how to clean sys.path

[siggi]

Hi all,

when I do >>>sys.path in IDLE (winXP), i get a horrendously long list of
paths, paths I may have used during a lot of trials and errors. How can I
clean up sys.path? I mean, trim it of unnecessary paths?

So far, I know only the command >>>sys.path.append(r'c:....etc...'), but how
to delete or insert at the beginning of the list, I know not.

Thanks,

siggi

[Laszlo Nagy]

>
So far, I know only the command >>>sys.path.append(r'c:....etc...'), but how
to delete or insert at the beginning of the list, I know not.

You can delete a slice. For example,

del sys.path[2:5]

More about slicing: http://docs.python.org/ref/slicings.html
sys.path is a regular list. List methods:
http://docs.python.org/tut/node7.html

Best,

Laszlo

[siggi]

Thank you Laszlo!

Take care,

siggi

"Laszlo Nagy" <ga*****@designaproduct.bizschrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:ma***************************************@pyt hon.org...

>

>>
So far, I know only the command >>>sys.path.append(r'c:....etc...'), but
how to delete or insert at the beginning of the list, I know not.

You can delete a slice. For example,

del sys.path[2:5]

More about slicing: http://docs.python.org/ref/slicings.html
sys.path is a regular list. List methods:
http://docs.python.org/tut/node7.html

Best,

Laszlo

[Tim Roberts]

"siggi" <sm***********@yahoo.comwrote:

>
when I do >>>sys.path in IDLE (winXP), i get a horrendously long list of
paths, paths I may have used during a lot of trials and errors. How can I
clean up sys.path? I mean, trim it of unnecessary paths?

What do mean by "used during a lot of trials and errors"? sys.path is
recreated from scratch every time Python starts. It doesn't accumulate
over time, other than from new packages that you install.
--
Tim Roberts, ti**@probo.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

[siggi]

"Tim Roberts" wrote:

>>
when I do >>>sys.path in IDLE (winXP), i get a horrendously long list of
paths, paths I may have used during a lot of trials and errors. How can I
clean up sys.path? I mean, trim it of unnecessary paths?

What do mean by "used during a lot of trials and errors"? sys.path is
recreated from scratch every time Python starts. It doesn't accumulate
over time, other than from new packages that you install.
--
Tim Roberts, ti**@probo.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

Sorry Tim, my statement was not correct, due to my inexperience with Python.
And sorry, too, for my somewhat lengthy reply:
After having had inspected my current sys.path...

['C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\My Python files',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\Lib\\idlelib',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\python25.zip',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\DLLs',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib\\plat-win',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib\\lib-tk',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25', 'C:\\Documents
and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My
Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages\\PIL', 'C:\\Documents and
Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages\\win32',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My
Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages\\win32\\lib', 'C:\\Documents and
Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages\\Pythonwin',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My
Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages\\wx-2.8-msw-ansi']

or in plain DOS:

C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\Lib\idlelib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\python25.zip
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\DLLs
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\plat-win
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\lib-tk
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\PIL
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32\lib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\Pythonwin
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\wx-2.8-msw-ansi

....it just looked horrible to me at first sight!

If I interpret your explanation correctly, all these paths are necessary,
and not relics of previous installations and deinstallations.

What puzzles me, though, is, that e.g., when I run the wxPython application
"AnalogClock.py" with IDLE or in the command line , this works only in the
directory "...\My Python files\wxDemos\" . This directory contains all files
and folders from the original "\wx-2.8-msw-ansi\demos\").

When I copy AnalogClock.py to ...\My Python Files\ , nothing happens after
running it with IDLE or in the command line.
Appending 'C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python
files\wxDemos ' to the sys.path does not help either.

Thinking that I am clever, I changed my sys.path with sclicing and
concatenation such that my sys.path starts with

'C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files', 'C:\Documents
and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files\wxDemos'. Now \wxDemos\ is
being searched very early.

.... no way! After running AnalogClock.py again, this error message appears:

------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\My Python
files\wxAnalogClock.py", line 14, in <module>
import wx
ImportError: No module named wx.
------------------------------------------

Very strange! Because all this wx stuff IS IN the directory 'C:\Documents
and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files\wxDemos'. And AnalogClock.py
does work when residing in that directory.

Can you help me again?

Thanks,

siggi

P.S. On another PC where the python program is in c:\programs\python25\,
same as above!

[Tim Roberts]

"siggi" <sm***********@yahoo.comwrote:

>
or in plain DOS:

C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\Lib\idlelib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\python25.zip
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\DLLs
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\plat-win
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\lib-tk
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\PIL
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32\lib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\Pythonwin
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\wx-2.8-msw-ansi

...it just looked horrible to me at first sight!

It looks horrible to me, too. That's why I install applications like that
in "\Apps" instead of a document off of Documents and setings. This looks
much better:

C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files
C:\Apps\Python25\Lib\idlelib
C:\Apps\Python25\python25.zip
C:\Apps\Python25\DLLs
C:\Apps\Python25\lib
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\plat-win
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\lib-tk
C:\Apps\Python25
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages\PIL
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32\lib
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages\Pythonwin
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages\wx-2.8-msw-ansi

Searching these doesn't really take very long. Remember that it doesn't
have to read all the files -- it only has to read the directories.

>'C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files', 'C:\Documents
and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files\wxDemos'. Now \wxDemos\ is
being searched very early.

