pycocoa 25.12.4
Basic Python binding to macOS' Objective-C Cocoa
License: MIT
Keywords: Apple-Si Apple-Silicon arm64_x86_64 Cocoa cocoa-python cocoavlc ctypes fault faults faulthandler macOS MacOSX Obj-C Objective-C pycocoa Python-VLC segfaulty transparent VLC VLCplayer


=======
PyCocoa
=======

A basic, ctypes_-based Python binding to the macOS_ Objective-C Cocoa runtime and
several other macOS_ libraries.

This is package `cocoa-python`_ by *Phillip Nguyen (C) 2011*, modified, extended,
tested, documented and published with permission under both the `MIT License`_ and
the original `New BSD License`_.

Installation
============

To install ``pycocoa``, type ``pip install pycocoa`` or ``easy_install pycocoa`` in
a terminal window.  Alternatively, download ``pycocoa-y.m.d.zip`` from PyPI_ or
GitHub_, ``unzip`` the downloaded file, ``cd`` to directory ``pycocoa-y.m.d`` and
type ``python setup.py install``.  To run all PyCocoa tests, type
``python setup.py test`` or ``python test/run.py`` before or after installation.

Examples `cocoavlc.py`_ and *simple_VLCplayer.py* require installation of the
`VLC App`_ and the corresponding `Python-VLC`_ binding.

Documentation
=============

In addition to the pycocoa_ package, the distribution files contain several tests,
some examples and the documentation_ (generated by Epydoc_ using command line
``epydoc --html --no-private --no-source --name=pycocoa --url=... -v pycocoa``).

Tests
=====

The tests and examples have only been run with 64-bit Python 3.14, 3.13.4, 3.12.7
and 2.7.18 using `Python-VLC`_ 3.0.21, 3.0.18, 3.0.16, 3.0.12, 3.0.11, 3.0.10, 3.0.8,
3.0.6, 3.0.4 and 2.2.8 (with the compatible `VLC App`_) on maxOS 26.1 Tahoe, macOS
15.5 Sequoia, 14.7.3 Sonoma, 13.2 Ventura, 12.0.1 Monterey, 11.6.1 and 11.5.2 Big Sur
(aka 10.16), 10.15.7 Catalina, 10.14.6 Mojave or 10.13.6 High Sierra.  The tests run
*with and without* ``lazy import`` in Python 3.

Python 3.14, 3.13.4 and 3.12.7 run on Apple M4 Si (``arm64`` *natively*), other
Python versions run on Intel (``x86_64``) or Intel *emulation* (``arm64_x86_64``,
see function ``pycocoa.machine``), but only *before macOS 15 Sequoia* (see function
``pycocoa.segfaulty``).

Previously, ``pycocoa`` was tested with 64-bit Python 3.11.5, 3.10.0, 3.9.6, 3.8.1-6,
3.7.4-6, 3.6.5, 2.7.17 and macOS\' 2.7.16.  However, ``pycocoa`` has *not been tested* on
iOS nor with 32-bit Python and *does not work* with PyPy_ nor with `Intel(R) Python`_.

Notes
=====

All ``pycocoa`` source code has been statically checked_ with Ruff_ using Python 3.13.9
and with PyChecker_, PyFlakes_, PyCodeStyle_ (formerly Pep8) and McCabe_ using Python
2.7.18, both in 64-bit on macOS 26.1 Tahoe.

Some alternatives to ``pycocoa`` are (a) PyObjC_, the most comprehensive Python to
Objective-C bridge (no longer included in `macOS\' Python`_), (b) `Rubicon-ObjC`_
for Python 3.5+, taking advantage of Python\'s typing_ annotations, (c) PyGUI_ for
macOS_ and (d) wxPython_.

*Last updated: Dec 04, 2025.*

Licenses
========

**Copyright (C) 2017-2026 -\- mrJean1 at Gmail -\- All Rights Reserved.**

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
copy of this software and associated documentation files (the \"Software\"),
to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED \"AS IS\", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR
OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE,
ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.


**Copyright (C) 2011 -\- Phillip Nguyen -\- All Rights Reserved.**

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.

2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.

3. Neither the name of objective-ctypes nor the names of its
contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
\"AS IS\" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER
CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN
ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

.. image:: https://Img.Shields.io/pypi/pyversions/PyCocoa.svg?label=Python
  :target: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa
.. image:: https://Img.Shields.io/pypi/v/PyCocoa.svg?label=PyPI
  :target: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa
.. image:: https://Img.Shields.io/pypi/wheel/PyCocoa.svg
  :target: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa/#files
.. image:: https://Img.Shields.io/pypi/l/PyCocoa.svg
  :target: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa
.. image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/dm/pycocoa
  :target: https://PyPI.org/project/pycocoa

.. _checked: https://GitHub.com/ActiveState/code/tree/master/recipes/Python/546532_PyChecker_postprocessor
.. _cocoa-python: https://GitHub.com/phillip-nguyen/cocoa-python
.. _cocoavlc.py: https://GitHub.com/oaubert/python-vlc/tree/master/examples
.. _ctypes: https://Docs.Python.org/2.7/library/ctypes.html
.. _documentation: https://mrJean1.GitHub.io/PyCocoa
.. _Epydoc: https://PyPI.org/project/epydoc
.. _Flake8: https://PyPI.org/project/flake8
.. _GitHub: https://GitHub.com/mrJean1/PyCocoa
.. _Intel(R) Python: https://Software.Intel.com/en-us/distribution-for-python
.. _macOS: https://WikiPedia.org/wiki/MacOS
.. _macOS' Python: https://WikiPedia.org/wiki/PyObjC#History
.. _McCabe: https://PyPI.org/project/mccabe
.. _MIT License: https://OpenSource.org/licenses/MIT
.. _New BSD License: https://OpenSource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
.. _PyChecker: https://PyPI.org/project/pychecker
.. _pycocoa: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa
.. _PyCodeStyle: https://PyPI.org/project/pycodestyle
.. _PyFlakes: https://PyPI.org/project/pyflakes
.. _PyGUI: https://CoSC.Canterbury.AC.NZ/greg.ewing/python_gui
.. _PyObjC: https://PyPI.org/project/pyobjc
.. _PyPI: https://PyPI.org/project/PyCocoa
.. _PyPy: https://PyPy.org
.. _Rubicon-ObjC: https://PyPI.org/project/rubicon-objc
.. _Ruff: https://GitHub.com/astral-sh/ruff
.. _typing: https://Docs.Python.org/3/library/typing.html
.. _Python-VLC: https://PyPI.org/project/python-vlc
.. _VLC App: https://www.VideoLan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
.. _wxPython: https://wxPython.org/pages/overview/index.html