fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0:  * VamPy is a VAMP plugin wrapper for Python Scripts.
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: WHAT IS IT FOR?
fazekasgy@0: 	
fazekasgy@0: 	you can write VAMP plugins in Python which can do the same as the native C++ plugins
fazekasgy@0: 	plus more if you're using advanced Python modules.
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 	you might get into VAMP development more easily this way.
fazekasgy@0: 	you can use it for prototyping your plugin before writing in C++	 
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: LIMITATIONS:
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 	this is really just a proof of concept. The implementation is not the most efficient.	
fazekasgy@0: 	only tested on MacOSX, but in theory should work on other platforms with small fixes	
fazekasgy@0: 	The Python C/API is not fully thread safe and correct threading is not yet implemented.
fazekasgy@0: 	(This can cause problems resulting in nasty crashes.)
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 	Error checking is incomplete.
fazekasgy@0: 	You better not make a mistake in your Python script, although in most cases you can see what
fazekasgy@0: 	the problem is if you start the host (Sonic Visualiser) from the command line.
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: HOW DOES IT WORK:
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 	(1) Make sure you have Python installed.
fazekasgy@0: 	(2) Compile the C++ source or ask me for a binary (MacOS).
fazekasgy@0: 	(3) Copy the library in your Vamp plugin directory like any other VAMP plugins: 
fazekasgy@0: 		eg. /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VAMP
fazekasgy@0: 	(4) Write your python plugins and copy them to the same place.
fazekasgy@0: 	(5) Each plugin must contain a single class with the same name as your script file.
fazekasgy@0: 		e.g. PyZeroCrossing.py -> calss PyZeroCrossing
fazekasgy@0: 		-Scripts with syntax errors in them are ignored.
fazekasgy@0: 		-Scripts not having the same class as the filename are ignored.
fazekasgy@0: 		-Other unknown scripts are likely to cause a nasty crash. 
fazekasgy@0: 		(Don't put other python scripts in your VAMP directory.)
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 	
fazekasgy@0: WHY PYTHON?
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 	Python is a general purpose high level scripting language.
fazekasgy@0: 	It is interpreted, so you don't need to compile your plugins
fazekasgy@0: 	It has very high level libraries. e.g. you can stream audio from your VamPy plugin (it works for me...)
fazekasgy@0: 	Supports functional programming 
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: COMPILING AND LINKING:
fazekasgy@1: 
fazekasgy@0: 	(1) include Python.h wherever it is on your machine 
fazekasgy@0: 	(2) this plugin needs to be linked against the Python binary:
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 	example on on MacOSX:
fazekasgy@0: 	g++  -O2 -Wall -I. -fPIC -c -o pyvamp-main.o pyvamp-main.cpp
fazekasgy@0: 	g++  -dynamiclib   -o vamp-pyvamp-plugin.dylib ./PyPlugScanner.o ./PyPlugin.o ./pyvamp-main.o sdk/vamp-sdk/libvamp-sdk.a 
fazekasgy@0: 	-u _PyMac_Error /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/Python
fazekasgy@0: 	
fazekasgy@0: 	(3) There is a modified Makefile from the VAMP-SDK that compiles this plugin by default.
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: TODO:	needs more complete error checking 
fazekasgy@0: 	  	needs correct implementation of Python threading
fazekasgy@0: 	  	more efficient data conversion using the buffering interface or ctypes
fazekasgy@0: 	 	VAMP 'programs' not implemented
fazekasgy@0: 		support multiple classes per script in scanner
fazekasgy@0: 		ensure proper cleanup, (host do a good job though)
fazekasgy@0: 
fazekasgy@0: