Simple Windows Installation
These instructions are for the Windows XP and Windows 2000 platforms. Please see the more general the Installation Guide 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
We recommend the use of either Enthought Python 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
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.
PyVTK
http://www.ctcms.nist.gov/fipy/download/
If you wish to use MayaVi 1, PyVTK is a requirement. Download and install the latest version from the FiPy downloads page (PyVTK-x.y.z.win32.exe).
MayaVi
MayaVi 1 is a requirement if you wish to view 3D problems or improve the viewing capabilities of the superfill examples. Download the source code and run python setup.py install to install from the python source in order for import mayavi to work at the command line.
Warning
At the time of writing the import mayavi command is not working with the python(x,y) version of python.
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