system names which differ from their common names, for example SunOS will
65 be reported as Solaris. The :func:`system_alias` function is used to implement
68 Setting *terse* to true causes the function to return only the absolute minimum
69 information needed to identify the platform.
72 .. function:: processor()
74 Returns the (real) processor name, e.g. ``'amdk6'``.
76 An empty string is returned if the value cannot be determined. Note that many
77 platforms do not provide this information or simply return the same value as for
78 :func:`machine`. NetBSD does this.
81 .. function:: python_build()
83 Returns a tuple ``(buildno, builddate)`` stating the Python build number and
87 .. function:: python_compiler()
89 Returns a string identifying the compiler used for compiling Python.
92 .. function:: python_branch()
94 Returns a string identifying the Python implementation SCM branch.
99 .. function:: python_implementation()
101 Returns a string identifying the Python implementation. Possible return values
102 are: 'CPython', 'IronPython', 'Jython'
104 .. versionadded:: 2.6
107 .. function:: python_revision()
109 Returns a string identifying the Python implementation SCM revision.
111 .. versionadded:: 2.6
114 .. function:: python_version()
116 Returns the Python version as string ``'major.minor.patchlevel'``
118 Note that unlike the Python ``sys.version``, the returned value will always
119 include the patchlevel (it defaults to 0).
122 .. function:: python_version_tuple()
124 Returns the Python version as tuple ``(major, minor, patchlevel)`` of strings.
126 Note that unlike the Python ``sys.version``, the returned value will always
127 include the patchlevel (it defaults to ``'0'``).
130 .. function:: release()
132 Returns the system's release, e.g. ``'2.2.0'`` or ``'NT'`` An empty string is
133 returned if the value cannot be determined.
136 .. function:: system()
138 Returns the system/OS name, e.g. ``'Linux'``, ``'Windows'``, or ``'Java'``. An
139 empty string is returned if the value cannot be determined.
142 .. function:: system_alias(system, release, version)
144 Returns ``(system, release, version)`` aliased to common marketing names used
145 for some systems. It also does some reordering of the information in some cases
146 where it would otherwise cause confusion.
149 .. function:: version()
151 Returns the system's release version, e.g. ``'#3 on degas'``. An empty string is
152 returned if the value cannot be determined.
155 .. function:: uname()
157 Fairly portable uname interface. Returns a tuple of strings ``(system, node,
158 release, version, machine, processor)`` identifying the underlying platform.
160 Note that unlike the :func:`os.uname` function this also returns possible
161 processor information as additional tuple entry.
163 Entries which cannot be determined are set to ``''``.
170 .. function:: java_ver(release='', vendor='', vminfo=('','',''), osinfo=('','',''))
172 Version interface for JPython.
174 Returns a tuple ``(release, vendor, vminfo, osinfo)`` with *vminfo* being a
175 tuple ``(vm_name, vm_release, vm_vendor)`` and *osinfo* being a tuple
176 ``(os_name, os_version, os_arch)``. Values which cannot be determined are set to
177 the defaults given as parameters (which all default to ``''``).
184 .. function:: win32_ver(release='', version='', csd='', ptype='')
186 Get additional version information from the Windows Registry and return a tuple
187 ``(version, csd, ptype)`` referring to version number, CSD level and OS type
188 (multi/single processor).
190 As a hint: *ptype* is ``'Uniprocessor Free'`` on single processor NT machines
191 and ``'Multiprocessor Free'`` on multi processor machines. The *'Free'* refers
192 to the OS version being free of debugging code. It could also state *'Checked'*
193 which means the OS version uses debugging code, i.e. code that checks arguments,
198 Note: this function works best with Mark Hammond's
199 :mod:`win32all` package installed, but also on Python 2.3 and
200 later (support for this was added in Python 2.6). It obviously
201 only runs on Win32 compatible platforms.
207 .. function:: popen(cmd, mode='r', bufsize=None)
209 Portable :func:`popen` interface. Find a working popen implementation
210 preferring :func:`win32pipe.popen`. On Windows NT, :func:`win32pipe.popen`
211 should work; on Windows 9x it hangs due to bugs in the MS C library.
218 .. function:: mac_ver(release='', versioninfo=('','',''), machine='')
220 Get Mac OS version information and return it as tuple ``(release, versioninfo,
221 machine)`` with *versioninfo* being a tuple ``(version, dev_stage,
222 non_release_version)``.
224 Entries which cannot be determined are set to ``''``. All tuple entries are
227 Documentation for the underlying :cfunc:`gestalt` API is available online at
228 http://www.rgaros.nl/gestalt/.
235 .. function:: dist(distname='', version='', id='', supported_dists=('SuSE','debian','redhat','mandrake',...))
237 This is an old version of the functionality now provided by
238 :func:`linux_distribution`. For new code, please use the
239 :func:`linux_distribution`.
241 The only difference between the two is that ``dist()`` always
242 returns the short name of the distribution taken from the
243 ``supported_dists`` parameter.
247 .. function:: linux_distribution(distname='', version='', id='', supported_dists=('SuSE','debian','redhat','mandrake',...), full_distribution_name=1)
249 Tries to determine the name of the Linux OS distribution name.
251 ``supported_dists`` may be given to define the set of Linux distributions to
252 look for. It defaults to a list of currently supported Linux distributions
253 identified by their release file name.
255 If ``full_distribution_name`` is true (default), the full distribution read
256 from the OS is returned. Otherwise the short name taken from
257 ``supported_dists`` is used.
259 Returns a tuple ``(distname,version,id)`` which defaults to the args given as
260 parameters. ``id`` is the item in parentheses after the version number. It
261 is usually the version codename.
263 .. versionadded:: 2.6
265 .. function:: libc_ver(executable=sys.executable, lib='', version='', chunksize=2048)
267 Tries to determine the libc version against which the file executable (defaults
268 to the Python interpreter) is linked. Returns a tuple of strings ``(lib,
269 version)`` which default to the given parameters in case the lookup fails.
271 Note that this function has intimate knowledge of how different libc versions
272 add symbols to the executable is probably only usable for executables compiled
273 using :program:`gcc`.
275 The file is read and scanned in chunks of *chunksize* bytes.