pkgconfig

1.6.0 · active · verified Thu Apr 09

pkgconfig is a Python library that provides a simple interface to the `pkg-config` command-line tool. It allows Python applications to query installed libraries for their build flags (Cflags, Libs) and version information, making it easier to build and link against external C/C++ libraries. The current version is 1.6.0, and it has an infrequent release cadence, typically releasing new versions only when significant updates or fixes are needed.

Warnings

gotcha The Python `pkgconfig` library is a wrapper around the system's `pkg-config` command-line tool. It requires the `pkg-config` executable to be installed and available in the system's PATH. This library does not install `pkg-config` itself.
Fix: Ensure that the `pkg-config` command-line tool is installed on your operating system (e.g., `sudo apt install pkg-config` on Debian/Ubuntu, `brew install pkg-config` on macOS, or via MSYS2/MinGW on Windows).
gotcha This library only reads existing `.pc` files that `pkg-config` knows about. It does not provide functionality to install new `.pc` files or manage `pkg-config` package definitions. Its purpose is solely to query system-level `pkg-config` data.
Fix: If you need to define new packages for `pkg-config` to find, you must manually create and place `.pc` files in a directory included in `PKG_CONFIG_PATH`.
deprecated The `pkgconfig.VARIABLES` attribute was removed in version 1.4.0. To access package variables, use the `pkgconfig.parse()` function and retrieve them from the returned dictionary via the `'Variables'` key (e.g., `pkgconfig.parse('foobar')['Variables']`).
Fix: Replace calls to `pkgconfig.VARIABLES` with `pkgconfig.parse('your_package')['Variables']`.

Install

pip install pkgconfig Install pkgconfig

Imports

pkgconfig
```
import pkgconfig
```

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to check for a package's existence, retrieve its CFLAGS and LIBS, get its version, and parse all available information into a dictionary using `pkgconfig.parse().`

import pkgconfig

# Check if a package exists
if pkgconfig.exists('glib-2.0'):
    print('glib-2.0 is installed.')

    # Get CFLAGS for compilation
    cflags = pkgconfig.cflags('glib-2.0')
    print(f'CFlags: {cflags}')

    # Get LIBS for linking
    libs = pkgconfig.libs('glib-2.0')
    print(f'Libs: {libs}')

    # Get the package version
    version = pkgconfig.modversion('glib-2.0')
    print(f'Version: {version}')

    # Parse all information into a dictionary
    parsed_info = pkgconfig.parse('glib-2.0')
    print(f'Parsed Info: {parsed_info}')
else:
    print('glib-2.0 is not installed or not found by pkg-config.')

# Example with a non-existent package to show handling
if not pkgconfig.exists('nonexistent-library-xyz'):
    print('nonexistent-library-xyz is not found, as expected.')

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