[AstroPy] Back to Python. Precession and PhysConst code.

[Erik Bray]

Hi Wayne,

     Your best bet is to install packages into a standard location that 
Python is aware of.  On Windows that would be 
C:\PythonX.Y\site-packages.  As Russel wrote, one way to do that is to 
download the tar.gz file containing the source code, extract it, and 
then run setup.py install.

     Another way--for example if you don't have a program in Windows 
that can open tar/gz files--is to install easy_install+distribute. 
Simply download http://python-distribute.org/distribute_setup.py and run 
`python distribute_setup.py`.  Then run: `easy_install RO`.  That should 
ensure that the RO package is installed in the proper place where Python 
can find it.


Erik

P.S.

     Don't worry about distutils--distutils is the standard product 
packaging system that comes with Python.  If you see a Python package 
that comes with a file named 'setup.py', then executing `python setup.py 
install` will install the package for you in such a way that it can 
always be found by Python.  The existence of a setup.py file means that 
the package is installable with distutils or some derivative thereof.

     distribute, which I suggested you install, is one such derivative. 
  It includes the program called easy_install which makes it relatively 
painless (in most cases) to install new Python packages hosted on the 
Python Packaging Index (http://pypi.python.org).

     For a full explanation of the Python packaging ecosystem, see my 
presentation at http://stsdas.stsci.edu/download/packaging-overview.pdf 
  I'll be happy to answer any further questions.

On 01/25/2012 05:02 PM, Wayne Watson wrote:
> OK, how do I untar it Win7? Ah, good fortune. I have MinGW (gfortran)
> that has a linux-like shell, and has tar.
>
> Is there a description of the module's contents?
>
> On 1/25/2012 1:41 PM, Russell Owen wrote:
>> No, it's a cross-platform unix/mac/windows package. It uses Python's older standard installation system (one that precedes easy_install).
>>
>> In windows I believe you go to the command line, cd to the package directory and type "setup.py install". On any other system you type "python setup.py install".
>>
>> -- Russell
>>
>> On Jan 25, 2012, at 12:59 PM, Wayne Watson wrote:
>>
>>> So it's a Linux application?  No msi or zip?  Never used distutils.  Sounds hairy.
>>>
>>> I have the fortran version, so maybe I'll try that.  What I liked about the py program is that it had a test inside it.
>>>
>>> On 1/25/2012 12:22 PM, Russell Owen wrote:
>>>> Yes to all that. It is pure python. Install it using distutils as usual.
>>>>
>>>> -- Russell
>>>>
>>>> On Jan 25, 2012, at 11:45 AM, Wayne Watson wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Thanks, but it looks like your PyPI is in a tar file. I'm using Win7.  RO 2.9.3 is a download.  I see some refs to Win, but I'm not sure what to make of them.
>>>>>
>>>>> On 1/25/2012 9:34 AM, Russell Owen wrote:
>>>>>> You have an incomplete package. Download RO from PyPI. The stuff you are looking for is in RO.Astro. euler is included in the package.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -- Russell
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Jan 24, 2012, at 8:29 PM, Wayne Watson wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It's been quite awhile since I used python, but I was digging around on
>>>>>>> PC for something on precession, and discovered some code for it,
>>>>>>> prec.py.   Here are the first few lines.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> #!/usr/bin/env python
>>>>>>> """
>>>>>>> History:
>>>>>>> P.T.Wallace   Starlink   10 July 1994
>>>>>>> 2002-07-08 ROwen    Converted to Python.
>>>>>>> 2007-04-24 ROwen    Converted from Numeric to numpy (in test code).
>>>>>>> """
>>>>>>> import RO.PhysConst
>>>>>>> from euler import *
>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>> ...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It dies on RO.PhysConst when I run it.  Probably a further difficulty is
>>>>>>> the euler reference.
>>>>>>> I have the code for RO.PhysConst.py
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What needs to be done to successfully execute prec.py?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>              Wayne Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>                (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
>>>>>>>                 Obz Site:  39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>                        In 2904 there will be 5 solar eclipses.
>>>>>>>                        On July 16, 2185 the longest solar
>>>>>>>                        eclipse inf 5k years will occur, 7 min.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>                       Web Page:<www.speckledwithstars.net/>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> AstroPy mailing list
>>>>>>> AstroPy@scipy.org
>>>>>>> http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/astropy
>>>>> --
>>>>>             Wayne Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
>>>>>
>>>>>               (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
>>>>>                Obz Site:  39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
>>>>>
>>>>>                       In 2904 there will be 5 solar eclipses.
>>>>>                       On July 16, 2185 the longest solar
>>>>>                       eclipse inf 5k years will occur, 7 min.
>>>>>
>>>>>                      Web Page:<www.speckledwithstars.net/>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>> --
>>>             Wayne Watson (Watson Adventures, Prop., Nevada City, CA)
>>>
>>>               (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N) GMT-8 hr std. time)
>>>                Obz Site:  39° 15' 7" N, 121° 2' 32" W, 2700 feet
>>>
>>>                       In 2904 there will be 5 solar eclipses.
>>>                       On July 16, 2185 the longest solar
>>>                       eclipse inf 5k years will occur, 7 min.
>>>
>>>                      Web Page:<www.speckledwithstars.net/>
>>>
>>>
>>
>