Creating a Distribution
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.
Distributing Plugins Through a Shared Directory
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.
Distributing Plugins Through PyPI
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.