Better method for installing Python dependencies

Scripting
1

I have been developing several Glyphs plugins that require external Python dependencies (examples include NumPy, Pillow, Mido). I understand from this topic that I can symlink or manually add the paths to the libraries. However, the above packages are not simply single folders that I can locate and copy. For example, Mido has other dependencies that I am not completely familiar with, so I wouldn’t know which libraries I would need; NumPy is compiled so it contains non-Python libraries which are scattered in different places.

I could install a custom version of Python, install pyobjc and these libraries and change the version in Preferences. However, I don’t think this is easy to follow for non-developers and any end-user.

All this is to say that I wish there could be a better way to install and manage packages for the Glyphs version of Python. The back-end of it should be relatively straightforward as Pip already does all the dependency management.

In the meantime, is there any way to install packages into Glyph’s version of Python?

2

You can install it into the ~/Library/Application Support/Glyphs 3/Scripts/site-packages.
you need to find a python 3.10, then you can run this:

/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/bin/pip3  install --target="/Users/YOUR USER NAME/Library/Application Support/Glyphs 3/Scripts/site-packages" numpy

You need to replace “YOUR USER NAME” with the name of your user folder.

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3

Hi thanks! I was wondering if there is an easier method to install packages - say, if I want a non-developer user to use my plugin. Could there be a simple GUI for pip?

4

I’ll think about it.

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5

you need to find a python 3.10, then you can run this:

The default Python in 3.2(3205) is 3.9.1

Here’s a cut-and-pastable that seems to have worked for me

python3.9 -m pip install --target="/Users/$USER/Library/Application Support/Glyphs 3/Scripts/site-packages" numpy
6

It’s already 3.11. To upgrade your Python, just uninstall and reinstall the module.

7

Thanks for this. Just to clarify:

  • You would need an additional copy of Python in order for @SimonC 's method to work. This copy has to be in the same version as Glyphs’s Python.
  • Glyphs’s Python module does not come with its own pip, hence we need to use pip from another copy of Python.
  • Once you uninstall and reinstall the Python module in Glyphs, all previously installed pip libraries would be gone and would need to be reinstalled.

Are these correct?

8

The first two points are true. The third is not. The mentioned folder is outside the Glyphs python module.

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