41. Undocumented Modules — Python 2.7.18 documentation

This document is for an old version of Python that is no longer supported. You should upgrade and read the Python documentation for the current stable release.

# 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.