Michael and Darren (and others), I've used svn before to download pure Python code, but never to get anything that needed to be built. I'm fairly out to sea here, so thanks for the patience.
> When building from source, you also need the header files (*.h files) of all > of matplotlib's dependencies. When you install the matplotlib binary > package (.deb file), these header files are not installed. Debian, Ubuntu > and most other Linux distros separate the compiled binary libraries and > header files into separate packages. The latter are usually named the same > as the binary package but with a "-dev" suffix. That's useful to know. > The "apt-get build-dep" command is designed specifically to install all of > the header files required to build a particular package. Therefore "apt-get > build-dep python-matplotlib" is a great shortcut to set up your machine for > building matplotlib from source. I did that, and then did the setup.py install and, yes, it now all works for me (not that you don't know that). I have mpl 1.0 installed on that Ubuntu machine. (btw, Mauro, thanks for the tip on Jaunty...I've been having random crashes with Intrepid now and may try to start anew with Lucid Lynx when it comes out in a couple of weeks). >> Is this need to install dependencies usually the case when installing >> from svn?--and if so, can I suggest that this be mentioned in the >> online documentation? (perhaps it is and I didn't see it?). >> > > It sure can -- it was overlooked because this requirement is true of any > compiled piece of software, not just matplotlib. > Would you like to contribute a paragraph or two? I'd be happy to merge it > into the docs. I can at least try; let me know if what follows is a good approach to take. The problem I've had today is that I didn't realize one has to build matplotlib when getting it as source AND that there are a lot of build requirements prior to installing. All that actually IS on a web page, but my problem is when I skipped to the "install from svn" link, I was then on a new page that didn't mention it, and, being new to building, didn't realize it. And so, my suggestion would be that at every place (1-3 places perhaps) where the docs mention doing the following: > cd matplotlib > python setup.py build > python setup.py install (such as on the "install from svn" page) ...there can be a) a small note reminding newbies that in order to build you need to have the build requirements satisfied or else the build will fail with numerous errors, and in that note b) a link back to the "Build requirements" paragraph already on this page, here: http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/users/installing.html ...and maybe c) the shortcut that you mentioned for Linux users. If (c) doesn't belong there, it should at least be in the "Build requirements" paragraph, something along the lines of this: "Note: if you are building matplotlib on Linux, instead of manually installing all of the build requirements (dependencies), you can simply run this command: > apt-get build-dep python-matplotlib It should take some time to finish, but you will then have built matplotlib as well as everything needed to have it work. Afterward, all you need do is install it with: > cd matplotlib > python setup.py install" I hope this makes sense. I appreciate everyone's help here. Che ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download Intel® Parallel Studio Eval Try the new software tools for yourself. Speed compiling, find bugs proactively, and fine-tune applications for parallel performance. See why Intel Parallel Studio got high marks during beta. http://p.sf.net/sfu/intel-sw-dev _______________________________________________ Matplotlib-users mailing list Matplotlib-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/matplotlib-users
