bpython on windows

[Billy Wayne McCann]

Hi.  

Just wanted to share that I was able to get bpython working on Windows by using the Unofficial Windows Binaries for Python Extension Packages by Christoph Gohlke, Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics, University of California, Irvine. [1]

Prior to this I received an error :

>>> ImportError: No module named _curses

The README file wasn't very encouraging:

The idea is to provide the user with all the features

in-line, much like modern IDEs, but in a simple,

lightweight package that can be run in a terminal

window, so curses seemed like the best choice.

Sorry if you use Windows.

After installing the executable associated with Python 3.2, everything worked.  

I'm very excited about this because bpython looked very attractive when I first saw it.    Hope this helps anyone else who'd like to use bpython on Windows.

Billy

[1] http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/#curses  

[Bob Farrell]

Hi Billy,

Thanks very much for this - it could end up being a great help.
Hopefully somebody can take a look at this soon and we'll be able to
get it into the next major release.

We've always wanted to support Windows but since none of us use it
there's been little incentive so it does make a lot of difference
having a Windows user find the time to improve things.

All the best,

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[Mike]

I just tried it and it worked fine.  Installed the module and then "pip install bpython" and whamo!  It works.  It could use a start menu item I suppose, but since I have the python scripts folder in my path there was nothing else to do.

Any reason the website still shoos away windows users?

p.s. It is easier than ever to test on Windows these days.  VirtualBox is free, and there must be an old XP disc laying around somewhere.  ReactOS might even be an option.

[Simon de Vlieger]

Hey Mike,

the website mentions that it is possibly to run on windows (with some work) on the homepage:

"bpython is a fancy interface to the Python interpreter for Linux, BSD, OS X and Windows (with some work)."

And links to our docs which mention this way as well:
http://docs.bpython-interpreter.org/windows.html

For us full windows support would be having binaries and installers and such and having bpython.gtk_ work well (it currently segfaults due to some known bugs). However, none of the regular contributors have any experience with windows packaging, windows bugs or such and don't really have the time to invest in that either.

That's the main reason why we don't officially support windows yet, no contributors and not enough knowledge.

However I do think we don't shoo away users anymore but do point them to how to do it for now until we get the windows side of things rolling if we can find a contributor to do it.

Regards,

Simon de Vlieger

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[Mike]

Ok thanks, looks like I should have followed that link.  Probably the memory of getting shoo'd away was coloring my judgement.  ;)

I suppose the wording could still be a bit more confident.

I'd never tried the gtk interface until now, and didn't find a two-step process that much work...  Writing an installer would be for minimal gain as bpython is most likely going to be used by experienced devs.

[Billy Wayne McCann]

Hey Mike. 

You can pin an exe to the start menu or task bar with a right click from Windows Explorer. Once there, you can change the icon.  I've created one by using the fine bpython logo on their website (hope this was OK!) and converting it to a .ico file using the free-as-in-beer Paint.NET image editor with the plugin "Icon, Cursor, and Animated Cursor Format v3.7" [1].

I've attached the .ico file to this post.  Hope it helps.

Billy Wayne

[1] http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?/topic/927-icon-cursor-and-animated-cursor-format-v37-may-2010/

[Simon de Vlieger]

That's awesome, thanks!

[Billy Wayne McCann]

You're more than welcome. I really like this project, so I want to do whatever I can to help it, even if it's just little things.

Billy