[vtk-developers] Re: VTK Python Installation [was: VTK 5.0 branchin mid-August]

[Prabhu Ramachandran]

>>>>> "Andrew" == Andrew Maclean <a.maclean at cas.edu.au> writes:

    Andrew> When you resolve all this remember to ensure that the
    Andrew> python install for Win32 works OK!

    Andrew> E.g currently I have a path pointing to where the VTK dlls
    Andrew> and exes are namely PATH=C:\Program Files\VTK\bin;

    Andrew> Then I have a PYTHONPATH statement: PYTHONPATH=C:\Program
    Andrew> Files\VTK\bin;C:\Program
    Andrew>
    Andrew> Files\VTK\lib\vtk;C:\vtk\VTK\Wrapping\Python;C:\vtk\VTK\Wrapping\Python\vtk;

There are a few errors there.  All you really need is this:

 PYTHONPATH=C:\Program Files\VTK\lib\vtk;C:\vtk\VTK\Wrapping\Python

In fact, if you move all the vtk*Python.dll's into
C:\vtk\VTK\Wrapping\Python\vtk you should only need this:

 PYTHONPATH=C:\vtk\VTK\Wrapping\Python

The only problem is for some strange reason the
vtkRenderingPythonTkWidgets.dll should be in C:\Program Files\VTK\bin;
If not you won't be able to use the widgets inside vtk.tk.

    Andrew> My observation (for Windows) is that it would be nice to
    Andrew> get the all the dlls and wrapping (possibly as subdirs)
    Andrew> stuff into where the install occurs e.g C:\Program
    Andrew> Files\VTK\bin; This would greatly simplify paths.

Well, ideally, the wrapping stuff should go into your installed

 path-to/PythonXY/Lib/site-packages/vtk

Thats it.  No futzing with PYTHONPATH.

So in essence.  You need the VTK dll's installed somewhere in PATH
along with the vtkRenderingPythonTkWidgets.dll.  The rest should be as
simple as it gets.

For source based builds I think your approach sounds good.  Having an
install target so that all the Python things go into
VTK\bin\Python\vtk or something like that would make things simpler
for those who build from source.

    Andrew> The rationale hers is to keep a known good build in
    Andrew> C:\Program Files\VTK and only install into this directory
    Andrew> when happy with the current CVS build. This is the
    Andrew> technique I use under Linux. Also when you release version
    Andrew> 5.0 it should make installation easier (I think).

People who build VTK from CVS should be able to handle whatever
situation given a decent standard behavior by setting appropriate
paths.  I think our priority ought to be to make the install
hassle-free for the average user of VTK.

cheers,
prabhu