PyQt5 SIP Module Support

12.18.0 · active · verified Fri Apr 10

The `pyqt5-sip` package provides the SIP module, which is essential support for PyQt5. SIP is a powerful tool for creating Python bindings for C and C++ libraries, originally developed for the Qt toolkit. The current version is 12.18.0, with ongoing maintenance releases to ensure compatibility and provide bug fixes.

Warnings

breaking When upgrading PyQt5 to version 5.14.0 or later, applications might encounter `ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'PyQt5.sip'`. This is due to changes in how the `sip` module is packaged and located within the library.
Fix: Ensure `PyQt5-sip` is explicitly installed via `pip install PyQt5-sip`. If direct access to the `sip` module is required, import it as `import sip` instead of `from PyQt5 import sip`.
gotcha Building `pyqt5-sip` or PyQt5 from source on Windows requires a compatible C++ compiler, specifically Microsoft Visual C++ 14.0 or greater (often obtained via 'Microsoft C++ Build Tools').
Fix: Install the 'Microsoft C++ Build Tools' which includes the necessary compiler.
gotcha Newer versions of SIP (and consequently `pyqt5-sip`) have increased their minimum Python version requirement. `pyqt5-sip` 12.18.0 requires Python >= 3.10.
Fix: Ensure your Python environment is version 3.10 or later.
deprecated The `sipconfig` module, previously used for configuring SIP bindings, is considered outdated. For developers creating C++ bindings, the modern approach involves `sip-build` and `PyQt-builder`.
Fix: Migrate binding generation projects to use `sip-build` and `PyQt-builder` for a more robust and up-to-date build process.

Install

pip install PyQt5-sip Install latest version

Imports

sip
```
import sip
```
After PyQt 5.14.0, the sip module is no longer directly exposed under 'PyQt5'. Ensure the 'pyqt5-sip' package is installed and import 'sip' directly if needed for advanced binding generation or configuration. For most PyQt5 application users, its presence is implicit.

Quickstart

The `pyqt5-sip` package provides the underlying support for PyQt5. A typical PyQt5 application implicitly uses `sip` for its C++/Python bindings. This quickstart demonstrates a basic PyQt5 window, confirming that `pyqt5-sip` is correctly installed and supporting your PyQt5 environment.

import sys
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QApplication, QLabel, QWidget
from PyQt5.QtCore import Qt

# This simple PyQt5 app implicitly relies on pyqt5-sip
# for its underlying C++/Python bindings.

def main():
    app = QApplication(sys.argv)

    window = QWidget()
    window.setWindowTitle("PyQt5 SIP Check")
    window.setGeometry(100, 100, 300, 200)

    label = QLabel("Hello, PyQt5 with SIP!", window)
    label.setAlignment(Qt.AlignCenter)
    label.setGeometry(0, 0, 300, 200)

    window.show()
    sys.exit(app.exec_())

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

view raw JSON →