I just started learning Python last week to automate some stuff I do (thanks to automatetheboringstuff.com). Assume I know nothing about programming. The only thing I know is HTML and CSS.
I created a simple automation workflow already and I want to improve not the code (maybe in the future because it's not yet finished) but how I can maintain my setup/program on two laptops -- Both Mac OS running on High Sierra.
I have a .py file that contains my automated workflow. I don't know where to place it. It currently resides in my Dropbox so i can use it on laptop1 and laptop2.
I also created a virtualenv for each machine and did the requirements.txt thing as well (just to prep for the future). The directory is on both username/python/project_name.
I read in some posts that these files and other resources can exist anywhere whether inside each virtualenv or not. And that it's just a preference. I also read that the virtualenv itself isn't recommended to be placed inside apps like Dropbox (that's why i separated it on each laptop).
I switch between both laptops frequently. The environment which contains the packages doesn't really concern me that much when switching. It's the other files that is bothering me. For example, there's an image I need, this has to be available on both laptops so my solution to this is to have a Resources folder inside Dropbox as well. It currently looks like this:
Dropbox
Projects
Project 1 files (images, etc.)
Project 2 files (images, etc.)
Workflows (this would contain my completed .py files)
I read some stuff about the virtualenvwrapper, but haven't looked at it yet. Maybe in the future when i do have more projects to manage. Because right now, it's just this one.
Lastly, I noticed that every time i open up Terminal and activate my virtualenv, the file directory is in Users/username
How can i set it to default to Dropbox/Projects/project_name? I always have to set it using the chdir(). That way, when i do have multiple projects (and virtualenv) i don't have to worry about where the files load/ save.
Finally, how do I run the .py script? If i open the IDLE, open the .py file there, and use f5, it runs properly. But as far as I know, that doesn't look into the virtualenv i setup. Is that correct?
I tried right-clicking, then Open With > Python Launcher the .py file. and i'm getting an error saying there are no modules found. It seems it's not loading the right virtualenv. So there must be something wrong with the file i made.
Then I read about the #! you place at the beginning of the .py files but i don't understand it. Can someone explain that further? Is that why my file isn't loading properly?
Thanks for helping out!
You can run .py scripts from the command line using:
python test.py
That tells terminal to run test.py in the python interpreter and send the output to your terminal, just like when you run it in the IDLE. If your .py script is not in your current directory and you don't want to change directories, you can access it using it's absolute path:
python /Users/username/Dropbox/Workflows/test.py
As long as you have already activated your virtualenv, it should run your script using only the libraries you have added to your virtualenv. Also, once your virtualenv is activated, you can move around directories using "cd" and it will bring your virtualenv with you.
Related
I currently seem to have two different directories, one listed under Local\AppData\Programs and one under the PyCharm library (the IDE I started using). I was downloading a gmail APK (ezgmail), and I noticed the actions I took in the default IDLE and PyCharm shells had different results when trying to import the module.
Are these two instances of Python files different? If so, how should I combat installations in the future?
Note:
I originally used pip to download ezgmail in the shell, but later clicked on the "download ezgmail" hyperlink suggestion by PyCharm.)
PyCharm creates a virtual environment in which you install python packages. The IDLE uses the global python interpreter.
The two prgrams are looking for the libraries in different locations. PyCharm creates a virtual environment for every project you create (if you specify but its on by default)
I created a Python project in Pycharm which contains multiple Python files. As of just now, I need to create a run configuration for each Python file in my project, even though they're all the exact same - with the exception of the script.
This seems unnecessary and laborious and I would love to just use one run configuration for multiple Python files.
That said, I'm a novice Python programmer just getting started and so still unfamiliar with large parts of the language.
My Project Files:
My Run Configuration - Used for all Python files:
Some Research Carried Out
I've searched for a solution and explanation to this, but have been unable to find anything. Some of the places I've tried:
JetBrainsTV on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLfd9LOdu_U)
JetBrains Website (https://www.jetbrains.com/help/pycharm/run-debug-configuration-python.html)
Stack Overflow
I hope there is sufficient detail here, if not I'd be happy to elaborate.
If those files are independent and you have nothing specific to them, then I see two simple ways of running them:
You don't have to manually create a run configuration for every file. You can just Right-Click on the file in the project tree and click "Run "
You can use the Terminal and run them files using the python interpreter as needed.
I was facing a similar situation when I started competitive programming. In my case I wanted to redirect my Test Cases from an input.txt file rather than manually typing the test cases for every run of my code. Using the above solution was not feasible, as I would need to manually change the Script Path and Redirect Input path in the Run Configuration window for every script I was running.
