Getting started with PyCaosDB

Installation

Requirements

PyCaosDB needs at least Python 3.8. Additionally, the following packages are required (they will typically be installed automatically):

lxml
PyYaml
PySocks

Optional packages:

keyring
jsonschema

How to install

Linux

Make sure that Python (at least version 3.8) and pip is installed, using your system tools and documentation.

Then open a terminal and continue in the Generic installation section.

Windows

If a Python distribution is not yet installed, we recommend Anaconda Python, which you can download for free from https://www.anaconda.com. The “Anaconda Individual Edition” provides most of all packages you will ever need out of the box. If you prefer, you may also install the leaner “Miniconda” installer, which allows you to install packages as you need them.

After installation, open an Anaconda prompt from the Windows menu and continue in the Generic installation section.

MacOS

If there is no Python 3 installed yet, there are two main ways to obtain it: Either get the binary package from python.org or, for advanced users, install via Homebrew. After installation from python.org, it is recommended to also update the TLS certificates for Python (this requires administrator rights for your user):

# Replace this with your Python version number:
cd /Applications/Python\ 3.9/

# This needs administrator rights:
sudo ./Install\ Certificates.command

After these steps, you may continue with the Generic installation.

Generic installation

To install PyCaosDB locally, use pip3 (also called pip on some systems):

pip3 install --user caosdb

Alternatively, obtain the sources from GitLab and install from there (git must be installed for this option):

git clone https://gitlab.com/caosdb/caosdb-pylib
cd caosdb-pylib
pip3 install --user .

For installation of optional packages, install with an additional option, e.g. for validating with the caosdb json schema:

pip3 install --user .[jsonschema]

Configuration

The configuration is done using ini configuration files. The content of these configuration files is described in detail in the configuration section of the documentation.

Try it out

Start Python and check whether the you can access the database. (You will be asked for the password):

In [1]: import caosdb as db
In [2]: db.Info()
Please enter the password:  # It's `caosdb` for the demo server.
Out[2]: Connection to CaosDB with 501 Records.

Note: This setup will ask you for your password whenever a new connection is created. If you do not like this, check out the “Authentication” section in the configuration documentation.

Now would be a good time to continue with the tutorials.

Run Unit Tests

Run all tests: tox or make unittest
Run a specific test file: e.g. tox -- unittests/test_schema.py
Run a specific test function: e.g. tox -- unittests/test_schema.py::test_config_files

Documentation

We use sphinx to create the documentation. Docstrings in the code should comply with the Googly style (see link below).

Build documentation in build/ with make doc.

Requirements

sphinx
sphinx-autoapi
recommonmark
sphinx_rtd_theme

How to contribute

Troubleshooting

If the client is to be executed directly from the /src folder, an initial .\setup.py install --user must be called.

Migration

TODO