add an example of how to compile a Rust project

Author: dae

pyoxidizer/docs/pyoxidizer_rust_projects.rst

@@ -164,10 +164,7 @@ interpreter use the ``snmalloc`` allocator.
 Using Cargo With Generated Rust Projects
 ========================================
 
-Rust developers will probably want to use ``cargo`` instead of ``pyoxidizer``
-for building auto-generated Rust projects. This is supported, but behavior can
-be very finicky.
-
+Building from a Rust project is not turn-key like PyOxidizer is.
 PyOxidizer has to do some non-conventional things to get Rust projects to
 build in very specific ways. Commands like ``pyoxidizer build`` abstract
 away all of this complexity for you.
@@ -216,3 +213,45 @@ file contains some commented out settings that may need to be set for some
 configurations (e.g. the ``standalone_static`` Windows distributions). Please
 consult this file if running into build errors when not building through
 ``pyoxidizer``.
+
+An Example and Further Reference
+==================================
+
+Starting from a project freshly created with `pyoxidizer init-rust-project sample`,
+you'll first need to generate the build artifacts:
+
+```
+$ PYOXIDIZER_EXECUTABLE=$HOME/.cargo/bin/pyoxidizer \
+  PYO3_PYTHON=$HOME/python/install/bin/python3.9 \
+  PYOXIDIZER_CONFIG=$(pwd)/pyoxidizer.bzl \
+  TARGET=x86_64-apple-darwin \
+  CARGO_MANIFEST_DIR=. \
+  OUT_DIR=target/out \
+  PROFILE=debug \
+  pyoxidizer run-build-script build.rs
+```
+
+That will put the artifacts in target/out.
+
+Then you can run cargo to build your crate:
+
+```
+$ PYOXIDIZER_REUSE_ARTIFACTS=1 \
+  PYOXIDIZER_ARTIFACT_DIR=$(pwd)/target/out \
+  PYOXIDIZER_EXECUTABLE=$HOME/.cargo/bin/pyoxidizer \
+  PYOXIDIZER_CONFIG=$(pwd)/pyoxidizer.bzl \
+  PYO3_CONFIG_FILE=$(pwd)/target/out/pyo3-build-config-file.txt cargo \
+  build --no-default-features --features \
+   "build-mode-prebuilt-artifacts global-allocator-jemalloc allocator-jemalloc"
+```
+
+After building, you should find an executable in target/debug/.
+
+Note that currently this does not produce any files that have been redirected to the filesystem,
+such as extension modules. For now you'll need to copy them in from a normal pyoxidizer run, or
+see https://github.com/indygreg/PyOxidizer/pull/466
+
+On Windows, the paths will need updating, and the jemalloc features will need to be removed.
+
+If you wish to dig further into how PyOxidizer builds projects, project_building.rs
+is a good place to start.

pyoxidizer/src/projectmgmt.rs

@@ -356,26 +356,26 @@ pub fn init_rust_project(
         "A new Rust binary application has been created in {}",
         project_path.display()
     );
-    println!();
-    println!("This application can be built by doing the following:");
-    println!();
-    println!("  $ cd {}", project_path.display());
-    println!("  $ pyoxidizer build");
-    println!("  $ pyoxidizer run");
-    println!();
-    println!("The default configuration is to invoke a Python REPL. You can");
-    println!("edit the various pyoxidizer.*.bzl config files or the main.rs ");
-    println!("file to change behavior. The application will need to be rebuilt ");
-    println!("for configuration changes to take effect.");
-    println!();
-    println!("IMPORTANT: use of `cargo` for direct project building and running");
-    println!("is possible, but likely requires setting environment variables");
-    println!("like PYOXIDIZER_EXE (the path to the `pyoxidizer` that the build.rs");
-    println!("build script should use) and PYO3_PYTHON (the path to the");
-    println!("Python interpreter executable used to configure the Rust crates that");
-    println!("link against libpython). Search the documentation for references to");
-    println!("these variables for troubleshooting tips. For best results, use");
-    println!("the aforementioned `pyoxidizer` commands to build Rust projects.");
+    print!(
+        r#"
+This application can be built most easily by doing the following:
+
+  $ cd {project_path}
+  $ pyoxidizer run
+
+Note however that this will bypass all the Rust code in the project
+folder, and build the project as if you had only created a pyoxidizer.bzl
+file. Building from Rust is more involved, and requires multiple steps.
+Please see the "PyOxidizer Rust Projects" section of the manual for more
+information.
+
+The default configuration is to invoke a Python REPL. You can
+edit the various pyoxidizer.*.bzl config files or the main.rs 
+file to change behavior. The application will need to be rebuilt 
+for configuration changes to take effect.
+"#,
+        project_path = project_path.display()
+    );
 
     Ok(())
 }