SIP Specification Files — SIP v4.19.25 Reference Guide

# SIP Specification Files

A SIP specification consists of some C/C++ type and function declarations and some directives. The declarations may contain annotations which provide SIP with additional information that cannot be expressed in C/C++. SIP does not include a full C/C++ parser.

It is important to understand that a SIP specification describes the Python API, i.e. the API available to the Python programmer when they `import` the generated module. It does not have to accurately represent the underlying C/C++ library. There is nothing wrong with omitting functions that make little sense in a Python context, or adding functions implemented with handwritten code that have no C/C++ equivalent. It is even possible (and sometimes necessary) to specify a different super-class hierarchy for a C++ class. All that matters is that the generated code compiles properly.

In most cases the Python API matches the C/C++ API. In some cases handwritten code (see `%MethodCode`) is used to map from one to the other without SIP having to know the details itself. However, there are a few cases where SIP generates a thin wrapper around a C++ method or constructor (see Generated Derived Classes) and needs to know the exact C++ signature. To deal with these cases SIP allows two signatures to be specified. For example:

    class Klass
    {
    public:
        // The Python signature is a tuple, but the underlying C++ signature
        // is a 2 element array.
        Klass(SIP_PYTUPLE) [(int *)];
    %MethodCode
            int iarr[2];

            if (PyArg_ParseTuple(a0, "ii", &iarr[0], &iarr[1]))
            {
                // Note that we use the SIP generated derived class
                // constructor.
                Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
                sipCpp = new sipKlass(iarr);
                Py_END_ALLOW_THREADS
            }
    %End
    };

## Syntax Definition

The following is a semi-formal description of the syntax of a specification file.

    specification ::= {module-statement}

    module-statement ::= [module-directive | statement]

    module-directive ::= [
            %API |
            %CompositeModule |
            %ConsolidatedModule |
            %Copying |
            %DefaultEncoding |
            %DefaultMetatype |
            %DefaultSupertype |
            %ExportedHeaderCode |
            %ExportedTypeHintCode |
            %Extract |
            %Feature |
            %Import |
            %Include |
            %InitialisationCode |
            %License |
            %MappedType |
            %Module |
            %ModuleCode |
            %ModuleHeaderCode |
            %OptionalInclude |
            %Platforms |
            %PreInitialisationCode |
            %PostInitialisationCode |
            %Timeline |
            %TypeHintCode |
            %UnitCode |
            mapped-type-template]

    statement :: [class-statement | function | variable]

    class-statement :: [
            %If |
            class |
            class-template |
            enum |
            namespace |
            opaque-class |
            operator |
            struct |
            typedef |
            exception]

    class ::= class name [: super-classes] [class-annotations]
            { {class-line} };

    super-classes ::= [public | protected | private] name
            [, super-classes]

    class-line ::= [
            class-statement |
            %BIGetBufferCode |
            %BIGetReadBufferCode |
            %BIGetWriteBufferCode |
            %BIGetSegCountCode |
            %BIGetCharBufferCode |
            %BIReleaseBufferCode |
            %ConvertToSubClassCode |
            %ConvertToTypeCode |
            %Docstring |
            %GCClearCode |
            %GCTraverseCode |
            %InstanceCode |
            %PickleCode |
            %TypeCode |
            %TypeHeaderCode |
            constructor |
            destructor |
            method |
            static-method |
            virtual-method |
            special-method |
            operator |
            virtual-operator |
            class-variable |
            public: |
            public Q_SLOTS: |
            public slots: |
            protected: |
            protected Q_SLOTS: |
            protected slots: |
            private: |
            private Q_SLOTS: |
            private slots: |
            Q_SIGNALS: |
            signals:]

    constructor ::= [explicit] name ( [argument-list] )
            [exceptions] [function-annotations]
            [c++-constructor-signature] ; [%Docstring]
            [%MethodCode]

    c++-constructor-signature ::= [( [argument-list] )]

    destructor ::= [virtual] ~ name () [exceptions] [= 0]
            [function-annotations] ; [%MethodCode]
            [%VirtualCatcherCode]

    method ::= [Q_SIGNAL] [Q_SLOT] type name (
            [argument-list] ) [const] [final] [exceptions]
            [= 0] [function-annotations] [c++-signature] ;
            [%Docstring] [%MethodCode]

    c++-signature ::= [ type ( [argument-list] )]

