Installing pyexpander

Parts of pyexpander

pyexpander consists of scripts, python modules, documentation and configuration files.

pyexpander is available on pypi, as a debian or rpm package, as a tar.gz and zip file. The following chapters describe how to install pyexpander.

Requirements

pyexpander requires python version 3 or newer.

pyexpander is tested on debian and Fedora linux distributions but should run on all linux distributions. It probably also runs on other flavours of unix, probably even MacOS, but this is not tested.

It may run on windows, escpecially the Cygwin environment, but this is also not tested.

Install from pypi with pip

In order to install pyexpander with pip, you use the command [1]:

pip3 install pyexpander

You find documentation for the usage of pip at Installing Python Modules.

Install from a debian package

There are packages for some of the recent debian versions. In order to see what debian version you use enter:

cat /etc/debian_version

Download the package here:

and install with:

dpkg -i <PACKAGENAME>

The packages may with other debian versions or debian package based distributions like ubuntu, but this is not tested.

Install from a rpm package

There are packages for some of the recent fedora versions. In order to see what fedora version you use enter:

cat /etc/fedora-release

Download the package here:

and install with:

rpm -ivh  <PACKAGENAME>

The packages may work with other fedora versions or rpm package based distributions like, redhat, scientific linux or opensuse, but this was not tested.

Install from source with setup.py

You should do this only if it is impossible to use one of the methods described above.

Download the tar.gz or zip file here:

unpack the tar.gz file with:

tar -xzf <PACKAGENAME>

or unpack the zip file with:

unzip <PACKAGENAME>

The pyexpander distribution contains the install script “setup.py”. If you install pyexpander from source you always invoke this script with some command line options.

The following chapters are just examples how you could install pyexpander. For a complete list of all possibilities see Installing Python Modules.

In order to install the program use:

python3 setup.py [options]

Install as root to default directories

This method will install pyexpander on your systems default python library and binary directories.

Advantages:

  • You don’t have to modify environment variables in order to use pyexpander.

  • All users on your machine can easily use pyexpander.

Disadvantages:

  • You must have root or administrator permissions to install pyexpander.

  • Files of pyexpander are mixed with other files from your system in the same directories making it harder to uninstall pyexpander.

For installing pyexpander this way, as user “root” enter:

python setup.py install

Install to a separate directory

In this case all files of pyexpander will be installed to a separate directory.

Advantages:

  • All pyexpander files are below a directory you specify, making it easy to uninstall pyexpander.

  • If you have write access that the directory, you don’t need root or administrator permissions.

Disadvantages:

  • Each user on your machine who wants to use pyexpander must have the correct settings of the environment variables PATH and PYTHONPATH.

For installing pyexpander this way, enter:

python setup.py install --prefix <DIR>

where <DIR> is your install directory.

In order to use pyexpander, you have to change the environment variables PATH and PYTHONPATH. Here is an example how you could do this:

export PATH=<DIR>/bin:$PATH
export PYTHONPATH=<DIR>/lib/python<X.Y>/site-packages:$PYTHONPATH

where <DIR> is your install directory and <X.Y> is your python version number. You get your python version with this command:

python -c 'from sys import *;stdout.write("%s.%s\n"%version_info[:2])'

You may want to add the environment settings (“export…”) to your shell setup, e.g. $HOME/.bashrc or, if your are the system administrator, to the global shell setup.

Install in your home

In this case all files of pyexpander are installed in a directory in your home called “pyexpander”.

Advantages:

  • All pyexpander files are below $HOME/pyexpander, making it easy to uninstall pyexpander.

  • You don’t need root or administrator permissions.

Disadvantages:

  • Only you can use this installation.

  • You need the correct settings of environment variables PATH and PYTHONPATH.

For installing pyexpander this way, enter:

python setup.py install --home $HOME/pyexpander

You must set your environment like this:

export PATH=$HOME/pyexpander/bin:$PATH
export PYTHONPATH=$HOME/pyexpander/lib/python:$PYTHONPATH

You may want to add these lines to your shell setup, e.g. $HOME/.bashrc.