Python libraries

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Libraries

XBMC Python comes with all the standard modules from Python 2.6. If you need to find a list of them, you can use the following command to generate a list of built-ins:

import sys
print sys.builtin_module_names

For a list of the other standard libraries, find the file "python26.zlib" in your XBMC installations /system/python/ folder, and open it with an archive viewer such as WinRAR or 7-zip.

Custom libraries

In addition to the built-ins and standard libraries, XBMC Python uses a handful of custom libraries to expose XBMC functionality to Python.

Up to date documentation about these modules can be found at http://mirrors.xbmc.org/docs/python-docs/

Module Description
xbmc Offers classes and functions that provide information about the media currently playing and that allow manipulation of the media player (such as starting a new song). You can also find system information using the functions available in this library.
xbmcgui Offers classes and functions that manipulate the Graphical User Interface through windows, dialogs, and various control widgets.
xbmcplugin Offers classes and functions that allow a developer to present information through XBMC's standard menu structure. While plugins don't have the same flexibility as scripts, they boast significantly quicker development time and a more consistent user experience.
xbmcaddon Offers classes and functions that manipulate the add-on settings, information and localization.
xbmcvfs Offers classes and functions offers acces to the Virtual File Server (VFS) which you can use to manipulate files and folders.

Installing additional libraries

Additional libraries can be installed by adding them to the /system/python/Lib folder of your XBMC installation. A Python module placed in this folder can be called from any script or plugin within XBMC.

Of course, you can also place the library files you want to import in your script or plugin folder, directly in the root or in a subfolder. A popular method is to add a "resources" subfolder to your script's folder, and add it to the path within your script.

If you are going to use a module that will possibly used by more add-on you can better create a separate add-on of this so more add-ons can make use of it. Be sure to checkout which modules are already available from our XBMC repository by looking at http://mirrors.xbmc.org/addons/ and choose the XBMC version your are developing for.