Getting started#
Installing nestdictutils#
nestdictutils is a Python package requiring Python 3.8 or higher.
nestdictutils has been tested only on Unix-based systems.
Here, we provide instructions for installing nestdictutils in a simple Python environment or a conda one.
We will show the installation using Python 3.8, but the same steps remain valid for later Python versions.
Installing in a Python virtual environment#
This section guides you in installing the nestdictutils package in a virtual environment, meaning an instance of Python that is isolated from the rest of your system.
This is not strictly necessary, and nestdictutils may be installed system-wide similarly, following steps 4 to 5.
Step 1 - Install virtualenv#
First, check if the virtualenv Python package is installed in your system. This can be done by verifying whether the virtualenv command is available to you.
It is usually available as a package in your distribution if you need to install it. For instance, on Debian-based systems (such as Debian or Ubuntu), it is sufficient to install the python-virtualenv package.
If you want to install it system-wide, run:
sudo apt install python-virtualenv
If this is not possible for you, you may still install the virtualenv package for just your local user, using pip:
pip install --user virtualenv
If the installation is successful, the virtualenv command will be available.
Step 2 - Create the virtual environment#
Create your virtual environment in a directory of your choice (in this case, it will be ./nestdictutils-env):
virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python3.8 nestdictutils-env
You should replace the argument of option -p according to the location of your Python installation in the system.
Step 3 - Activate the environment#
Activate the environment:
source nestdictutils-env/bin/activate
Step 4 - Get nestdictutils#
Clone the nestdictutils source code from its GitHub repository and enter the local copy of the repository.
cd ..
git clone https://github.com/MesserMbabu/nestdictutils.git
cd nestdictutils
If git is unavailable, you can download the repository content as a ZIP file from the nestdictutils GitHub repository web page, unzip it, and enter it.
Step 5 - Install nestdictutils#
You can now install nestdictutils:
python setup.py install
nestdictutils should now be installed.
Every time you need to run nestdictutils after opening a new shell, just run step 3 beforehand.
Installing with conda#
Step 1 - Install conda#
Go here for detailed instructions on how to install conda.
Installing miniconda rather than the full anaconda package is advised.
Once conda is installed on your system, you can use it to create a virtual environment, similarly to what you would do using the virtualenv package, as previously detailed.
Step 2 - Create the conda environment#
You can create your conda environment from the provided environment file:
conda env create --prefix ./nestdictutils-env
In this case, we ask conda to create the environment locally (--prefix), but this is optional.
Step 3 - Activate the environment#
You can activate the conda environment by running the command line that conda suggests at the end of the previous step.
It is usually something like this:
conda activate ./nestdictutils-env
Step 4 - Get nestdictutils#
Clone the nestdictutils source code from its GitHub repository and enter the local copy of the repository.
cd ..
git clone https://github.com/MesserMbabu/nestdictutils.git
cd nestdictutils
If git is unavailable, you can download the repository content as a ZIP file from the nestdictutils GitHub repository web page, unzip it, and enter it.
Step 5 - Install nestdictutils#
You can now install nestdictutils:
python setup.py install
nestdictutils should now be installed.
Every time you need to run nestdictutils after opening a new shell, just run step 3 beforehand.