README for the eric3 IDE
    
    Installation
    
        Installing eric3 is a simple process. Just execute the install.py script
        (type python install.py -h for some help). Please note that the installation
        has to be performed using the administrators account (i.e. root on linux). 
        This installs a wrapper script in the standard executable directory 
        (default: /usr/local/bin on linux) called eric3.
        
        If you want to uninstall the package just execute the uninstall script. This 
        gets rid of all installed files. In this case please send an email to the
        below mentioned address and tell me your reason. This might give me hint on
        how to improve eric3.
        
        If the required packages (Qt, QScintilla, sip and PyQt) are not installed, 
        please get them and install them in the following order (order is important).
        
            1. Install Qt
            
            2. Build and install QScintilla
            
            3. Build and install sip
            
            4. Build and install PyQt (watch for a message telling, that it is including
                the qtext module)
                
            5. Install eric3
        
        If you want to use the interfaces to other supported software packages, you may
        install them in any order and at any time.
    
    Running
    
        Just call up eric3, which will start the IDE. Use the "what is"-help
        (arrow with ?) to get some help. Sorry, there is no documentation yet.
        To start the unit test module in a standalone variant simply call up 
        qtunittest. This will show the same dialog (though with a little bit less
        functionality) as if started from within eric3. The helpviewer can be
        started as a standalone program by executing the helpviewer script.
    
    Autocompletion/Calltips
    
        eric3 provides an interface to the QScintilla auto-completion and calltips
        functionality. In order to use this feature you have to generate api files.
        To make this task a little bit easier I have provided two scripts in the
        Tools directory of the eric3 installation. The gen_pyqt_api.py script
        generates api files for PyQt (should work with PyKDE as well but this
        is untested). Just call
        
        "python <eric3_install_dir>/Tools/gen_pyqt_api.py /path/to/sipfiles /path/to/apifiles"
        
        This will generate an api file for every *mod.sip file found. In order to generate
        an api file for Python itself simply call
        
        "python <eric3_install_dir>/Tools/gen_python_api.py /path/to/apifiles"
        
        This will generate a file called python.api. This second script is a modified
        version of the one available via the SciTE site. Please read the docstring
        at the start of this script for further instructions.
        
        After that start eric3 and configure this function in the "Preferences Dialog ->
        Editor Tab -> APIs" and "Preferences Dialog -> Editor Tab -> Autocompletion/Calltips"
    
    Remote Debugger
    
        In order to enable the remote debugger start eric3, open the preferences
        dialog and configure the settings on the debugger tab.
        
        The remote login must be possible without any further interaction (i.e.
        no password prompt). I the remote setup differs from the local one you
        must configure the Python interpreter and the Debug Client to be used
        in the Preferences dialog (s. Debugger tab). Eric3 includes three different
        versions of the debug client. DebugClient.py is the traditional debugger,
        DebugClientNoQt.py is a version, that doesn't need PyQt installed, and
        DebugClientThreads is a multithreading variant of the standard debug client.
        Please copy all needed files to a place accessible through the Python path
        of the remote machine and set the entries of the a.m. configuration tab
        accordingly. 
    
    Interfaces to additional software packages
    
        At the moment eric3 provides interfaces to the following software
        packages.
        
            Qt-Designer -- This is part of the Qt distribution and is used to generate user interfaces.
                
            Qt-Linguist -- This is part of the Qt distribution and is used to generate translations.
                
            Qt-Assistant -- This is part of the Qt distribution and may be used to display help files.
                
            CVS -- This is a version control system available from <www.cvshome.org>.
                
            Subversion -- This is another version control system available from <subversion.tigris.org>.
                It is meant to be the successor of CVS.
                
            Happydoc -- This is a source code documentation package available from
                <happydoc.sourceforge.net>. This is a tool to extract documentation strings
                out of the python files and to generate source code documentation. See eric3
                source documentation for an example.
                
            Bicycle Repair Man -- This is a Python refactoring tool available from 
                <bicyclerepair.sourceforge.net>. The interface will be made available, if Python
                version 2.2 or better is detected (that is a BRM requirement). A copy of BRM is
                included in the eric3 distribution. This functionality is available via the 
                "Refactoring" menu.
                
            coverage.py -- This is a tool to check Python code coverage. A slightly modified version is
                part of the eric3 distribution.
                
            tabnanny -- This is a tool to check Python code for whitespace related problems. It is part
                of the standard Python installation.
                
            profile -- This is part of the standard Python distribution and is used to profile Python
                source code.
    
    Internationalization
    
        eric3, qtunittest and helpviewer are prepared to show the UI in different
        languages which can be configured via the preferences dialog. The Qt and
        QScintilla translations are searched in $QTDIR/translations first, then in
        the eric3 installation directory and finally in the current directory.
        Please ensure, that the translations (.qm files) are somewhere in this
        path. Most Qt installations don't install them by default. If this is
        the case, some part of the MMI might show English texts even if you have
        selected something else. If you are missing eric3 translations
        for your language and are willing to volunteer for this work please send
        me an email naming the country code and I will send you the respective 
        Qt-Linguist file.
    
    Window Layout
    
        eric 3 provides four different window layouts. The first two use splitters to
        separate the different areas. One of these has an embedded shell window,
        the other a separate one. The other two layouts use dock windows. Again,
        one has an embedded shell, the other a separate one.
        
        NOTE: It has been observed that with certain styles on some distributions
        the application tends to crash when a dock window gets redocked. This is
        not an eric3 problem. It is caused by the Qt library.
    
    Scripting
    
        For scripting related information please see the file README.scripting.
    
    License
    
        eric3 (and the others) is released under the conditions of the GPL. See 
        separate license file for more details.
    
    Bugs and other reports
    
        Please send bug reports, feature requests or contributions to eric bugs address.
        After the IDE is installed you can use the "Report Bug..." entry of the Help menu.
        This will send a message to <eric-bugs@die-offenbachs.de>