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Purpose

The LM-X Python wrapper is a thin Python interface over the native LM-X client library. It provides Pythonic access to the whole LM-X API.

Package Contents

The wheel contains:

Python package: lmx (client.py, _ffi.py, _marshal.py, _callbacks.py, types.py, errors.py)
Embedded native LM-X client library (platform-specific):
- liblmx.so (Linux/Unix)
- liblmx.dylib (macOS)
- liblmx.dll (Windows)

The wheel is non-pure (root_is_pure = False) and platform-tagged.

Prerequisites

Python >= 3.8
LM-X SDK build output for your target platform
Matching Python bitness and SDK target bitness (32-bit vs 64-bit)

Build the Wheel

Recommended (from SDK root)

Build the SDK as usual; wheel build is part of the SDK makefile flow:

...

python/lmx-*.whl
python/wheel_build.log

Build only the wheel target

Unix-like:
```
make build_python_wheel
```
Windows:
```
nmake build_python_wheel
```

Manual script invocation

From SDK root:

Code Block
python3 python/build_sdk_wheel.py \ --platform linux_x64 \ --library linux_x64/liblmx.so \ --output-dir python \ --venv python/.venv_wheel

...

--platform must match LM-X host directory naming (for example linux_x64, win64_x64, darwin_universal).
The script skips build (exit code 0) when prerequisites are not met and logs SKIPPED: reason to python/wheel_build.log.

Install and Start

Install the generated wheel

From SDK examples/python:

pip install ../../python/lmx-*.whl

Run example scripts

Code Block
python3 local.py python3 network.py python3 callbacks.py python3 licstat.py python3 clientstore.py python3 trial.py python3 admin.py

...

Unix: make run_local (and run_network, run_callbacks, run_licstat, run_clientstore, run_trial, run_admin, run_all)
Windows: nmake run_local (same target set)

Minimal Usage Example

Code Block

language	py
firstline	1
linenumbers	true

from lmx import LMX_STATUS, LmxClient, LmxSettings

FEATURE = "f2"

with LmxClient() as client:
    status = client.init()
    if status != int(LMX_STATUS.LMX_SUCCESS):
        raise RuntimeError(f"LMX_Init failed: {status}")

    # Setup license path
    client.set_option(LmxSettings.LMX_OPT_LICENSE_PATH, "6200@localhost")

    # Checkout one license
    status = client.checkout(FEATURE, 1, 0, 1)
    if status != int(LMX_STATUS.LMX_SUCCESS):
        error = client.get_error_message()
        raise RuntimeError(f"LMX_Checkout failed: status={status}, error={error}")

    # Checkin the license
    status = client.checkin(FEATURE, 1)
    if status != int(LMX_STATUS.LMX_SUCCESS):
        raise RuntimeError(f"LMX_Checkin failed: {client.get_error_message()}")

How It Works

LmxClient is a thread-safe OO facade over LM-X C APIs.
The wrapper loads native LM-X symbols through ctypes.CDLL (lmx/_ffi.py).
Method calls map 1:1 to native exports (LMX_Init, LMX_Checkout, LMX_Checkin, etc.).
Complex C structs are converted into Python dictionaries/dataclasses by marshal helpers (lmx/_marshal.py).
Python callback options are converted to C function pointers.
Status codes are returned as integers compatible with LMX_STATUS enum values.

Native Library Resolution Order

When creating LmxClient() without explicit library_path, the wrapper searches in this order:

...

If no valid library is found, LmxUsageError is raised with attempted paths.

Troubleshooting

Wheel not generated

Symptoms:

No python/lmx-*.whl after build

...

Inspect python/wheel_build.log for SKIPPED: messages.
Verify Python interpreter exists and is callable.
Verify interpreter bitness matches target platform bitness.
Verify native library path provided to build script exists.

`Could not locate LM-X client library`