Porting guide for IDA 7.4 IDAPython and Python 3

IDAPython developers

Scope of this guide

IDA 7.4 comes with the possibility of using Python 3.

Using Python 3 means that some code, which used to work, might require porting:

• print() becoming a function, not a statement

• xrange becoming range

• __builtin__ becoming builtins

• strings being unicode and not sets of bytes

• integer division uses // and not /

• map() returning a map object, not a list

• {}.iteritems() (and similar) are gone

• some changes in the import mechanism

• ...

Those are all well-documented Python 3 specifics, are thoroughly documented, and Python even provides tools to help with the transition.

This guide is not about those, but about IDAPython-specific changes to the API, but many of those being "ripples" of those Python 3 changes.

The guide

Note: that all qualified names below use their originating IDAPython module's name (e.g., ida_kernwin) instead of the 'umbrella' idaapi module.

Before	After	Notes
ida_bytes.data_format_t.printf		The value parameter used to be a str, now is bytes
ida_bytes.get_bytes, ida_bytes.get_bytes_and_mask		Used to return a str, now returns bytes
ida_bytes.get_strlit_contents		Used to return a str, now returns bytes
ida_hexrays.mbl_array_t.serialize		Used to return a str, now returns bytes
ida_idp.IDP_Hooks.ev_assemble		Used to return a str, now must return bytes
ida_nalt.retrieve_input_file_md5		Used to return a str (the 'hex' representation of the bytes), now returns bytes
ida_nalt.retrieve_input_file_sha256		Used to return a str (the 'hex' representation of the bytes), now returns bytes
ida_netnode.netnode.getblob		Used to return a str, now returns bytes
ida_registry.reg_read_binary		Used to return a str, now returns bytes
ida_typeinf.tinfo_t.serialize		Used to return str instances for the 'type' and 'fields' parts of the tuple, now those are bytes
ida_typeinf.get_numbered_type		Used to return str instances for the 'type' and 'fields' parts of the tuple, now those are bytes
ida_ua.insn_t.insnpref		Used to return a str, now returns an int
ida_ua.insn_t.segpref		Used to return a str, now returns an int
idautils._cpu.<large vector registers, such as xmm0, ymm0,...>		Used to return a str, now returns bytes
idautils.Functions.next	idautils.Functions.__next__	Required to turn the type into a proper iterator in Python 3
idautils.GetInputFileMD5		Used to return a str (the 'hex' representation of the bytes), now returns bytes