Interactive Python Shell

Introduction

This document describes how to setup the interactive, stateful Flex shell that runs Python code on the server using the Flex SDK, Google App Engine and Django.

Contents

• Interactive Python Shell
  • Download
  • Setup
    • Database
  • Gateway
  • Client
    • Flash Player
    • Python
      • Options

We recommend you don’t run this example on a production server because it exposes major security risks. This example is for educational purposes ;)

A live demo can be found on the PyAMF Google App Engine example page.

Download

Clone the PyAMF repository with:

git clone git://github.com/hydralabs/pyamf.git pyamf
cd doc/tutorials/examples/actionscript/shell

Alternatively, if you just want to have a look, you can browse the example online.

Setup

Note: make sure you have Django >= 1.0 installed.

Database

This example uses SQLite to provide session support. First initialise the database by running:

python manage.py syncdb

Should output the following:

Creating table django_content_type
Creating table django_session

Gateway

The remoting gateway for the Adobe Flash Player and Python AMF clients is available on http://localhost:8000/gateway/shell/ when you launch the development server:

python manage.py runserver

You should see something like:

Validating models...
0 errors found

Django version 1.1.1, using settings 'python.settings'
Development server is running at http://127.0.0.1:8000/
Quit the server with CONTROL-C.

Client

Flash Player

You can simply open the SWF file and it will connect to http://localhost:8000.

Python

The Python AMF client can be started by running the following from the python folder:

python client.py

You should see something like this for the client:

Connecting to http://localhost:8000/gateway/shell/

Welcome to the PyAMF 0.5.1 Shell Demo!
Python 2.6.4 (r264:75706, Dec 22 2009, 21:55:52)
[GCC 4.2.1 (Apple Inc. build 5646)] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>

You can now use the interpreter as you normally would:

>>> import sys
>>> sys.version
'2.6.4 (r264:75706, Dec 22 2009, 21:55:52) \n[GCC 4.2.1 (Apple Inc. build 5646)]'

Options

When you run python client.py –help it will display the various options available for this example client:

Usage: client.py [options]

Options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -p PORT, --port=PORT  port number [default: 8000]
  --host=HOST           host address [default: localhost]