18/11/05, Fred Lionetti <lordvader (AT) gmail (DOT) comwrote:
Anyone have any idea as to how I could basically "compile" all my
artwork into a data file for a python application? Would this require
compiling them into a *.dll/*.so? It seems like there must be any
easier way, I need my application to work on windows + linux
(and mac).

Maybe you could use shelve?

For instance, if you have myIcon1.gif, myIcon2.gif, myIcon3.gif:

import shelve
shelf = shelve.open('iconData')
for fn in ['myIcon1.gif', 'myIcon2.gif', 'myIcon3.gif']:
shelf[fn] = file(fn, 'rb').read()

Then, in future, you should be able to access your icons by just:

shelf = shelve.open('iconData')
doSomething(shelf['myIcon2.gif'])

(and if your methods require a file-like object instead of just a
binary string, you can use the StringI module)

There may be space or time issues you might want to experiment :-)
but it will definitely be cross-platform.