Believe it or not, we are almost done with our plugin. From the command line, we can use this setup.py file to create a distribution:
| | $ cd /path/to/code/ch5/pytest-nice |
| | $ python setup.py sdist |
| | running sdist |
| | running egg_info |
| | creating pytest_nice.egg-info |
| | ... |
| | running check |
| | creating pytest-nice-0.1.0 |
| | ... |
| | creating dist |
| | Creating tar archive |
| | ... |
| | $ ls dist |
| | pytest-nice-0.1.0.tar.gz |
(Note that sdist stands for “source distribution.”)
Within pytest-nice, a dist directory contains a new file called pytest-nice-0.1.0.tar.gz. This file can now be used anywhere to install our plugin, even in place:
| | $ pip install dist/pytest-nice-0.1.0.tar.gz |
| | Processing ./dist/pytest-nice-0.1.0.tar.gz |
| | ... |
| | Installing collected packages: pytest-nice |
| | Successfully installed pytest-nice-0.1.0 |
However, you can put your .tar.gz files anywhere you’ll be able to get at them to use and share.
pip already supports installing packages from shared directories, so all we have to do to distribute our plugin through a shared directory is pick a location we can remember and put the .tar.gz files for our plugins there. Let’s say we put pytest-nice-0.1.0.tar.gz into a directory called myplugins.
To install pytest-nice from myplugins:
| | $ pip install --no-index --find-links myplugins pytest-nice |
The --no-index tells pip to not go out to PyPI to look for what you want to install. The --find-links myplugins tells PyPI to look in myplugins for packages to install. And of course, pytest-nice is what we want to install.
If you’ve done some bug fixes and there are newer versions in myplugins, you can upgrade by adding --upgrade:
| | $ pip install --upgrade --no-index --find-links myplugins pytest-nice |
This is just like any other use of pip, but with the --no-index --find-links myplugins added.
If you want to share your plugin with the world, there are a few more steps we need to do. Actually, there are quite a few more steps. However, because this book isn’t focused on contributing to open source, I recommend checking out the thorough instruction found in the Python Packaging User Guide.[16]
When you are contributing a pytest plugin, another great place to start is by using the cookiecutter-pytest-plugin[17]:
| | $ pip install cookiecutter |
| | $ cookiecutter https://github.com/pytest-dev/cookiecutter-pytest-plugin |
This project first asks you some questions about your plugin. Then it creates a good directory for you to explore and fill in with your code. Walking through this is beyond the scope of this book; however, please keep this project in mind. It is supported by core pytest folks, and they will make sure this project stays up to date.