F311 Installation

Note

As of July 2023, we recommend using Anaconda/Miniconda and Python 3.11

Setting up Anaconda virtual environment

A virtual environment is an isolated Python installation, which can be activated/deactivated at will, and does not interfere in the rest of your system.

First you will need to have Anaconda or Miniconda installed. If you are in doubt about this, just install Miniconda.

Once Anaconda/Miniconda is installed, create a new virtual environment called astroenv (or any name you like):

conda create --name astroenv python=3.11

Activate this new virtual environment:

source activate astroenv

Now, install PyQt5 manually using the following:

conda install pyqt

Note

(about PyQt5) The correct installation of PyQt5 can be challenging depending on one’s system. The above solution was found to work in July 2023. It is important to use conda (not pip) for the installation of PyQt5.

Now install package f311:

pip install f311

To activate the environment:

source activate astroenv

To deactivate the environment:

source deactivate

Installing F311 in Developer Mode

Note

Install F311 in developer mode only if you want to make changes to the source code.

First, set up Anaconda/Miniconda and install PyQt5 as described above.

Then, clone the F311 GitHub repository:

git clone ssh://git@github.com/trevisanj/f311.git

or

git clone http://github.com/trevisanj/f311

Finally, install F311 in developer mode:

cd f311
python setup.py develop

Upgrading package f311

If package f311 is already installed, but you need to install a new version, please follow these instructions.

Upgrading in the majority of cases

Package f311 can be upgraded to a new version by typing:

pip install f311 --upgrade

Upgrading F311 in developer mode

Enter the f311 repository (directory) cloned from Github, then type:

git pull
python setup.py develop

Package dependencies

f311 package dependencies are listed below. This list is provided only for reference, as most of these packages should be automatically installed during the installation process (except for pyqt).

  • numpy

  • scipy

  • matplotlib

  • astropy

  • configobj

  • bs4

  • lxml

  • robobrowser

  • requests

  • tabulate

  • rows

  • pyqt

  • a99

Troubleshooting installation

This section shows some possible errors and their solutions.

PtQt5

If you have PyQt5-related errors such as the following:

ImportError: [...]/QtGui.abi3.so: undefined symbol: _ZdaPvm, version Qt_5

be sure to follow the above instructions to install PyQt5.

MatPlotLib and PyQt5

ValueError: Unrecognized backend string "qt5agg": valid strings are ['GTKAgg', 'template', 'pdf',
'GTK3Agg', 'cairo', 'TkAgg', 'pgf', 'MacOSX', 'GTK', 'WX', 'GTKCairo', 'Qt4Agg', 'svg', 'agg',
'ps', 'emf', 'WebAgg', 'gdk', 'WXAgg', 'CocoaAgg', 'GTK3Cairo']

Solution: upgrade Matplotlib to version 1.4 or later

Problems with package bs4

bs4.FeatureNotFound: Couldn't find a tree builder with the features you requested: lxml. Do you need to install a parser library?

Solution: install package “lxml”:

pip install lxml

Other problems

If you have other installation problems or have a suggestion, please open an issue at the project site on GitHub.