So what I wanted was, one run configuration, that would run all the scripts with Redirect Input path being set to input.txt.
To do that,
I created a main.py file with the following content:
import sys
if __name__ == '__main__':
fname = sys.argv[1]
exec(open(fname).read())
This main.py file is going to run my other python scripts.
Created this run configuration for the main.py file.
Now, every time I needed to run any code, with the code window open, ran this configuration, which actually executed main.py with current file name passed as its argument, which would then also take the inputs redirected from input.txt.
Hope this helps you or anyone trying to run multiple python scripts with a single run configuration in PyCharm.
I have a number of python files with .py extensions that I was working on, closed, and tried to come back to later. When I tried to open them by right clicking and selecting “Edit with IDLE,” instead of opening a pycache folder was created.
I have a work around in which I go to edit the file with Notepad++, copy the text into a new python editor, delete the old file, and resave the new file with the same name. My research has turned up questions related to pycache and IDLE, but none specifically addressing the issue. Has anyone encountered a similar problem/know how to solve it? I’m running Python 3.5.2 on Windows 7.
What did you name the .py file as? If you named it something like "string.py", Python might interpret the file as one of those in the "Lib" folder. Why you can resave it with the same name and have it working afterwards is anyone's guess. I suggest just renaming the python file to something else.
I developed the bad habit of writing/editing python files with IDLE from watching intro videos when I was still relatively new to programming. I have since learned that file editors like Sublime or IDE's like PyCharm are a significantly better way to go and would highly recommend anyone reading this.
I had a similar issue. When I clicked "Edit with IDLE 3.6", it would create a "pycache" folder and not open the python file on IDLE.
I found a Reddit thread that gives an explanation here.
The reason the pycache folder is created is as follows:
When you import a module, Python stores the compiled bytecode in that
directory so that future imports can use it directly, rather than
having to parse and compile the source again. It does not do that for
merely running a script, only when a file is imported.
No such folder is created for the standard library, as the standard
library is pre-cached when you install Python
I was importing Python's "random" library, in another python file (placed in the same directory). So the issue was solved once I deleted that file.
When running an interactive session, PyCharm thinks of os.getcwd() as my project's directory. However, when I run my script from the command line, PyCharm thinks of os.getcwd() as the directory of the script.
Is there a good workaround for this? Here is what I tried and did not like:
going to Run/Edit Configurations and changing the working directory manually. I did not like this solution, because I will have to do it for every script that I run.
having one line in my code that "fixes" the path for the purposes of interactive sessions and commenting it out before running from command line. This works, but feels wrong.
Is there a way to do this or is it just the way it is supposed to be? Maybe I shouldn't be trying to run random scripts within my project?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Clarification:
By "interactive session" I mean being able to run each line individually in a Python/IPython Console
By "running from command line" I mean creating a script my_script.py and running python path_to_myscript/my_script.py (I actually press the Run button at PyCharm, but I think it's the same).
Other facts that might prove worth mentioning:
I have created a PyCharm project. This contains (among other things) the package Graphs, which contains the module Graph and some .txt files. When I do something within my Graph module (e.g. read a graph from a file), I like to test that things worked as expected. I do this by running a selection of lines (interactively). To read a .txt file, I have to go (using os.path.join()) from the current working directory (the project directory, ...\\project_name) to the module's directory ...\\project_name\\Graphs, where the file is located. However, when I run the whole script via the command line, the command reading the .txt file raises an Error, complaining that no file was found. By looking on the name of the file that was not found, I see that the full file name is something like this:
...\\project_name\\Graphs\\Graphs\\graph1.txt
It seems that this time the current working directory is ...\\project_name\\Graphs\\, and my os.path.join() command actually spoils it.
I user various methods in my python scripts.
set the working directory as first step of your code using os.chdir(some_existing_path)
This would mean all your other paths should be referenced to this, as you hard set the path. You just need to make sure it works from any location and your specifically in your IDE. Obviously, another os.chdir() would change the working directory and os.getcwd() would return the new working directory
set the working directory to __file__ by using os.chdir(os.path.dirname(__file__))
This is actually what I use most, as it is quite reliable, and then I reference all further paths or file operations to this. Or you can simply refer to as os.path.dirname(__file__) in your code without actually changing the working directory
get the working directory using os.getcwd()
And reference all path and file operations to this, knowing it will change based on how the script is launched. Note: do NOT assume that this returns the location of your script, it returns the working directory of the shell !!
