[Pythonmac-SIG] Compiling matplotlib on OS-X without Fink

Wed Feb 2 01:06:16 CET 2005

Chris,

An alternative way to get freetype, libpng and zlib for OS X is to use  
the  the  i-Installer (http://ii2.sourceforge.net/) distribution  
application.  It is primarily for TeX on OS X, but it provides several  
other useful binaries for OS X.

Larry

On Feb 1, 2005, at 3:50 PM, Chris Barker wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I just got matplotlib working on my box, so I thought I'd post this,  
> so that it will be in the archives, and because I'd like others to try  
> it and let me know if it doesn't work for you.
>
>
> One question for the knowledgeable folks here:
>
> I have /usr/include/zlib.h on my system, but I have no idea where I  
> got it. I do know that it isn't on other systems in my office without  
> the dev tools. Did it come with the dev tools, or something else I  
> installed?
>
> Anyway, here's what worked for me:
>
> Installing matplotlib on OS-X (10.3.7)
>
> Here are my notes as to what it took to get matplotlib (0.71)  
> installed and working on OS-X. I have so far kept a fink-free system,  
> so that's what I've done here as well. I use it with the AGG back end  
> for generating images for a web site, and hopefully with the wx  
> backend for interactive use and embedding in wx Applications.
>
> 1) Requirements:
> -------------------------------------------
> According to the matplotlib install docs  
> (http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/installing.html), you need the  
> following:
>
> freetype (>= 2.1.7)
> libpng
> zlib
>
> Personally, I've been avoiding Fink, as it doesn't seem to play well  
> with the rest of OS-X, including the Apple supplied Python, so I've  
> looked elsewhere for these libs.
>
> a) Freetype:
> I seem to have it in:
>
> /usr/X11R6/include/freetype2
>
> I don't think I installed it myself, so it probably came with Apple's  
> X11, Which I did install.
>
> However, I seemed to be having problems with that version, so I  
> looked, and it seems to be:
>
> libfreetype.6.3.dylib
>
> Given that freetype2 is currently at version 2.1.9, I have no idea  
> what to make of that! So off to sourceforge to get a new freetype:
>
> http://freetype.sourceforge.net/index2.html
>
> where I got:
>
> freetype-2.1.9.tar.gz
>
> Following the instructions in docs/INSTALL.UNX:
>
> $ ./configure
> $ make
> $ sudo make install
>
> That puts it in /usr/local/..., which is a good place for it.
>
> b) zlib:
> I have:
> /usr/include/zlib.h
>
> I don't know where I might have gotten it, but there it is.
>
> NOTE: I checked on another system in my office, and it doesn't have  
> zlib. It also doesn't have any developer tools installed, so you  
> couldn't build anything on it anyway. If zlib comes with XCode tools,  
> anyone who can build should have it. It also may have come with some  
> other package I've installed, but I have no idea what. Let me know if  
> you know.
>
> c) libpng:
> This, I didn't have on my system, except inside the wxWidgets source  
> tree, so I went looking for it.
>
> Note that you need zlib to compile libpng, so make sure you have that  
> first.
>
> I did a google search for "libpng OS-X". I found:
>
> http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/pngcode.html
>
> Which led me to the libpng sourceforge site.
>
> From there I downloaded:
>
> libpng-1.2.8.tar.gz
>
> unpacked it, and opened a terminal in the libpng-1.2.8 directory, and  
> did:
>
> $ cp scripts/makefile.darwin ./makefile
>
> (note that according to the INSTALL, there is supposed to be a  
> makefile.macosx, but it wasn't there)
>
> I took a look in the makefile, and found:
>
> ZLIBLIB=/usr/local/lib
> ZLIBINC=/usr/local/include
>
> Which is not where zlib is on my system. However, while I can find  
> zlib.h, I couldn't fine the actual lib, so I tried make without  
> changing anything.
>
> $ make
>
> Which seemed to work fine. zlib must be installed in a standard  
> location, and gcc  found it.
>
> $ sudo make install
>
> to install the lib into /usr/local/ (this was specified in the  
> makefile, and it's a good place for it)
>
> $ make test
> and
> $ ./pngtest pngnow.png
>
> Which both seemed to pass.
>
> d) Numeric or numarray:
>
> I already have Numeric installed, from Bob Ippolito's PIMP (MacPython  
> Package Manager) repostitory. (www.undefined.org/python)
>
> 2) Building matplotlib
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> First, I took a look at the matplotlib setup.py. It had "auto" for the  
> back-end flags, so I thought I would give it a try that way:
>
> $python setup.py build
>
> That worked!
> $ sudo python setup.py install
>
> 4) And now to test!
>
> $python
>
> >>> import pylab
> Could not open font file /Library/Fonts/NISC18030.ttf
> No module named pygtk
> PyGTK version 1.99.16 or greater is required to run the GTK Matplotlib  
> backends
>
> This turns out to be because the matlabrc file sets the GTKAgg back  
> end as the default. You have two choices.
>
> 1) you can set the back end before importing pylab.
> >>> import matplotlib
> >>> matplotlib.use('Agg')
> >>> import pylab
>
> This works fine
>
> 2) Edit the matplotlibrc file. I found it in:
> /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.3/share/ 
> matplotlib/.matplotlibrc
>
> Change the line:
> backend      : GTKAgg    # the default backend
> to
> backend      : Agg    # the default backend
>
> And you're all set to make images for the web, etc.
>
> I'm  going to leave getting it to work with wxPython for another day.
>
> -Chris
>
>
> -- 
> Christopher Barker, Ph.D.
> Oceanographer
>                                     		
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>
> Chris.Barker at noaa.gov
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
Larry Meyn
Aerospace Operations Modeling Office

M/S 210-10
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000

E-mail: Larry.A.Meyn at nasa.gov
Phone:  (650) 604-5038
Fax:    (650) 604-0222
E-Fax:  (425) 944-5526 sent via e-mail

Larry Meyn
Aerospace Operations Modeling Office

M/S 210-10
NASA Ames Research Center
Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000

E-mail: Larry.A.Meyn at nasa.gov
Phone:  (650) 604-5038
Fax:    (650) 604-0222
E-Fax:  (425) 944-5526 sent via e-mail 