    static-method ::= static function

    virtual-method ::= [Q_SIGNAL] [Q_SLOT] virtual type name
            ( [argument-list] ) [const] [final]
            [exceptions] [= 0] [function-annotations] [c++-signature]
            ; [%MethodCode] [%VirtualCatcherCode]
            [%VirtualCallCode]

    special-method ::= type special-method-name
            ( [argument-list] ) [function-annotations] ;
            [%MethodCode]

    special-method-name ::= [__abs__ | __add__ | __and__ |
            __aiter__ | __anext__ | __await__ | __bool__ |
            __call__ | __cmp__ | __contains__ | __delattr__ |
            __delitem__ | __div__ | __eq__ | __float__ |
            __floordiv__ | __ge__ | __getattr__ |
            __getattribute__ | __getitem__ | __gt__ |
            __hash__ | __iadd__ | __iand__ | __idiv__ |
            __ifloordiv__ | __ilshift__ | __imatmul__ |
            __imod__ | __imul__ | __index__ | __int__ |
            __invert__ | __ior__ | __irshift__ | __isub__ |
            __iter__ | __itruediv__ | __ixor__ | __le__ |
            __len__ | __long__ | __lshift__ | __lt__ |
            __matmul | __mod__ | __mul__ | __ne__ |
            __neg__ | __next__ | __nonzero__ | __or__ |
            __pos__ | __repr__ | __rshift__ | __setattr__ |
            __setitem__ | __str__ | __sub__ | __truediv__ |
            __xor__]

    operator ::= operator-type
            ( [argument-list] ) [const] [final]
            [exceptions] [function-annotations] ;
            [%MethodCode]

    virtual-operator ::= virtual operator-type
            ( [argument-list] ) [const] [final]
            [exceptions] [= 0] [function-annotations] ;
            [%MethodCode] [%VirtualCatcherCode]
            [%VirtualCallCode]

    operatator-type ::= [ operator-function | operator-cast ]

    operator-function ::= type operator operator-name

    operator-cast ::= operator type

    operator-name ::= [+ | - | * | / | % | & |
            | | ^ | << | >> | += | -= | *= |
            /= | %= | &= | |= | ^= | <<= | >>= |
            ~ | () | [] | < | <= | == | != |
            > | >>= | =]

    class-variable ::= [static] variable

    class-template :: = template < type-list > class

    mapped-type-template :: = template < type-list >
            %MappedType

    enum ::= enum [enum-key] [name] [enum-annotations] { {enum-line} };

    enum-key ::= [class | struct]

    enum-line ::= [%If | name [enum-annotations] ,

    function ::= type name ( [argument-list] ) [exceptions]
            [function-annotations] ; [%Docstring]
            [%MethodCode]

    namespace ::= namespace name [{ {namespace-line} }] ;

    namespace-line ::= [%TypeHeaderCode | statement]

    opaque-class ::= class scoped-name ;

    struct ::= struct name { {class-line} };

    typedef ::= typedef [typed-name | function-pointer]
            typedef-annotations ;

    variable::= typed-name [variable-annotations] ;
            [%AccessCode] [%GetCode]
            [%SetCode]

    exception ::= %Exception exception-name [exception-base]
            { [%TypeHeaderCode] %RaiseCode };

    exception-name ::= scoped-name

    exception-base ::= ( [exception-name | python-exception] )

    python-exception ::= [SIP_ArithmeticError | SIP_AssertionError |
            SIP_AttributeError | SIP_BaseException |
            SIP_BlockingIOError | SIP_BrokenPipeError |
            SIP_BufferError | SIP_ChildProcessError |
            SIP_ConnectionAbortedError | SIP_ConnectionError |
            SIP_ConnectionRefusedError | SIP_ConnectionResetError |
            SIP_EnvironmentError | SIP_EOFError | SIP_Exception |
            SIP_FileExistsError | SIP_FileNotFoundError |
            SIP_FloatingPointError | SIP_GeneratorExit |
            SIP_ImportError | SIP_IndentationError |
            SIP_IndexError | SIP_InterruptedError | SIP_IOError |
            SIP_IsADirectoryError | SIP_KeyboardInterrupt |
            SIP_KeyError | SIP_LookupError | SIP_MemoryError |
            SIP_NameError | SIP_NotADirectoryError |
            SIP_NotImplementedError | SIP_OSError |
            SIP_OverflowError | SIP_PermissionError |
            SIP_ProcessLookupError | SIP_ReferenceError |
            SIP_RuntimeError | SIP_StandardError |
            SIP_StopIteration | SIP_SyntaxError | SIP_SystemError |
            SIP_SystemExit | SIP_TabError | SIP_TimeoutError |
            SIP_TypeError | SIP_UnboundLocalError |
            SIP_UnicodeDecodeError | SIP_UnicodeEncodeError |
            SIP_UnicodeError | SIP_UnicodeTranslateError |
            SIP_ValueError | SIP_VMSError | SIP_WindowsError |
            SIP_ZeroDivisionError | SIP_Warning |
            SIP_BytesWarning | SIP_DeprecationWarning |
            SIP_FutureWarning | SIP_ImportWarning |
            SIP_PendingDeprecationWarning | SIP_ResourceWarning |
            SIP_RuntimeWarning | SIP_SyntaxWarning |
            SIP_UnicodeWarning | SIP_UserWarning]

