41. Undocumented Modules
************************

Here’s a quick listing of modules that are currently undocumented, but
that should be documented.  Feel free to contribute documentation for
them!  (Send via email to docs@python.org.)

The idea and original contents for this chapter were taken from a
posting by Fredrik Lundh; the specific contents of this chapter have
been substantially revised.


41.1. Miscellaneous useful utilities
====================================

Some of these are very old and/or not very robust; marked with “hmm.”

"ihooks"
   — Import hook support (for "rexec"; may become obsolete).  Removed
   in Python 3.x.


41.2. Platform specific modules
===============================

These modules are used to implement the "os.path" module, and are not
documented beyond this mention.  There’s little need to document
these.

"ntpath"
   — Implementation of "os.path" on Win32, Win64, WinCE, and OS/2
   platforms.

"posixpath"
   — Implementation of "os.path" on POSIX.

"bsddb185"
   — Backwards compatibility module for systems which still use the
   Berkeley DB 1.85 module.  It is normally only available on certain
   BSD Unix-based systems. It should never be used directly.


41.3. Multimedia
================

"audiodev"
   — Platform-independent API for playing audio data.  Removed in
   Python 3.x.

"linuxaudiodev"
   — Play audio data on the Linux audio device.  Replaced in Python
   2.3 by the "ossaudiodev" module.  Removed in Python 3.x.

"sunaudio"
   — Interpret Sun audio headers (may become obsolete or a tool/demo).
   Removed in Python 3.x.

"toaiff"
   — Convert “arbitrary” sound files to AIFF files; should probably
   become a tool or demo.  Requires the external program **sox**.
   Removed in Python 3.x.


41.4. Undocumented Mac OS modules
=================================


41.4.1. "applesingle" — AppleSingle decoder
-------------------------------------------

Deprecated since version 2.6.


41.4.2. "buildtools" — Helper module for BuildApplet and Friends
----------------------------------------------------------------

Deprecated since version 2.4.


41.4.3. "cfmfile" — Code Fragment Resource module
-------------------------------------------------

"cfmfile" is a module that understands Code Fragments and the
accompanying “cfrg” resources. It can parse them and merge them, and
is used by BuildApplication to combine all plugin modules to a single
executable.

Deprecated since version 2.4.


41.4.4. "icopen" — Internet Config replacement for "open()"
-----------------------------------------------------------

Importing "icopen" will replace the built-in "open()" with a version
that uses Internet Config to set file type and creator for new files.

Deprecated since version 2.6.


41.4.5. "macerrors" — Mac OS Errors
-----------------------------------

"macerrors" contains constant definitions for many Mac OS error codes.

Deprecated since version 2.6.


41.4.6. "macresource" — Locate script resources
-----------------------------------------------

"macresource" helps scripts finding their resources, such as dialogs
and menus, without requiring special case code for when the script is
run under MacPython, as a MacPython applet or under OSX Python.

Deprecated since version 2.6.


41.4.7. "Nav" — NavServices calls
---------------------------------

A low-level interface to Navigation Services.

Deprecated since version 2.6.


41.4.8. "PixMapWrapper" — Wrapper for PixMap objects
----------------------------------------------------

"PixMapWrapper" wraps a PixMap object with a Python object that allows
access to the fields by name. It also has methods to convert to and
from "PIL" images.

Deprecated since version 2.6.


41.4.9. "videoreader" — Read QuickTime movies
---------------------------------------------

"videoreader" reads and decodes QuickTime movies and passes a stream
of images to your program. It also provides some support for audio
tracks.

Deprecated since version 2.6.


41.4.10. "W" — Widgets built on "FrameWork"
-------------------------------------------

The "W" widgets are used extensively in the **IDE**.

Deprecated since version 2.6.


41.5. Obsolete
==============

These modules are not normally available for import; additional work
must be done to make them available.

These extension modules written in C are not built by default. Under
Unix, these must be enabled by uncommenting the appropriate lines in
"Modules/Setup" in the build tree and either rebuilding Python if the
modules are statically linked, or building and installing the shared
object if using dynamically-loaded extensions.

"timing"
   — Measure time intervals to high resolution (use "time.clock()"
   instead).  Removed in Python 3.x.


41.6. SGI-specific Extension modules
====================================

The following are SGI specific, and may be out of touch with the
current version of reality.

"cl"
   — Interface to the SGI compression library.

"sv"
   — Interface to the “simple video” board on SGI Indigo (obsolete
   hardware). Removed in Python 3.x.