... no way! After running AnalogClock.py again, this error message appears:

------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\My Python
files\wxAnalogClock.py", line 14, in <module>
import wx
ImportError: No module named wx.
------------------------------------------

Very strange! Because all this wx stuff IS IN the directory 'C:\Documents
and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files\wxDemos'. And AnalogClock.py
does work when residing in that directory.

wxDemos contains the demos. The "wx" module lives in
site-packages\wx-2.8-msw-ansi. Did you leave that in?
--
Tim Roberts, ti**@probo.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

[Siggi]

"Tim Roberts" wrote:

>wxDemos contains the demos. The "wx" module lives in
site-packages\wx-2.8-msw-ansi. Did you leave that in?

Yes! Even on this computer I am writing now with - where the whole Python
programs stuff is in a programs folder, such as

C:\Programs\Python25\Lib\site-packages\wx-2.8-msw-ansi

- it is the same problem!

"siggi" <sm***********@yahoo.comwrote:

>>
or in plain DOS:

C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\Lib\idlelib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\python25.zip
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\DLLs
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\plat-win
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\lib-tk
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\PIL
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32\lib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\Pythonwin
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\wx-2.8-msw-ansi

...it just looked horrible to me at first sight!

It looks horrible to me, too. That's why I install applications like that
in "\Apps" instead of a document off of Documents and setings. This looks
much better:

C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files
C:\Apps\Python25\Lib\idlelib
C:\Apps\Python25\python25.zip
C:\Apps\Python25\DLLs
C:\Apps\Python25\lib
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\plat-win
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\lib-tk
C:\Apps\Python25
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages\PIL
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32\lib
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages\Pythonwin
C:\Apps\Python25\lib\site-packages\wx-2.8-msw-ansi

Searching these doesn't really take very long. Remember that it doesn't
have to read all the files -- it only has to read the directories.

>>'C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files',
'C:\Documents
and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files\wxDemos'. Now \wxDemos\ is
being searched very early.

... no way! After running AnalogClock.py again, this error message
appears:

------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\My Python
files\wxAnalogClock.py", line 14, in <module>
import wx
ImportError: No module named wx.
------------------------------------------

Very strange! Because all this wx stuff IS IN the directory 'C:\Documents
and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files\wxDemos'. And
AnalogClock.py
does work when residing in that directory.

wxDemos contains the demos. The "wx" module lives in
site-packages\wx-2.8-msw-ansi. Did you leave that in?
--
Tim Roberts, ti**@probo.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

[siggi]

I included the "...\wxDemos" path in PYTHONPATH. Everthing fine now!

"siggi" <sm***********@yahoo.comschrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:eo***********@zam602.zam.kfa-juelich.de...

"Tim Roberts" wrote:

>>>
when I do >>>sys.path in IDLE (winXP), i get a horrendously long list of
paths, paths I may have used during a lot of trials and errors. How can I
clean up sys.path? I mean, trim it of unnecessary paths?

What do mean by "used during a lot of trials and errors"? sys.path is
recreated from scratch every time Python starts. It doesn't accumulate
over time, other than from new packages that you install.
--
Tim Roberts, ti**@probo.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

Sorry Tim, my statement was not correct, due to my inexperience with
Python.
And sorry, too, for my somewhat lengthy reply:
After having had inspected my current sys.path...

['C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\My Python files',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\Lib\\idlelib',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\python25.zip',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\DLLs',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib\\plat-win',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib\\lib-tk',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25', 'C:\\Documents
and Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My
Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages\\PIL', 'C:\\Documents and
Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages\\win32',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My
Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages\\win32\\lib', 'C:\\Documents and
Settings\\User\\My Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages\\Pythonwin',
'C:\\Documents and Settings\\User\\My
Documents\\Python25\\lib\\site-packages\\wx-2.8-msw-ansi']

or in plain DOS:

C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\Lib\idlelib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\python25.zip
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\DLLs
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\plat-win
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\lib-tk
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\PIL
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\win32\lib
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\Pythonwin
C:\Documents and Settings\User\My
Documents\Python25\lib\site-packages\wx-2.8-msw-ansi

...it just looked horrible to me at first sight!

If I interpret your explanation correctly, all these paths are necessary,
and not relics of previous installations and deinstallations.

What puzzles me, though, is, that e.g., when I run the wxPython
application
"AnalogClock.py" with IDLE or in the command line , this works only in the
directory "...\My Python files\wxDemos\" . This directory contains all
files
and folders from the original "\wx-2.8-msw-ansi\demos\").

When I copy AnalogClock.py to ...\My Python Files\ , nothing happens
after
running it with IDLE or in the command line.
Appending 'C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python
files\wxDemos ' to the sys.path does not help either.

Thinking that I am clever, I changed my sys.path with sclicing and
concatenation such that my sys.path starts with

'C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files',
'C:\Documents
and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files\wxDemos'. Now \wxDemos\ is
being searched very early.

... no way! After running AnalogClock.py again, this error message
appears:

------------------------------------------
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\My Python
files\wxAnalogClock.py", line 14, in <module>
import wx
ImportError: No module named wx.
------------------------------------------

Very strange! Because all this wx stuff IS IN the directory 'C:\Documents
and Settings\User\My Documents\My Python files\wxDemos'. And
AnalogClock.py
does work when residing in that directory.

Can you help me again?

Thanks,

siggi

P.S. On another PC where the python program is in c:\programs\python25\,
same as above!