Installation¶
Helita needs Python 3.4.x or higher, use of Python 2.x is discouraged. Helita relies on several standard scientific python libraries. Here is a list of required and optional (not all functions will work) packages:
| Required | Optional |
|---|---|
| astropy | cython |
| NumPy | numba |
| SciPy | bqplot |
| xarray | ipywidgets |
| h5py | matplotlib |
| tqdm | |
| specutils |
Many of these should be installed when astropy is installed. All of the above Python packages are available through Anaconda, and that is the recommended way of setting up your Python distribution.
Compiled modules
Some helita modules are written in C and Fortran. To use them, you need to have respective compilers available in your system before you try to install helita (see below for help with compilers). The Fortran modules are optional, and most of helita works without them, but the C modules are not. You need a C compiler to install helita!
Install with pip¶
The easiest way to install helita is with pip. This should be the preferred method unless you are planning to change the helita code or need a custom install (e.g. with non-standard compilers). With pip, you can install the master branch of helita with the following:
pip install git+https://github.com/ITA-Solar/helita.git@master
If you don't have write permission to your Python packages directory, you can add the --user flag to install it in your home directory (typically ~/.local):
pip install --user git+https://github.com/ITA-Solar/helita.git@master
Install from source¶
For an install from source you need to clone the repository (or download a zip version if you don't have git) and then install with python:
git clone https://github.com/ITA-solar/helita.git cd helita python setup.py install
Similar to the pip case, you can also use the --user flag for non-root installs.
Developer install¶
If you want to install helita but also actively change the code or contribute to its development, it is recommended that you do a developer install instead:
python setup.py develop
This will set up the package such as the source files used are from the git repository that you cloned (only a link to it is placed on the Python packages directory). Can also be combined with the --user flag for local installs.
Installing with different C or Fortran compilers¶
The procedure above will compile the C and Fortran modules using the default gcc/gfortran compilers. It will fail if at least a C compiler is not available in the system. If you want to use a different compiler, please use setup.py with the --compiler=xxx and/or --fcompiler=yyy options, where xxx, yyy are C and Fortran compiler families (names depend on system). To check which Fortran compilers are available in your system, you can run:
python setup.py build --help-fcompiler
and to check which C compilers are available:
python setup.py build --help-compiler