Welcome, and thanks for downloading ActivePython. This release corresponds to Python version 2.1. ActivePython includes the PPM package which allows users to easily download and install extensions to Python. Examples of extensions include new GUIs, numerical mathematics and SOAP support. Many extensions are available for each platform.
Binaries for the following platforms are available:
ActivePython can be easily installed in each platform's native format.
The Windows package is in Microsoft Windows Installer (MSI) format. On Windows NT and Windows9x, you may need to download and install the MSI support package in order to begin the install process. Windows 2000 users do not need any additional software to install the package.
Do not install ActivePython to a directory with a space in the name. This causes problems on some variants of Windows with some service pack levels. We have not yet been able to compile a comprehensive list.
To install the package, simply find the directory containing the package with Explorer, and double-click on the MSI file. If this does not work and you are using either Windows NT or Windows 9x this probably means that you need to download and install Microsoft's Windows Installer 1.1 from here:
http://www.ActiveState.com/download/contrib/Microsoft/NT/InstMsi.exe http://www.ActiveState.com/download/contrib/Microsoft/9x/InstMsi.exe
It is recommended that you run the ActivePython installer (ActivePython-2.1.1.msi) with administrative privileges. This will allow other users to use ActivePython and will ensure that all of ActivePython's features function. Installing ActivePython without administrative privileges has the following limitations:
Depending on your needs this may not be a significant limitation.
Windows installation notes:
PYTHONPATH
, PYTHONHOME
, or other relevant
variables set, and that your installation directories are clean. If you have
problems importing certain modules after installation, please check
these things before submitting a bug report.Installing ActivePython for Windows from the Command Line:
Introduction
You can install ActivePython from the command line using the 'msiexec' program. For example:
c:\> msiexec /i <msi_file>Selecting ActivePython Features
You can also control which ActivePython features are installed using the 'ADDLOCAL' command line property. This property may be set to a comma (,) delimited list of features to be installed locally. For instance:
c:\> msiexec /i <msi_file> ADDLOCAL="ActivePython,Documentation"ActivePython has the following features:By default all features of ActivePython are installed on Windows.
- ActivePython - The Python Core and Windows Extensions
- Documentation - ActivePython Documentation
- AdvancedDevelopment - Python header and library files
Configuring ActivePython
Command line properties may be specified to configure ActivePython installation options. For example:
c:\> msiexec /i <msi_file> PROPERTY="foo bar baz"The ActivePython MSI installer recognizes the following command line properties:
- TARGETDIR - Using this property you can specify absolute path to where ActivePython will be installed. This property is optional. If not specified, ActivePython will be installed in a default location determined by the Windows Installer Service, usually the root of the drive with the most available space. The value of this option is required and should be the absolute path to the directory in which ActivePython will be installed.
Running ActivePython Installer in Silent Mode
To run ActivePython installer in silent mode you need to specify the '/q' command line option. This causes the installer to run with no UI. For example:
c:\> msiexec /i <msi_file> /qTurning on Logging During ActivePython Installation
To turn on logging during ActivePython installation you need to specify the '/l' command line option. This option requires you to provide the name of the log file as an argument. For instance:
c:\> msiexec /i <msi_file> /l <log_file>You can turn on verbose logging by using the '*v' modifier with the '/l' command line option. For instance:c:\> msiexec /i <msi_file> /l*v <log_file>
% rpm -i ActivePython-2.1.1-212.rpm
This package has been tested with RedHat 6.2, but is expected to be compatible with other RedHat 6.0 compatible installations as well.
% dpkg -i ActivePython-2.1.1-212.deb
This package has only been tested with Debian 2.1, but is expected to be compatible with other Debian 2.1 compatible installations as well.
The Solaris package is in pkgadd format. This should be installed as root, using the following commands:
% gunzip ActivePython-2.1.1-212.gz % pkgadd -d ActivePython-2.1.1-212
This package has only been tested with Solaris 2.6, but is expected to be compatible with other Solaris 2.6 compatible installations as well, including Solaris 2.7.
These are the "AS" packages. Download the distribution to a temporary directory, extract the files, change to the ActivePython directory and then run the script `install.sh'. The installation script will prompt you for the target installation directory.
