Installation under Windows

These are the latest instructions for the QDSpy installation under Windows 11.
For more details, see manual.
For installation instructions under Linux, see here.

Installation under Windows 11

Note: I recommend using the procedure with standard Python (w/o Anaconda).

Note: With v0.91 and higher, the latest release of pyglet version 1 (currently v.1.5.29) can be used. Previous releases of QDSpy require pyglet v1.4.10. If you use an older QDSpy release, change line for pyglet installation below accordingly.

Using standard Python (recommended)

1. Install Python from python.org

2. Make sure that pip and virtualenv are up to date

   python.exe -m pip install --upgrade pip
   pip install virtualenv
   

3. Clone the branch of choice to a new location on your drive:

   git clone https://github.com/eulerlab/QDSpy.git
   

   or

   git clone -b experimental https://github.com/eulerlab/QDSpy.git
   

4. Change into that folder, create a new virtual environment, and activate it. The powershell command is only needed, if activating the environment fails due to safety restrictions.

   cd QDSpy
   python -m venv qdspy
   powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass
   .\qdspy\Scripts\activate
   

5. Install packages.

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

6. Make sure that Windows knows the variable PYTHONPATH set to your QDSpy folder.
   To check, use:

   $env:PYTHONPATH
   

   To set the folder (e.g., for c:\qdspy), use:

   [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PYTHONPATH", $env:PYTHONPATH + ";c:\qdspy", [System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
   

7. Create a tailored shortcut to QDSpy. This automatically starts a powershell, changes to the QDSpy folder, and activates the Python virtual environment:

   • Create a shortcut on the Windows desktop, open "properties" via right-clicking on the icon
   • Under "target" enter the following line, starting with the path to powershell.exe on your system:

     C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe -NoExit -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "& { .\qdspy\Scripts\activate }"
     

   • Under "Execute in" enter the path to your QDSpy folder (e.g., C:\Users\karle\QDSpy)
   • Optionally, you can change the shortcut's icon to that of QDSpy (in the QDSpy folder).
   • Save changes.

Using the Anaconda distribution (not recommended)

1. Install Anaconda (currently with Python v3.11)

2. Clone the branch of choice to a new location on your drive:

   git clone https://github.com/eulerlab/QDSpy.git
   

   or

   git clone -b experimental https://github.com/eulerlab/QDSpy.git
   

3. Change into that folder, create a new conda environment, and activate it:

   cd qdspy
   conda config --add channels conda-forge
   conda create --name qdspy
   conda activate qdspy
   

4. Install packages.

   conda install pip
   pip install pyglet==1.5.29
   pip install moviepy<2
   pip install PyQt6
   conda install numpy
   conda install pywin32
   conda install psutil 
   conda install pyserial 
   conda install hidapi
   conda instal pygame
   

5. Make sure that Windows knows the variable PYTHONPATH set to your QDSpy folder.
   To check, use:

   $env:PYTHONPATH
   

   To set the folder (e.g., for c:\qdspy), use:

   [System.Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PYTHONPATH", $env:PYTHONPATH + ";c:\qdspy", [System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::User)
   

Troubleshooting

• In case installing a package with conda does not work, try pip instead (see note above).