[EDIT based on new information]
By "interactive session" I mean being able to run each line
individually in a Python/IPython Console
By running interactively line-by-line in a Python console, the __file__ is not defined, afterall: you are not executing a file. Hence you cannot use os.path.dirname(__file__) you will have to use something like os.chdir(some_known_existing_dir) to reference a path. As a programmer you need to be very aware of working directory and changes to this, your code should reflect that.
By "running from command line" I mean creating a script my_script.py
and running python path_to_myscript/my_script.py (I actually press the
Run button at PyCharm, but I think it's the same).
This, both executing a .py from command line as well as running in your IDE, will populate the __file__, hence you can use os.path.dirname(__file__)
HTH
I am purposely adding another answer to this post, in regards the following:
Other facts that might prove worth mentioning:
I have created a PyCharm project. This contains (among other things)
the package Graphs, which contains the module Graph and some .txt
files. When I do something within my Graph module (e.g. read a graph
from a file), I like to test that things worked as expected. I do this
by running a selection of lines (interactively). To read a .txt file,
I have to go (using os.path.join()) from the current working directory
(the project directory, ...\project_name) to the module's directory
...\project_name\Graphs, where the file is located. However, when I
run the whole script via the command line, the command reading the
.txt file raises an Error, complaining that no file was found. By
looking on the name of the file that was not found, I see that the
full file name is something like this:
...\project_name\Graphs\Graphs\graph1.txt It seems that this time
the current working directory is ...\project_name\Graphs\, and my
os.path.join() command actually spoils it.
I strongly believe that if a python script takes input from any file, that the author of the script needs to cater for this in the script.
What I mean is you as the author need to make sure you know the following regardless of how your script is executed:
What is the working directory
What is the script directory
These two you have no control over when you hand off your script to others, or run it on other peoples machines. The working directory is dependent on how the script is launched. It seems that you run on Windows, so here is an example:
C:\> c:\python\python your_script.py
The working directory is now C:\ if your_script.py is in C:\
C:\some_dir\another_dir\> c:\python\python.exe c:\your_script_dir\your_script.py
The working directory is now C:\some_dir\another_dir
And the above example may even give different results if the SYSTEM PATH variable is set to the path of the location of your_script.py
You need to ensure that your script works even if the user(s) of your script are placing this in various locations on their machines. Some people (and I don't know why) tend to put everything on the Desktop. You need to ensure your script can cope with this, including any spaces in the path name.
Furthermore, if your script is taking input from a file, the you as the author need to ensure that you can cope with changes in working directory, and changes of script directory. There are a few things you may consider:
Have your script input from a known (static) directory, something like C:\python_input\
Have your script input from a known (configurable) directory, use ConfigParser, you can search here on stackoverflow on many posts
Have your script input from a known directory related to the location of the script (using os.path.dirname(__file__))
any other method you may employ to ensure your script can get to the input
Ultimately this is all in your control, and you need to code to ensure it is working.
HTH,
Edwin.
Wording the title was a little tricky, but here's the situation. I am making a install.sh file for my game which is written in Python. I am trying to create a game folder with all assets instead of making this a module for Python. I may be doing things the hard way, but this method seems to work well.
The install.sh copies the game's directory to the HOME folder and moves a .desktop file and game's icon to the appropriate places (ie. desktop, applications folder). The issue is, this .desktop file uses Icon=~/.local/share/icons/game.png and Exec=~/Game/game.sh which causes the icon not to show up in the .desktop file or menu nor does the game shortcut execute. I replaced the ~ with $HOME and I get the same issue. However, if I change it to /home/(my account) instead of ~ or $HOME it will work perfectly and show the icon.
Is there a way to make the install bash file create this .desktop file dynamically if a user installs the game? Or is there some way of getting this to work that I am unaware of?
EDIT: Better explanation... ish.
Alternatively, put ~/.local/share/applications in the premade .desktop file, and then sed 's/~/$HOME/g' appname.desktop > $HOME/.local/share/applications/appname.desktop in the installer script, or invoke that from your language interpreter as a shell exec.
It's a real shame that more projects with GUIs don't do this. These desktop files also need a 'wmClass' element in them in order to allow for the launcher to also be a window tab. I've manually fixed several applications for my convenience this way.
Seems the easiest way was to include the files system-wide. While not my intention, it made it far easier to install all the proper files and get things works.
Putting the .desktop file in /usr/share/applications and icon file in /usr/share/icons/