Get Started¶

The common use-case for Pike is to enable dynamic loading of Python packages from various locations on a user’s filesystem. This is usually to facilitate the usage of plugins.

The easiest way to use Pike to load Python packages is to use it as a context manager:

from pike.manager import PikeManager

with PikeManager(['/path/containing/python/packages']) as mgr:
    classes = mgr.get_classes()

If you need to use Pike for an extended period of time (such as for testing), you can use a normal instance of Pike. However, the downside to that is that you’ll need to manually trigger Pike to cleanup itself when you’re done.

from pike.manager import PikeManager

manager = PikeManager(['/path/containing/python/packages'])
classes = manager.get_classes()
manager.cleanup()

Discovery¶

Pike also includes a set of discovery functions to allow for someone to find modules or classes that have been imported or that are available on a filesystem.

• Documentation for imported module discovery: pike.discovery.py
• Documentation for filesystem discovery: pike.discovery.filesystem

Installation¶

pip install --upgrade pike

# In the Pike source directory
pip install .

# In the Pike source directory
pip install -e .

Plugin Manager¶

class pike.manager.PikeManager(search_paths=None)¶

The Pike plugin manager

The manager allows for the dynamic loading of Python packages for any location on a user’s filesystem.

Parameters:	search_paths (list) – List of path strings to include during module importing. These paths are only in addition to existing Python import search paths.

Using PikeManager as a context manager:

from pike.manager import PikeManager

with PikeManager(['/path/containing/package']) as mgr:
    import module_in_the_package

Using PikeManager instance:

from pike.manager import PikeManager

mgr = PikeManager(['/path/container/package'])
import module_in_the_package
mgr.cleanup()

add_to_meta_path()¶

Adds Pike’s import hooks to Python

This should be automatically handled by Pike; however, this is method is accessible for very rare use-cases.

cleanup()¶

Removes Pike’s import hooks

This should be called if an implementer is not using the manager as a context manager.

get_all_inherited_classes(base_class)¶

Retrieve all inherited classes from manager’s search paths

Parameters:	base_class (Class) – Base class to filter results by
Returns:	List of all found classes

get_classes(filter_func=None)¶

Get all classes within modules on the manager’s search paths

Parameters:	filter_func (Function) – Custom filter function(cls_obj).
Returns:	List of all found classes

get_module_names()¶

Get root module names available on the manager’s search paths

Returns:	generator providing available module names.

get_package_names()¶

Get root package names available on the manager’s search paths

Returns:	generator providing available package names.

Discovery Classes¶