Win32.md

How to build nixpy on Windows

The following guide shows build options for both, 32- and 64-bit. They are marked with 3️⃣2️⃣ and 6️⃣4️⃣ in the text.

Dependencies

1. Required prior to python build

   • Navigate to the instructions for building nix on windows and follow the steps there to set up all necessary win build tools.

2. Nix for windows

   • Install nix for windows in C:\opt\nix using the installer provided on github (https://github.com/G-Node/nix/releases), get the correct version (:three::two: or :six::four:)
   • Make sure C:\opt\nix\bin is added to the windows PATH

3. Python2.7

   • Obtain python2.7.8 64-bit for windows, get the correct version (:three::two: or :six::four:)
   • Make sure python is added to the windows PATH, e.g. C:\Python27

4. NumPy:

   • 3️⃣2️⃣ Get the 32-bit version of numpy from: http://sourceforge.net/projects/numpy/files/NumPy/
   • 6️⃣4️⃣ Get the 64-bit version of numpy from: http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/#numpy

5. Pip:

   • Obtain "pip" for python2.7 (https://pip.pypa.io/en/latest/installing.html), get the correct version (:three::two: or :six::four:)
   • Make sure pip is added to the windows PATH, e.g. C:\Python27\Scripts

6. Boost:
   Again, if you have not yet done so, head over to the instructions for building nix on windows to see how to build boost. Additionally we have to do the following:

   • We need to rebuild boost with extended options compared to the nix build. Rebuild boost with:
     3️⃣2️⃣

    > .\b2 install -j4 -a --prefix=C:\opt\boost toolset=msvc architecture=x86 address-model=32 threading=multi variant=release link=static runtime-link=shared --with-python
   ```<br>
   

6️⃣4️⃣ > .\b2 install -j4 -a --prefix=C:\opt\boost toolset=msvc architecture=x86 address-model=64 threading=multi variant=release link=static runtime-link=shared --with-python
7. Environment variables:
Set the following environment variables using set VAR=value or setx VAR "value" /m to make them permanent. For the latter you will need to start a cmd window with admin rights. (right click the cmd icon and run as admin) Check if an environmental variable is set using echo %VAR%. If a variable should not seem to work try adding its' value to PATH too!

• BOOST_INCDIR = C:\opt\boost\include\boost-1_56 NOTE: insert your boost version for 1_56
• BOOST_LIBDIR = C:\opt\boost\lib
• NIX_LIBDIR = C:\opt\nix\lib
• NIX_INCDIR = C:\opt\nix\include
• VS90COMNTOOLS = <VSPATH>\Common7\Tools where <VSPATH> is the path where you installed visual studio. (e.g. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0")
• VS120COMNTOOLS = <VSPATH>\Common7\Tools where <VSPATH> is the path where you installed visual studio. (e.g. "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0")
• Make sure <VSPATH> is added to PATH too!

8. vcvarsall.bat:
   3️⃣2️⃣Execute once manually vcvarsall.bat x86 from the cmd line.
   6️⃣4️⃣Execute once manually vcvarsall.bat x86_amd64 from the cmd line.

9. Build:
   NOTE: instead of steps 7. & 8. you can grab the code from 10. to set all vars. Make sure you are connected to the internet to allow missing packages to download. Now build via:

   python setup.py build
   python setup.py bdist --format=msi
   

   afterwards you should have an installer in "dist" and a "nix\core.pyd" file. NOTE: to make python build again delete the "core.pyd" file in "nix".

10. Troubleshooting:
    

• If the PATH seems to be wrong (e.g. python>>> import nix fails with missing DLL) be sure to restart the Command Prompt and restart Visual Studio before launching any Command Prompt from there
• If you get a python error from "msvc9compiler.py", "query_vcvarsall" saying "ValueError: [u'path']" this means that "vcvarsall.bat" is not being found. Check the environmental vars and execute vcvarsall.bat x86_amd64 manually.
• If you get linker errors either the "boost_python" lib or the "nix" lib are not being found. Check the environmental vars and check whether "nix.lib" is in <NIXPATH>\lib and whether "boost_python-vc120-mt-1_55.lib" (with your version numbers) is in <BOOSTPATH>\lib
• If you find steps 7. & 8. complicated grab this code, put it in a batch file and run it whenever you are about to build nixpy:

3️⃣2️⃣

set NIX_LIBDIR=C:\opt\nix\lib
set NIX_INCDIR=C:\opt\nix\include
set BOOST_LIBDIR=C:\opt\boost\lib
set BOOST_INCDIR=C:\opt\boost\include\boost-1_56
set VS90COMNTOOLS=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\Tools
set VS120COMNTOOLS=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\Tools
vcvarsall.bat x86

6️⃣4️⃣

set NIX_LIBDIR=C:\opt\nix\lib
set NIX_INCDIR=C:\opt\nix\include
set BOOST_LIBDIR=C:\opt\boost\lib
set BOOST_INCDIR=C:\opt\boost\include\boost-1_56
set VS90COMNTOOLS=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\Tools
set VS120COMNTOOLS=C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\Tools
vcvarsall.bat x86_amd64