    exceptions ::= throw ( [exception-list] )

    exception-list ::= scoped-name [, exception-list]

    argument-list ::= argument [, argument-list] [, ...]

    argument ::= [
            type [name] [argument-annotations] [default-value] |
            SIP_ANYSLOT [default-value] |
            SIP_QOBJECT |
            SIP_RXOBJ_CON |
            SIP_RXOBJ_DIS |
            SIP_SIGNAL [default-value] |
            SIP_SLOT [default-value] |
            SIP_SLOT_CON |
            SIP_SLOT_DIS |
            SIP_SSIZE_T]

    default-value ::= = expression

    expression ::= [value | value binary-operator expression]

    value ::= [unary-operator] simple-value

    simple-value ::= [scoped-name | function-call | real-value |
            integer-value | boolean-value | string-value |
            character-value]

    typed-name::= type name

    function-pointer::= type (* name )( [type-list] )

    type-list ::= type [, type-list]

    function-call ::= scoped-name ( [value-list] )

    value-list ::= value [, value-list]

    real-value ::= a floating point number

    integer-value ::= a number

    boolean-value ::= [true | false]

    string-value ::= " {character} "

    character-value ::= ' character '

    unary-operator ::= [! | ~ | - | + | * | &]

    binary-operator ::= [- | + | * | / | & | |]

    argument-annotations ::= see Argument Annotations

    class-annotations ::= see Class Annotations

    enum-annotations ::= see Enum Annotations

    function-annotations ::= see Function Annotations

    typedef-annotations ::= see Typedef Annotations

    variable-annotations ::= see Variable Annotations

    type ::= [const] base-type {*} [&]

    type-list ::= type [, type-list]

    base-type ::= [scoped-name | template | struct scoped-name |
            char | signed char | unsigned char | wchar_t |
            int | unsigned | unsigned int | size_t |
            short | unsigned short |
            long | unsigned long |
            long long | unsigned long long |
            float | double |
            bool |
            void |
            PyObject |
            SIP_PYBUFFER |
            SIP_PYCALLABLE |
            SIP_PYDICT |
            SIP_PYLIST |
            SIP_PYOBJECT |
            SIP_PYSLICE |
            SIP_PYTUPLE |
            SIP_PYTYPE]

    scoped-name ::= name [:: scoped-name]

    template ::= scoped-name < type-list >

    dotted-name ::= name [. dotted-name]

    name ::= _A-Za-z {_A-Za-z0-9}

Here is a short list of differences between C++ and the subset supported by SIP that might trip you up.

> - SIP does not support the use of `[]` in types. Use pointers instead.

> - A global `operator` can only be defined if its first argument is a class or a named enum that has been wrapped in the same module.

> - Variables declared outside of a class are effectively read-only.

## Variable Numbers of Arguments

SIP supports the use of `...` as the last part of a function signature. Any remaining arguments are collected as a Python tuple.

## Additional SIP Types

SIP supports a number of additional data types that can be used in Python signatures.

`SIP_ANYSLOT`

Deprecated since version 4.18.

This is both a `const char *` and a `PyObject *` that is used as the type of the member instead of `const char *` in functions that implement the connection or disconnection of an explicitly generated signal to a slot. Handwritten code must be provided to interpret the conversion correctly.

`SIP_PYBUFFER`

This is a `PyObject *` that implements the Python buffer protocol.

`SIP_PYCALLABLE`

This is a `PyObject *` that is a Python callable object.

