********** Spyne FAQ ********** Frequently asked questions about Spyne and related libraries. Does Spyne support the SOAP 1.2 standard? ========================================== **Short answer:** No. **Long answer:** Nope. Patches are welcome. How do I implement a predefined WSDL? ===================================== **Short answer:** By hand. **Long answer:** Spyne does not have any functionality to parse an existing WSDL document, nor a way of producing the necessary Python classes and method stubs from an existing interface definition. Patches are welcome for both of these points. Maybe you can start by adapting the WSDL parser from `RSL `_. Is it possible to use other decorators with @rpc/@srpc? ======================================================= **Short answer:** Yes, but just use events. See the :ref:`manual-user-manager` tutorial and the `events example `_ to learn how to do so. They work almost the same, except for the syntax. **Long Answer:** Here's the magic from the :mod:`spyne.decorator`: :: argcount = f.func_code.co_argcount param_names = f.func_code.co_varnames[arg_start:argcount] So if ``f`` is your decorator, its signature should be the same as the user method, otherwise the parameter names and numbers in the interface are going to be wrong, which will cause weird errors. Please note that if you just intend to have a convenient way to set additional method metadata, you can pass the ``_udp`` argument to the :func:`spyne.decorator.srpc` to your liking. So if you're hell bent on using decorators, you should use the `decorator package `_. Here's an example: :: from decorator import decorator def _do_something(func, *args, **kw): print "before call" result = func(*args, **kw) print "after call" return result def my_decor(f): return decorator(_do_something, f) class tests(ServiceBase): @my_decor @srpc(ComplexTypes.Integer, _returns=ComplexTypes.Integer) def testf(first): return first Note that the place of the decorator matters. Putting it before ``@srpc`` will make it run once, on service initialization. Putting it after will make it run every time the method is called, but not on initialization. Original thread: http://mail.python.org/pipermail/soap/2011-September/000565.html PS: The next faq entry is also probably relevant to you. How do I alter the behaviour of a user method without using decorators? ======================================================================= **Short answer:** Set ``ctx.function`` to any callable you want. **Long answer:** ``ctx.function`` contains the handle to the original function. You can set that attribute to arbitrary callables to prevent the original user method from running. This property is initiallized from ``ctx.descriptor.function`` every time a new context is initialized. If for some reason you need to alter the ``ctx.descriptor.function``, you can call :func:`ctx.descriptor.reset_function()` to restore it to its original value. Also consider thread-safety issues when altering global state. How do I use variable names that are also Python keywords? ========================================================== Due to restrictions of the python language, you can't do this: :: class SomeClass(ComplexModel): and = String or = Integer import = Datetime The workaround is as follows: :: class SomeClass(ComplexModel): _type_info = { 'and': String 'or': Integer 'import': Datetime } You also can't do this: :: @rpc(String, String, String, _returns=String) def f(ctx, from, import): return '1234' The workaround is as follows: :: @rpc(String, String, String, _returns=String, _in_variable_names={'from_': 'from', 'import_': 'import'}, _out_variable_name="return" def f(ctx, from_, import_): return '1234' See here: https://github.com/arskom/spyne/blob/spyne-2.5.0-beta/src/spyne/test/test_service.py#L114 How does Spyne behave in a multi-threaded environment? ======================================================= Spyne code is mostly re-entrant, thus thread safe. Whatever global state that is accessed is initialized and frozen (by convention) before any rpc processing is performed. Some data (like the WSDL document) is initialized on first request, which does need precautions against race conditions. These precautions should be taken in the transport implementations. It's the transport's job to assure thread-safety when accessing any out-of-thread data. No other parts of Spyne should be made aware of threads. What implications does Spyne's license (LGPL) have for proprietary projects that use it? ======================================================================================== DISCLAIMER: This is not legal advice, but just how we think things should work. **Short Answer:** As long as you don't modify Spyne itself, you can freely use Spyne in conjunction with your proprietary code, without any additional obligations. **Long Answer:** If you do modifications to Spyne, the best thing to do is to put them on github and just send a pull request upstream. Even if your patch is not accepted, you've done more than what the license requires you to do. If you make modifications to Spyne and deploy a modified version to your client's site, the minimum you should do is to pass along the source code for the modified Spyne to your clients. Again, you can just put your modifications up somewhere, or better, send them to the Spyne maintainers, but if for some reason (we can't imagine any, to be honest) you can't do this, your obligation is to have your client have the source code with your modifications. The thing to watch out for when distributing a modified Spyne version as part of your proprieatry solution is to make sure that Spyne runs just fine by itself without needing your code. Again, this will be the case if you did not touch Spyne code itself. If your modifications to Spyne make it somehow dependant on your software, you must pass your modifications as well as the code that Spyne needs to the people who deploy your solution. In other words, if your code and Spyne is tightly coupled, the license of Spyne propagates to your code as well. Spyne is a descendant of Soaplib, which was published by its author initially under LGPL. When he quit, the people who took over contemplated re-licensing it under the three-clause BSD license, but were not able to reach the original author. A re-licensing is even less probable today because of the number of people who've contributed code in the past years as we'd need to get the approval of every single person in order to re-license Spyne. It's also not possible to distribute Spyne under a dual license model for the same reason -- everybody would have to approve the new licensing terms. My app freezes under mod_wsgi! Help! ==================================== **Short answer:** Add this to the relevant fragment of your Apache configuration: ``` WSGIApplicationGroup %{GLOBAL} ``` **Long answer:** See here: https://techknowhow.library.emory.edu/blogs/branker/2010/07/30/django-lxml-wsgi-and-python-sub-interpreter-magic You mock my pain! ================= Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.