Simple Windows Installation

These instructions are for the Windows XP and Windows 2000 platforms. Please see the more general Installation for detailed installation instructions. These instructions are not the only way to set up FiPy on a Windows OS but represent the most expedient way from our experience to have a usable installation up and running.

Required Packages

Python

http://www.pythonxy.com

http://www.enthought.com

We recommend the use of either Enthought Python Distribution or Python(x,y). These versions of Python have some of the prerequisite packages for FiPy already included. Download and install the latest version.

PySparse

http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=101403

Download and install the latest version of PySparse for Windows (pysparse-x.y.z.win32-py2.X.exe). Be sure to select the version compiled with the correct version of Python to match the Python installation.

FiPy

http://www.ctcms.nist.gov/fipy/download/

Download and unpack the zip file (FiPy-x.y.win32.zip). Run the FiPy installer FiPy-x.y.win32.exe, which is in the base FiPy-x.y directory.

Optional Packages

Gmsh

http://www.geuz.org/gmsh

If you wish to run examples that have unstructured meshes, it is necessary to install Gmsh. Download and unpack the latest version of Gmsh for Windows. Open the unpacked folder with a browser and make sure that gmsh.exe is placed somewhere on the execution path.

Mayavi

http://code.enthought.com/projects/mayavi/

Mayavi is a requirement if you wish to view 3D problems or improve the viewing capabilities of the superfill examples. Either Enthought Python Distribution or Python(x,y) is advised.

Using FiPy on Windows

A number of interactive python environments are available such as the IDLE and IPython environments. The following videos may be useful for explaining the use of IPython on Windows:

http://showmedo.com/videos/series?name=PythonIPythonSeries

Testing

If you have a working copy of the source, not an installed version of FiPy, you can run the tests using IPython from the base FiPy directory, by typing

>>> run setup.py test

in the IPython shell.

Running Examples

To run the FiPy examples in IPython simply use the run command:

>>> run examples/diffusion/mesh20x20.py