It's not encouraged, but it's legitimate to want to know how to do.

Signed-off-by: John Snow <jsnow@redhat.com>
---
 python/README.rst | 28 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 28 insertions(+)

diff --git a/python/README.rst b/python/README.rst
index 107786ffdc..d4502fdb60 100644
--- a/python/README.rst
+++ b/python/README.rst
@@ -37,6 +37,34 @@ See `Installing packages using pip and virtual environments
 for more information.
 
 
+Using these packages without installing them
+--------------------------------------------
+
+These packages may be used without installing them first, by using one
+of two tricks:
+
+1. Set your PYTHONPATH environment variable to include this source
+   directory, e.g. ``~/src/qemu/python``. See
+   https://docs.python.org/3/using/cmdline.html#envvar-PYTHONPATH
+
+2. Inside a Python script, use ``sys.path`` to forcibly include a search
+   path prior to importing the ``qemu`` namespace. See
+   https://docs.python.org/3/library/sys.html#sys.path
+
+A strong downside to both approaches is that they generally interfere
+with static analysis tools being able to locate and analyze the code
+being imported.
+
+Package installation also normally provides executable console scripts,
+so that tools like ``qmp-shell`` are always available via $PATH. To
+invoke them without installation, you can invoke e.g.:
+
+``> PYTHONPATH=~/src/qemu/python python3 -m qemu.qmp.qmp_shell``
+
+The mappings between console script name and python module path can be
+found in ``setup.cfg``.
+
+
 Files in this directory
 -----------------------
 
-- 
2.31.1

On Fri, Jun 25, 2021 at 12:46 PM John Snow <jsnow@redhat.com> wrote:
>
> It's not encouraged, but it's legitimate to want to know how to do.
>
> Signed-off-by: John Snow <jsnow@redhat.com>
> ---
>  python/README.rst | 28 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>  1 file changed, 28 insertions(+)
>

Reviewed-by: Willian Rampazzo <willianr@redhat.com>

On 6/25/21 12:45 PM, John Snow wrote:
> It's not encouraged, but it's legitimate to want to know how to do.
>
> Signed-off-by: John Snow <jsnow@redhat.com>
> ---
>   python/README.rst | 28 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>   1 file changed, 28 insertions(+)
Reviewed-by: Wainer dos Santos Moschetta <wainersm@redhat.com>
>
> diff --git a/python/README.rst b/python/README.rst
> index 107786ffdc..d4502fdb60 100644
> --- a/python/README.rst
> +++ b/python/README.rst
> @@ -37,6 +37,34 @@ See `Installing packages using pip and virtual environments
>   for more information.
>   
>   
> +Using these packages without installing them
> +--------------------------------------------
> +
> +These packages may be used without installing them first, by using one
> +of two tricks:
> +
> +1. Set your PYTHONPATH environment variable to include this source
> +   directory, e.g. ``~/src/qemu/python``. See
> +   https://docs.python.org/3/using/cmdline.html#envvar-PYTHONPATH
> +
> +2. Inside a Python script, use ``sys.path`` to forcibly include a search
> +   path prior to importing the ``qemu`` namespace. See
> +   https://docs.python.org/3/library/sys.html#sys.path
> +
> +A strong downside to both approaches is that they generally interfere
> +with static analysis tools being able to locate and analyze the code
> +being imported.
> +
> +Package installation also normally provides executable console scripts,
> +so that tools like ``qmp-shell`` are always available via $PATH. To
> +invoke them without installation, you can invoke e.g.:
> +
> +``> PYTHONPATH=~/src/qemu/python python3 -m qemu.qmp.qmp_shell``
> +
> +The mappings between console script name and python module path can be
> +found in ``setup.cfg``.
> +
> +
>   Files in this directory
>   -----------------------
>