We wish to completely automate installation of OpenVisualizer. The work in SW-98 provides a standardized setup.py-based install for OpenVisualizer itself. However, we must extend this standardization to OpenVisualizer's requirementsdependencies. The pip installer provides this capability dependency management for Python-based modules, and this page documents how we intend to use pip to implement pip per SW-74.
However, as As we show below, pip itself usually is not sufficient for a completely automated installation. However, it provides a level of automation that is good enough for our present purposes.
In addition, core Python recently has decided to adopt pip as the primary installation mechanism for modules. So, we plan to use the setuptools module, on which pip is based, for the standard tree-based install. This approach provides for a simpler installation in the common case, and we can use pip to install OpenVisualizer itself. At the same time, we plan to retain use of the distutils module for native OS installation, which setuptools does not support.
Required Modules
The OpenVisualizer Confluence page lists the required modules. Some modules are Python based, and some are not. This section provides a detailed review.
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There is a similar setup.py extension, python-innosetup, for InnoSetup.
Implementation Plan
Create pip installer, and register at Pypi.
I We do not plan to pursue use of an installer a few reasonsa separate installer, for the reasons below:
- An installer seems well suited to an end-user GUI application. It would be more appropriate once we have a desktop Web UI, particularly for simulation.
- Our users are pretty technical, and the requirement to install PyWin32 and TAP is not onerous.
- I have never used these installers, and don't know how much work is required. In contrast, implementation of pip we already have created the source distribution via setup.py, and addition of the pip requirements file is small and simple.
We may Given the state of Python package installation tools, we likely will get to a desktop UI installer, but not just not yet. It's a process. 
Better install/requirements documentation
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Distutils vs. Setuptools+pip
If we don't use a traditional installer program, we must rely on Python's installation tools. Historically the distutils module provided this capability; however, core Python is switching to use of pip and the setuptools module upon which it is based for Python 3.4. A recent LWN article, Rationalizing Python packaging, describes the roadmap. Also see the Python Packaging User Guide and setuptools documentation.
Use of pip and setuptools means that if they are installed, the user may install OpenVisualizer and its Python dependencies with a single command, either pip-based or setup.py-based. Eventually, pip and setuptools will be included with Python, so the user will not be required to install them manually.
Also, we can use setuptools to read the existing 'requirements.pip' file to determine the modules dependencies to install.
However, setuptools does not support installation to arbitrary directories, which is useful for native setup, particularly for embedded Linux use. For example, Debian uses distutils to generate its Python module packages. Therefore, we plan to retain use of distutils for nativeSetup.py.
Installation
For a setuptools/pip installation, the user follows these steps:
- User reads Confluence instructions for installation.
- If necessary, user installs pip and setuptools.
- User chooses pip-based install or downloads the OpenVisualizer sdist source archive.
For pip install, user enters:
> pip install openVisualizer
For setup.py install, user performs these steps:
- Downloads the OpenVisualizer sdist archive, either from the Confluence wiki or Pypi.
- Extracts the archive.
- Enters:
> python setup.py install
Better install/requirements documentation
- A separate page for this documentation is worthwhilemay be worthwhile to remove the clutter of the dependencies table on the main page.
- The table of requirements should be segmented into runtime vs. development, where development includes SCons, yappi, etc. Alternatively, we may wish to create a separate development page for OpenVisualizer to house these requirements.
Other topics
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Reuse requirements.pip
We have a plan to add any necessary required Python modules to the existing, top-level requirements.pip at at the topmost directory of the openwsn-sw repository. However, we only want to install OpenVisualizer, so we require requirements.pip in directory software/openvisualizer. I don't see a useful purpose for the top-level requirements.pip, and recommend we remove it.
Package Upgrades via pip
pip does support . This file can be copied to the software/openvisualizer directory for archive creation.
Support for upgrades
pip supports package upgrades. See the usage page.
. In contrast, installation via setup.py does not support upgrades. Depending on the changes in the upgrade, the user may be required to manually uninstall the current version.