`SIP_PYDICT`

This is a `PyObject *` that is a Python dictionary object.

`SIP_PYLIST`

This is a `PyObject *` that is a Python list object.

`SIP_PYOBJECT`

This is a `PyObject *` of any Python type. The type `PyObject *` can also be used.

`SIP_PYSLICE`

This is a `PyObject *` that is a Python slice object.

`SIP_PYTUPLE`

This is a `PyObject *` that is a Python tuple object.

`SIP_PYTYPE`

This is a `PyObject *` that is a Python type object.

`SIP_QOBJECT`

Deprecated since version 4.18.

This is a `QObject *` that is a C++ instance of a class derived from Qt’s `QObject` class.

`SIP_RXOBJ_CON`

Deprecated since version 4.18.

This is a `QObject *` that is a C++ instance of a class derived from Qt’s `QObject` class. It is used as the type of the receiver instead of `const QObject *` in functions that implement a connection to a slot.

`SIP_RXOBJ_DIS`

Deprecated since version 4.18.

This is a `QObject *` that is a C++ instance of a class derived from Qt’s `QObject` class. It is used as the type of the receiver instead of `const QObject *` in functions that implement a disconnection from a slot.

`SIP_SIGNAL`

Deprecated since version 4.18.

This is a `const char *` that is used as the type of the signal instead of `const char *` in functions that implement the connection or disconnection of an explicitly generated signal to a slot.

`SIP_SLOT`

Deprecated since version 4.18.

This is a `const char *` that is used as the type of the member instead of `const char *` in functions that implement the connection or disconnection of an explicitly generated signal to a slot.

`SIP_SLOT_CON`

Deprecated since version 4.18.

This is a `const char *` that is used as the type of the member instead of `const char *` in functions that implement the connection of an internally generated signal to a slot. The type includes a comma separated list of types that is the C++ signature of of the signal.

To take an example, `QAccel::connectItem()` connects an internally generated signal to a slot. The signal is emitted when the keyboard accelerator is activated and it has a single integer argument that is the ID of the accelerator. The C++ signature is:

    bool connectItem(int id, const QObject *receiver, const char *member);

The corresponding SIP specification is:

    bool connectItem(int, SIP_RXOBJ_CON, SIP_SLOT_CON(int));

`SIP_SLOT_DIS`

Deprecated since version 4.18.

This is a `const char *` that is used as the type of the member instead of `const char *` in functions that implement the disconnection of an internally generated signal to a slot. The type includes a comma separated list of types that is the C++ signature of of the signal.

`SIP_SSIZE_T`

This is a `Py_ssize_t` in Python v2.5 and later and `int` in earlier versions of Python.

## Classic Division and True Division

SIP supports the `__div__` and `__truediv__` special methods (and the corresponding inplace versions) for both Python v2 and v3.

For Python v2 the `__div__` method will be used for both classic and true division if a `__truediv__` method is not defined.

For Python v3 the `__div__` method will be used for true division if a `__truediv__` method is not defined.

For all versions of Python, if both methods are defined then `__div__` should be defined first.

## Namespaces

SIP implements C++ namespaces as a Python class which cannot be instantiated. The contents of the namespace, including nested namespaces, are implemented as attributes of the class.

The namespace class is created in the module that SIP is parsing when it first sees the namespace defined. If a function (for example) is defined in a namespace that is first defined in another module then the function is added to the namespace class in that other module.

Say that we have a file `a.sip` that defines a module `a_module` as follows:

    %Module a_module

    namespace N
    {
        void hello();
    };

We also have a file `b.sip` that defines a module `b_module` as follows:

    %Module b_module

    %Import a.sip

    namespace N
    {
        void bye();
    };

When SIP parses `b.sip` it first sees the `N` namespace defined in module `a_module`. Therefore it places the `bye()` function in the `N` Python class in the `a_module`. It does not create an `N` Python class in the `b_module`. Consequently the following code will call the `bye()` function:

    import a_module
    import b_module
    a_module.N.bye()

While this reflects the C++ usage it may not be obvious to the Python programmer who might expect to call the `bye()` function using:

    import b_module
    b_module.N.bye()

In order to achieve this behavior make sure that the `N` namespace is first defined in the `b_module`. The following version of `b.sip` does this:

    %Module b_module

    namespace N;

    %Import a.sip

    namespace N
    {
        void bye();
    };

Alternatively you could just move the `%Import` directive so that it is at the end of the file.