Sugar Architecture/API

Table of Contents
API Introduction
Third Party Packages	AbiWord	ATK	Avahi	GTK	gstreamer	Cairo	D-Bus	evince	HippoCanvas
Sugar Packs	Python Scripts	Library Packages	Shell Packages	Services Package	Activity APIs

This page describes Sugar's Python programming environment. The API available to non-Python activities is described on the Low-level Activity API page.

Sugar is written in Python and uses a variety of open source packages. Programming in the Sugar environment requires a basic understanding of the Sugar user interface, supporting third-party packages, and built-in Sugar packages.

Traditional software packages are built against application programming interfaces. Sugar runs Activities instead of applications, but from a developer's point of view, it's the same thing.

The platform API Reference includes a collection of pointers to documentation including automatically generated PyDoc documentation for Sugar and related libraries.

Third Party Packages

• Abiword - Document writer
• ATK - GNOME Accessibility Toolkit
• Avahi - network service discovery system
• GTK - GNOME Toolkit
• GStreamer - multimedia framework
• Cairo - 2-D graphics library
• D-BUS - message bus service
• Evince - document viewer
• HippoCanvas - generic user interface widget - now deprecated use GTK layout managers
• Matchbox - graphical windows manager
• Pango - GTK package for text rendering
• X Window System - the tried-and-true ancient X11 display libraries
• Xul - XML User Interface Language

Sugar Packs

This details the contents and structure of OLPC Build 303.

Sugar Python Scripts

Several Python Scripts reside in /usr/bin

Scripts:

• sugar-activity
• sugar-activity-factory
• sugar-clipboard
• sugar-console
• sugar-data-store
• sugar-emulator
• sugar-emulator-shutdown
• sugar-install-bundle
• sugar-presence-service
• sugar-setup-activity
• sugar-shell

Sugar Library Packages

Many Sugar library packages reside in /usr/lib/python*/site-packages/sugar

Modules:

• TracebackUtils
• date
• emulator
• env
• logger
• profile
• simulator
• util

Subpackages:

• sugar.activity
• sugar.chat
• sugar.clipboard
• sugar.datastore
• sugar.graphics
• sugar.p2p
• sugar.presence

Package sugar.shell

Most of the Human Interface is implemented in the sugar.shell packages located in /usr/share/sugar/shell

Modules:

• sugar.shell.shellservice

Subpackages:

• sugar.shell.console
• sugar.shell.hardware
• sugar.shell.intro
• sugar.shell.model
• sugar.shell.view

Package sugar.services

Various services are provided in /usr/share/sugar/services

Modules: none

Subpackages:

• sugar.services.clipboard
• sugar.services.console
• sugar.services.datastore
• sugar.services.presence
• sugar.services.presence2

Sugar Activity APIs

The previous API sections detail all Sugar interfaces. Here is an abbreviated list of the APIs most relevant for activity programming:

• gtk
• gobject
• hippo
• logging
• os
• pango
• pygtk

• sugar.activity.activity
• sugar.graphics
• sugar.date