Pyrex installation on windows XP: step-by-step guide

[Julien Fiore]

Do you wand to install Pyrex on Windows ?

Here is a step-by-step guide explaining:

	A) how to install Pyrex on Windows XP.
	B) how to compile a Pyrex module.

Julien Fiore,
U. of Geneva

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### A) Pyrex installation on Windows XP ###


# step A.1 #
Install Python (we used version 2.4.2)


# step A.2 #
Run the windows installer for Pyrex (e.g. Pyrex-0.9.3.1.win32.exe),
available on the Pyrex homepage
(http://www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/~greg/python/Pyrex/)


# step A.3 #
Install Mingw, the gcc compiler for Windows, available at
http://www.mingw.org/download.shtml. (we downloaded the file
MinGW-5.0.2.exe and installed only the "base tool" (this includes
mingw-runtime 3.9, w32api-3.6, binutils 2.15.91 and gcc-core 3.4.2).
Add Mingw path ("C:\MinGW\bin") to the Windows "Path" environment
variable. If you already have cygwin installed, add C:\MinGW\bin before
the Cygwin path.


# step A.4 #
Create or edit the file "c:/Python2x/Lib/distutils/distutils.cfg" and
put the following into it:
[build]
compiler = mingw32

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### B) Create a Pyrex module ###


# step B.1 #
Create a working directory (e.g. D:\pyrex_module\). Write a pyrex
module and save it with a "pyx" extension (e.g. "primes.pyx", code
available on the Pyrex homepage)


# step B.2 #
Write the following python script and save it as "setup.py" in your
working directory.

from distutils.core import setup
from distutils.extension import Extension
from Pyrex.Distutils import build_ext
setup(
  name = "PyrexGuide",
  ext_modules=[
    Extension("primes", ["primes.pyx"])
    ],
  cmdclass = {'build_ext': build_ext}
)

If you want to compile several modules, duplicate the line starting
with "Extension" and replace "primes" by your module names.


# step B.3 #
In your working directory, create a batch file called
"build_and_install.bat" containing the following lines, where
"PythonXX" should be replaces by your Python version (e.g. "Python24").

C:\Python24\python.exe setup.py build_ext install
pause

To run the batch, double-click the file. You will see many "Warning"
messages during the building process: do not worry, it is normal.


# step B.4 #
Mission completed. The file "primes.pyd" (a "pyd" is a Python Extension
DLL, equivalent of .so in Unix) is now located in
"C:\Python24\Lib\site-packages" and the "primes" module is available in
Python. In your working directory, you can delete the file "primes.c"
and the "build" folder created by the building process.

Test your new module at the python shell:

>>> import primes
>>> primes.primes(10)
[2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29]

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