Python¶
You will need Python in order to use any Rattail software on Windows.
You can get it from: https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/
The notes below should help you decide which version to install etc.
Which Version?¶
In general you are encouraged to use the “latest stable” version of Python unless you have a reason to be more conservative.
As of this writing Python 3.10 is the “latest” but has not yet been tested in production, so it is suggested to use 3.9 instead, since that has been tested. That is the situation “today” (Oct 2021) and eventually should change.
Any other Python-based packages you may need to install, must of course be compatible with the version of Python you have. This includes Rattail itself (see Rattail) but also e.g. the pywin32 library (see Python for Windows Extensions) and perhaps wxPython. You may want to gather your download links ahead of time to be sure they all are for the same Python version.
Note that in general, e.g. if you only need the Rattail File Monitor, then you will not likely need to “upgrade” Python anytime soon. If you install 3.9 for instance then it should continue to work fine for the forseeable future.
32 bit vs. 64 bit¶
In some cases, your Rattail app(s) may need to load and invoke code from various compiled libraries. The most common scenario is that the app needs to read data from an ODBC connection which uses a binary driver.
Sometimes these libraries are only available in a 32 bit version. If this is the case for you then you must install 32 bit Python, even on a 64 bit machine.
Again you may want to gather all download links ahead of time to be sure everything matches, for both Python version and “bitness”.
Note
The above statements “used to be true” but it’s been a while since I had my head in that game, and much may have changed.
In particular if you only need the Rattail File Monitor, and only need it to do standard tasks like moving files to a Linux server, then there should be no binary libraries involved and you will be fine to use 64bit Python.
Installation¶
Download the appropriate installer from https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/
Right-click the installer file and choose “Run as administrator” to launch it.
If you are wanting to use the Rattail File Monitor then you should install Python “for all users” - this requires that you “customize” the installation. In other words don’t just click “Install Now” but instead click “Customize” and then select the option to install for all users.
You should also see an option to “Add Python to your PATH variable” - it is recommended that you choose this unless you have a reason not to.
Sanity Check¶
Once the installation completes, you should open a new console
(cmd.exe) and confirm that python.exe is usable:
C:\>python --version
Python 3.9.7
If that doesn’t work then it is probably due to one of 2 things:
If your console window was already open during the install, please close it and re-open, then it should work.
Or, if still no good, then you probably did not add Python to your PATH variable during the install. You can of course re-install, but you can also manually add it to PATH if you prefer.
If you want to manually add Python to PATH then see e.g. this article for instructions. You will need to add 2 folders to the variable, paths of which may vary per your install. If you installed “for all users” as described above then the folders are probably something like:
C:\Program Files\Python39C:\Program Files\Python39\Scripts
If PATH looks good and you re-opened your console, and things still do not work, then please file a bug report at https://redmine.rattailproject.org/