Using distutils in Windows XP / "Python in a Nutshell"

[Alex Martelli]

Blair LeGent <blergent at ftml.net> wrote:

> Following the directions in "Python in a Nutshell" (an excellent book),

Thanks!

> I entered the C code for "helloworld.c", saved it as a file, and entered
> this script and saved it as setup.py:
> 
> from distutils.core import setup, Extension
> setup(name='helloworld', ext_modules= [ 
> Extension('helloworld',sources=['helloworld.c'])])
> 
> Then, following directions, I type "python setup.py install" from a C:\>
> prompt.  I get these messages:
> 
> running install
> running build
> running build_ext
> error: The .NET Framework SDK needs to be installed before building 
> extensions for Python.
> 
> ...but the .NET Framework IS installed; the latest version, in fact, SDK
> v2.0, part of the Visual Studio 2005 beta I've got.  From poking around
> the Internet it looks like I'm supposed to (a) monkey with my registry,
> (b) install an OLD version of the SDK, (c) screw around with distutils
> source code, or (d) switch to Linux.  Nowhere do I find a clear solution
> to my problem, though.  Can anyone help?  Should we submit an errata to
> O'Reilly?

No need: the second edition (forthcoming!) does explain that the
compiler you need to build Python extensions (for 2.4 and 2.4) is VS
2003.  I don't belabor on the hows and whys of VS2005 not being
supported -- I'm not into Windows (over the last few years) to grok them
fully.  <http://www.vrplumber.com/programming/mstoolkit/> explains one
way to avoid shelling out $$$ to MS while still being able to build
Python extensions -- and just today I asked on this very group about
where to find VS 20003 Toolkit (it's not at its original location
indicated at the above URL, any more!) and was promptly answere with a
URL that worked just fine.


Alex