Question

Say I have my_application.py.in for automake to generate my_application.py. How do I get the datadir into my application with ${prefix} expanded? Right now the best I can figure is to use replace() in my python application, but, I’m assuming there is a more appropriate way.

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app = Application()
    app.VERSION = '@VERSION@'
    app.PACKAGE = '@PACKAGE@'
    # How should I get the DATA_DIR in this next line?
    app.DATA_DIR = "@datarootdir@".replace("${prefix}", "@prefix@")
    app.run()

Answer 1

You need to do the substitution at make time. This is easier in C, where you can set a #define, but for Python, I’d try something like this:

foo.py: foo.py.in
        [ -f $@ ] && rm -f $@
        $(SED) -e "s:[@]datarootdir@:$(datarootdir):" $< > $@
        chmod a-w $@

(add AC_PROG_SED to configure.ac)