Installing ipython with readline on the mac
Solution 1
You can install everything you need with essentially one command using MacPorts. First download and install MacPorts from http://www.macports.org/.
Then just do the following in the terminal:
1) sudo port -v selfupdate
2) sudo port -v install py26-ipython
That will install python2.6, ipython for python 2.6 and readline for you. The command to start ipython will be located at /opt/local/bin/ipython2.6
Solution 2
To install ipython on Snow Leopard or Lion without using MacPorts, you can simply do:
sudo easy_install readline ipython
(Note that if you use the "pip" to install readline, then ipython won't see the readline library, not sure why).
Edit:
If you had ipython installed remove it with
sudo pip uninstall ipython
or
pip uninstall ipython #for virtualenvs
Then make sure you have installed readline first and reinstall iptyhon
pip install readline ipython
For some reasons, if readline wasn't present during the installation, it will install itself without support for readline or it use the default mac readline.
Solution 3
this worked for me (I'm using python 2.7, for other versions you'll need to edit):
cd /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/lib-dynload
sudo mv readline.so readline.so.bak
install readline however you want (pip, homebrew, macports, etc)
pip install -U readline
Success! and it works with virtualenv, and virtualenvwrapper, and no need to modify ipython :)
Solution 4
The only working way on MacOS Mavericks is to:
- switch to your virtualenv
workon myproject_name
- delete readline and ipython (if you installed it before)
pip uninstall readline ipython
- install readline only via easy_install (pip - no work!)
easy_install readline
- finally install ipython with pip
pip install ipython
It's work well on my MacOS and tested a long time.
Solution 5
An alternative if you don't want to use ports. Caution: This is not upgrade safe.
Install ipython
and readline
as normal:
sudo easy_install -f http://ipython.scipy.org/dist/ readline ipython
Find the full path to your readline
egg. For python 2.6 this will probably be:
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.6/lib/python2.6/site-packages/readline-2.5.1-py2.6-macosx-10.3-fat.egg
Edit ipython
with your favourite text editor:
vim `which ipython`
Before the final line in the file sys.exit
, insert:
sys.path.insert(0,'PATH_TO_READLINE_EGG')
Save and exit (:wq
).
Check readline is working correct:
ipython
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Admin
Updated on April 17, 2022Comments
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Admin about 2 years
I am using ipython on Mac OS 10.5 with python 2.5.1 (I would actually like to use ipython for 2.6.1, but it doesn't seem to be available?)
I installed ipython via easy_install. It works but is missing gnu readline (needed for nice searching of command line history with ctrl-R, etc.)
I found a blog post and other sources saying this could be fixed by
sudo easy_install -f http://ipython.scipy.org/dist/ readline
However, this leads to build errors in
readline.c
, particularly undeclared functions likerl_compentry_func_t
andrl_catch_signals
.Has anyone seen these errors? Is there another way to get ipython installed with readline?
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Carlton Gibson almost 14 yearsThere's a discussion on the virtualenv group about the pip problem. (Summary: pip doesn't place its readline in front of the incompatible pre-installed version in sys.path) groups.google.com/group/python-virtualenv/browse_thread/thread/…
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Drake almost 13 yearsI don't use MacPorts (I prefer homebrew), and this was the solution that worked for me.
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Jacob Oscarson about 12 yearsThanks! Based on this I was able to mend my self-installed but readline-broken Py 2.7 on Snow Leopard.
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Benson about 12 yearsSadly, as macports has fallen out of favor, I don't think this is the ideal solution any longer. Most folks seem to prefer homebrew these days.
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zengr about 12 yearsWorked for me too, simplest way.
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hohonuuli about 12 yearsYeah, I agree. In my defense, there was no homebrew when I answered the question.
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Benson about 12 yearsAgreed. It was a great answer, I just thought I'd mention it for folks who stumble on this via google.
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Loïc Faure-Lacroix almost 12 yearsIt does work now, if ipython is already installed it won't work. You can add that you need to uninstall ipython. Ipython probably compile without readline or with the mac readline
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Lorin Hochstein almost 12 years@LoïcFaure-Lacroix Please feel free to edit my answer accordingly.
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Andy Baker over 10 yearsThe sudo mv step is the only thing that fixed the problem for me on Mavericks. After that I did pip uninstall for both followed by 'pip install readline ipython' inside my virtualenv.
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smholloway about 9 yearsThis is the simplest solution I've found on Yosemite. Thanks!