% tar zxf ActivePython-2.1.1-212.tar.gz % cd ActivePython-2.1.1-212 % ./install.sh
The Red Hat, Debian and Sun packages are installed into the /usr/local/ActivePython-2.1 directory. Add the /usr/local/ActivePython-2.1/bin directory to your PATH environment variable to conveniently access it. For example, in the C shell:
% setenv PATH /usr/local/ActivePython-2.1/bin:$PATH
The generic ActivePython ("AS package") installer allows you to install the package anywhere that the user has write permission. Add the bin directory to your PATH environment variable to conveniently access it. For example, in the C shell (assuming you installed into /home/guido/python-2.1):
% setenv PATH /home/guido/ActivePython-2.1/bin:$PATH
On Windows no extra system configuration is required.
Some extensions to Python are written in C /C++ and must be compiled for each platform. Many of these extension modules are available through the PPM facility. This is available with the command line "pyppm" or through the "Package Manager" link in the Windows Start Menu.
Note: ActivePython 2.1 is binary compatible with any other Python 2.1 distribution, so any third-party extensions compiled for Python 2.1 will work with ActivePython 2.1. Extensions compiled for older version of Python (e.g. Python 1.5.2) will not work with ActivePython 2.1.
This section describes the Python extension modules that come with ActivePython.
The following extensions are supported on all platforms:
The following additional extensions are supported on Windows:
The following additional extensions are supported on Linux and Solaris:
This section lists known issues with ActivePython and Python for the various platforms.
All Platforms
- 3rd party extensions built for Python 1.5.x or 2.0 cannot be used with Python 2.1; these extensions will have to be rebuilt for Python 2.1.
- ActivePython must be installed in a directory that does not contain whitespace, otherwise the python package manager utility will not be able to install extensions.
Linux and Solaris
- Readline support is not included on Solaris because Solaris does not typically ship with libreadline.so. If there is much user demand we could make readline an installable package for Solaris.
Windows
- The following Microsoft knowledge base articles may be helpful in solving MSI problems:
Q236597 - OFF2000: Error Message: The Installation Package Could Not Be Opened ... http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q236/5/97.ASP
Q224094 - OFF2000: Error Message: This Application Requires the Windows Installer to Run http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q224/0/94.ASP
Q247532 - Works 2000 Err Msg: Installer Terminated Prematurely http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q247/5/32.ASP
``Error 1303. The installer has insufficient privileges...'' Running Office Setup http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q228/6/58.ASP
Error Message: Error 1316 Running Setup for Admin Installation http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q228/5/92.ASP
Error 1327 Invalid Drive During Office Installation http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q217/6/66.ASP
- On Windows9x, registry entries are created under HKEY_CURRENT_USER instead of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. This may cause problems for third party installers or in some circumstances for ActivePython itself. You can copy the registry entries from HKEY_CURRENT_USER to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE by running `win9x_regcopy.bat' located in the root of your ActivePython installation. Please note that copied registry entries are not cleaned up when ActivePython is uninstalled.
- Windows 98 and popen() functions may crash the PC when certain versions of Norton Anti Virus are installed. This includes os.popen(), popen2.popen*() and win32pipe.popen*()
- In certain situations, attempting to use any COM functions may fail. The error message will usually indicate an inability to load one of
pythoncomxx.dll
, orpywintypesxx.dll
. This generally indicates the COM DLLs on your PC need to be updated (and probably indicates that you do not run the latest Internet Explorer or Office products, as MS usually updates these DLLs with those packages).
The simplest way to get up-to-date COM DLLs is to install the latest DCOM updates. Visit the DCOM download pages at http://www.microsoft.com/com, select Resources->Downloads, and grab the COM/DCOM update for your system. This problem is described further on Mark Hammond's Python for Win32 pages at http://starship.python.net/crew/mhammond/win32/InstallationProblems.html.
The ActivePython distribution comes with extensive documentation.
On Unix platforms, all the standard documentation is installed as html pages under the Python install location in the html directory. So, if ActivePython is installed in /usr/local/ActivePython-2.1 then the HTML documentation would be located in /usr/local/ActivePython-2.1/html.
On Windows, the standard documentation along with Windows-specific Python documentation is installed in Compiled Help (CHM) format, and is accessible from the ``Start'' menu (see Start -> Programs -> ActiveState ActivePython 2.1 -> Documentation)..
Updated versions of the HTML documentation will always be available at the ActiveState website:
http://www.ActiveState.com/Products/ActivePython
Please report any problems you encounter with this release at the following location:
http://bugs.ActiveState.com/ActivePython
If you do not have web access, reports can be also sent via email to ActivePython-Bugs@ActiveState.com. Please be sure to include detailed information about the platform in your message.
As far as possible, please ensure that there is enough information in the report to reproduce the bug elsewhere. It also helps to submit a minimal test case that exhibits the bug.