pae is a Bash shell function that creates, lists, activates, removes and
executes commands in Python virtual environments created by pactivate.
This functionality is similar to that of virtualenvwrapper and pipx;
see "Comparison of pae vs. pipx".
No files need be installed beyond making pae accessible somewhere. To
enable the function, source the pae file, with source ./pae or . ./pae
(replacing ./pae with the path to wherever it happens to live on your
system). This is usually added to your ~/.bashrc.
It's not necessary to have pactivate anywhere on your system; the first
time it's used, pae will download it. To update to the latest version of
pactivate, use pae -U.
pae -h will give brief usage information.
The most common use of pae is to set up separate environments for Python
applications and/or development (including with different versions of
Python). For example, to run grip (a GitHub-format Markdown preview
server), start by creating a new virtual environment:
$ pae -c grip
----- Installing bootstrap pip (ver=latest)
pip 23.2.1 from /home/cjs/.pyvirtenv/grip/.build/bootstrap/pactivate/pip \
(python 3.9)
----- Installing bootstrap virtualenv
----- Building virtualenv
Using python3
Version: Python 3.9.2
(grip) $
The virtual environment is now created and activated, and you can install whatever you like without worrying about interference (including version conflicts) with the system or user libraries you've installed:
(grip) $ pip install grip
Collecting grip
Downloading grip-4.6.1-py3-none-any.whl (138 kB)
...
Successfully installed Flask-2.3.3 Jinja2-3.1.2 Markdown-3.4.4 \
MarkupSafe-2.1.3 Pygments-2.16.1 Werkzeug-2.3.7 blinker-1.6.2 \
certifi-2023.7.22 charset-normalizer-3.2.0 click-8.1.7 docopt-0.6.2 \
grip-4.6.1 idna-3.4 importlib-metadata-6.8.0 itsdangerous-2.1.2 \
path-and-address-2.0.1 requests-2.31.0 urllib3-2.0.4 zipp-3.16.2
(grip) $
Now, with the environment still activated, you could run it just by typing
grip. But usually the environment will not be activated, so for the
demonstration here we deactivate it:
(grip) $ pae -d
$
When the environment is not activated (as is usually the case), you can run
any command in an environment with pae NAME COMMAND. In this case the
environment and command name are the same, so we need give only one name.
(Note that after the command is done, the original environment is still in
place, not the activated virtual environment for that command.)
$ pae grip --version
Grip 4.6.1
$
The environments in the standard location may be listed and removed:
$ pae -l
grip
$ pae --rm grip
$ pae -l
$
The --rm option is careful not to remove anything it did not install:
$ pae -c tmp0
----- Installing bootstrap pip (ver=latest)
...
(tmp0) $ pae -d
$ echo 'my own stuff' >~/.pyvirtenv/tmp0/myfile
$ tree -a -L 2 ~/.pyvirtenv/tmp0
/home/cjs/.pyvirtenv/tmp0
├── .build
│ ├── bootstrap
│ └── virtualenv
├── README
└── myfile
3 directories, 2 files
$ pae --rm tmp0
rmdir: failed to remove '/home/cjs/.pyvirtenv/tmp0': Directory not empty
Warning: non-pae files not removed.
$ tree -f -a -L 2 ~/.pyvirtenv/tmp0
/home/cjs/.pyvirtenv/tmp0
└── /home/cjs/.pyvirtenv/tmp0/myfile
0 directories, 1 file
$
If the name includes a / (or is just . alone), that specific path will
be used instead of the user-global location for virtualenvs:
$ pae -c ~/tmp/paetest0
----- Installing bootstrap pip (ver=latest)
...
(paetest0) $ tree -a -L 2 ~/tmp/paetest0
/home/cjs/tmp/paetest0
├── .build
│ ├── bootstrap
│ └── virtualenv
└── README
3 directories, 1 file
(paetest0) $
This can be convenient in projects that use pactivate for their
build/test systems:
$ git clone https:/0cjs/bastok.git
$ cd bastok
$ ./Test
...
$ pytest --version
bash: pytest: command not found
$ pae . pytest --version
This is pytest version 5.4.3, imported from /home/cjs/co/public/gh/0cjs/bastok/.build/virtualenv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pytest/__init__.py
$
pae has a standard location for virtualenvs that are given just name,
not a specific path. See pae -h for details.
XXX write me
XXX write me
pae uses $PAE_HOME/pactivate to create and activate virtual
environments. If not present, the latest version is downloaded from
github.com. You can update that version with pae -U:
c$ pae -U
----- Downloading pactivate
Current version: # pactivate version 0.3.5
Updated version: # pactivate version 0.3.5