Box2D Forums

Hsssss. No, I mean, hi.

I just got Box2D, managed to compile it (without any problems!) on MinGW under Windows, and since I'm a Python fan, I thought... it'd be cool if we could have Box2D working under Python. Like any programmer (I guess), I'm lazy, and I thought, what the hell, I could just do it the easiest possible way, that is, using SWIG to auto-generate everything. Guess what - it works! I just ran Hello.py (ported Box2D HelloWorld.cpp), and it.. well, it just seems to work, which is obviously just awesome.

Okay, so here's what I did. I'm expecting you to have MinGW, SWIG and Python (I used 2.4) installed.

1. Compiled Box2D. (I can't remember the exact command line, now, but this should be close enough.
   
   Code:
   Box2D\Source> g++ -c -O3 -w Common\*.cpp Collision\*.cpp Dynamics\*.cpp Dynamics\Contacts\*.cpp Dynamics\Joints\*.cpp
   Box2D\Source> ar rcvs ..\Library\libBox2D.a *.o
   
2. Wrote the trivial SWIG wrapper file, Box2D.i, in our wrapper-building directory, Box2D\Swig.
   
   Code:
   %module Box2D
   %{
   #include "../Include/Box2D.h"
   %}
   %include "../Include/Box2D.h"
   
3. EDIT: There's one function declared in the headers that isn't in the .cpp files. SWIG will try to futilely wrap this, making the compilation step fail, unless you comment it out. The function is b2BroadPhase::ValidatePairs (line 88 in Source\Collision\b2BroadPhase.h). Just comment that out, ie.
   
   Code:
      //void ValidatePairs();
   
   
   And you'll be done.
4. So far so easy, right? Let's make SWIG crunch that file then. (I'll just go ahead and expect you to have SWIG in your %PATH%.)
   
   Code:
   Box2D\Swig> swig.exe -python -c++ -O -includeall -ignoremissing Box2D.i
   
   
   This should complete with a few warnings, but those didn't seem to matter. Maybe they will with something less trivial than Hello World.
5. Compile the wrapper DLL. This command line will vary with your installation paths and Python version.
   You might also probably need a GCC (.a) version of the Python library. See http://www.dabeaz.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?S ... UsingMingw for instructions (that Perl part). Though try without, first!
   
   Code:
   Box2D\Swig> g++ -shared -o _Box2D.dll -O3 -I \Programs\python24\include -L \Programs\Python24\Libs box2d_wrap.cxx ..\Library\libbox2d.a -lpython24
   
   
   Since that's running in optimization mode three, it'll take some time to finish. Grab a cup of cof.. oh, it's ready.
6. Try it! Here's Hello.py. (Place it in the Swig directory, so it can find your new Box2D module.)
   
   Code:
   from Box2D import *
   
   worldAABB=b2AABB()
   worldAABB.minVertex.Set(-100.0, -100.0)
   worldAABB.maxVertex.Set(100.0, 100.0)
   gravity=b2Vec2(0,-10)
   doSleep = True
   world=b2World(worldAABB, gravity, doSleep)
   
   groundBoxDef=b2BoxDef()
   groundBoxDef.extents.Set(50.0, 10.0)
   groundBoxDef.density = 0.0
   groundBodyDef=b2BodyDef()
   groundBodyDef.position.Set(0.0, -10.0)
   groundBodyDef.AddShape(groundBoxDef)
   
   world.CreateBody(groundBodyDef)
   
   boxDef=b2BoxDef()
   boxDef.extents.Set(1.0, 1.0)
   boxDef.density = 1.0
   boxDef.friction = 0.3
   bodyDef=b2BodyDef()
   bodyDef.position.Set(0.0, 4.0)
   bodyDef.AddShape(boxDef)
   body = world.CreateBody(bodyDef)
   
   timeStep = 1 / 60.0
   iterations = 10
   
   for i in xrange(60):
       world.Step(timeStep, iterations)
       position = body.GetOriginPosition()
       rotation = body.GetRotation()
       print "%4.2f %4.2f %4.2f"%(position.x, position.y, rotation)
   

Hope this process works for you people, too!

Here are the compiled wrappers for Python 2.4 and 2.5 / MingW / Windows, as well as Hello.py if you just want to tinker (at a whopping 449 KiB, the ZIP is too big to attach...): http://servut.us/akx/Box2DPy.zip

Enjoy and ask if you have problems. I'm no expert, but I might be able to help nevertheless.

I recommend grabbing remo's box2d.i file and using that, it has more fixes than your simple version, such as support for userdata (i assume its just as broken on python as it is ruby)
but otherwise nice work.

Hi. I wonder if you could help me here. I ran the hello.py in the box2d that you compiled for python 2.5. And I got this. I'm not really familiar with binding stuff from other languages, so I'm lost here. Please show me why it isn't working. A pointer to a good article on bindings like this would be much appreciated also.


Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\NIm's code\sandbox\2.5\Hello.py", line 1, in <module>
from Box2D import *
File "C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\NIm's code\sandbox\2.5\Box2D.py", line 6, in <module>
import _Box2D
ImportError: No module named _Box2D

My guess is that it was trying to create a new namespace, but is using the wrong syntax. Or perhaps the line was meant to grab that dll. I'm afraid I'm just not knowledgeable to have any clue.

Um.. Try renaming _Box2D.dll to _Box2D.pyd. >_>

Ok, I've clearly missed something rather obvious, and need to reread the docs. What should I search the docs for?

How is swig likely to have bound shapeDef.vertices? I 've been trying for days to make an irregular polygon, but I can't figure it out.
heres the line I have problems with:

for n in range(0,shapeDef.vertexCount):
shapeDef.vertices[n].Set(self.points[n][0],self.points[n][1])

In the Docs, It seems to indicate that shapeDef.vertices is an array, but it seems to be acting like a b2Vec2. I don't understand what it says in box2d.py either:

vertices = _swig_property(_Box2D.b2PolyDef_vertices_get, _Box2D.b2PolyDef_vertices_set)

It seems to say something about having get and set functions, but I Can't figure out why it doesn't say anything about an array for these vertices.

Python confuses me, but in AS3 I can do this:



Unless something was changed over for the AS3 port, "vertices" is an array of b2Vec2s.

That's what has me confused. It should be an array, but it's not acting like one. Maybe I take it to the swig people.

Upgraded to Python 2.5.1 and it works for me now (2.4 was giving me problems).

If anyone else wants more info on building it for Python on OSX, just let me know. I did it in a messy fashion, but it'll work at least.

I'm working on trying to get userData working, but with only a small amount of luck. Did Remo's version of Box2D.i fix the problem? I've scoured the forums, and it appears that his version is long gone. This is what I've been trying, with moderate success:



Edit: The above seems to be mostly working. Instead of .GetUserData(), [shape, etc].m_userData should be accessed directly.