[Numpy-discussion] building numpy/scipy

[Mike Landis]

Some of the install instructions are kind of ambiguous.

When a library name ends in .a or .dll, it's obvious what it is, but 
'library' is sometimes used generically without indicating whether 
you're talking about static or dynamic, e.g. how does numpy/scipy 
link to MKL?  Is it statically or dynamically linked?

It's not clear where things should go or how things are found.  After 
downloading numpy and putting numpy-1.2.1 into a directory named 
numpy-1.2.1 in python2.5/Lib/site-packages/ and running python 
setup.py install from the numpy-1.2.1 directory, you get a numpy 
directory in site-packages.  Later, the install instructions refer to 
the numpy directory generically.  Which numpy directory are you 
talking about?  Should the numpy-1.2.1 directory not be in 
site-packages in the first place?  Ditto for scipy.  E.g. are you 
referring to the site.cfg in the distribution directory (numpy-1.2.1) 
or the installed directory (numpy without version notation).  Maybe 
you should give names to these directories (e.g. distribution and 
install) and always refer to them with leading adjectives.

It should be possible to create a script that keeps track of all of 
these extra lib configuration steps, so installs won't be so involved 
and error prone.

I built ATLAS (they need better documentation of processor types and 
how to use what CPU-Z tells you) and I have MKL installed.  A quarter 
of my MKL evaluation days have already ticked away, and I've come to 
the disappointing realization that 30 days is probably not going to 
be enough to get the scipy/MKL install right.

What's compatible with what?  There is mention of MKL, ATLAS, LAPACK 
and CLAPACK (I also downloaded CLAPACK 3.1.1.1).  It seems like 
CLAPACK would be naturally compatible because python uses C-style 
matrix addressing, but does Python (or numpy) flip indexes around if 
you have LAPACK instead of CLAPACK, so it works anyway, if slower?

There is mention of ".numpy-site.cfg" in the user's home directory 
(which I created), but it didn't seem to have any effect on installing.

I created the following site.cfg in the numpy (install) directory:

[mkl]
include_dirs = D:\Programs\Intel\MKL\10.1.0.018\include
library_dirs = D:\Programs\Intel\MKL\10.1.0.018\ia32\lib
mkl_libs = mkl_ia32, mkl_c_dll, libguide40
lapack_libs = mkl_lapack

Do numpy AND scipy each need a site.cfg in their respective install 
directories?  If so, does one take precedence over the other?

When I run 'python setup.py install' from the numpy install directory, I get:

Warning: No configuration returned, assuming unavailable.
blas_opt_info:
blas_mkl_info:
   libraries mkl, vml, guide not found in d:\Programs\Python25\lib
   libraries mkl, vml, guide not found in C:\
   libraries mkl, vml, guide not found in d:\Programs\Python25\libs
   NOT AVAILABLE

atlas_blas_threads_info:
Setting PTATLAS=ATLAS
   libraries mkl, vml, guide not found in d:\Programs\Python25\lib
   libraries mkl, vml, guide not found in C:\
   libraries mkl, vml, guide not found in d:\Programs\Python25\libs
   NOT AVAILABLE

atlas_blas_info:
   libraries mkl, vml, guide not found in d:\Programs\Python25\lib
   libraries mkl, vml, guide not found in C:\
   libraries mkl, vml, guide not found in d:\Programs\Python25\libs
   NOT AVAILABLE

D:\Programs\Python25\lib\site-packages\numpy\disutils\system_info.py:1340: 
UserWarning:
     Atlas (http://math-atlas.sourceforgr.net/) libraries not found
     Directories to search for the libraries can be specified in the 
numpy/disutils/site.cfg file (section [atlas]) or by setting the 
ATLAS environment variable.
   warnings.warn(AtlasNotFoundError.__doc__)
blas_info:
   libraries blas not found in d:\Programs\Python25\lib
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Where is it looking for blas_opt_info, blas_mkl_info, 
atlas_blas_threads_info, and atlas_blas_info?  Is it actually looking 
on sourceforge for Atlas?  FYI, when I try using make in 
...MKL/10.1.0.018/examples/cblas, I get a "missing separator" error 
on the "!INCLUDE cblas.lst" line (first significant line in the 
file).  There are no spaces on this line.  Could cygwin make be 
complaining about something inside the cblas.lst file, or is 
complaining about the line not being terminated the way it expects it 
to be (I see carriage return, line feed pairs in the file).

HELP!!!!