Pip From REPL

UPDATE: This module is unnecessary. I now recommend using the one-liner import pip; pip.main(['install', 'module_name_here']) module to install modules from the interactive shell rather than pipfromrepl. This code is easier to remember and works on Python versions 2.7 and 3.5+. The only downside is that it doesn't work on Python 3.4, in which case, use the instructions below. Here in 2023, however, the number of students working from 3.4 is near nonexistent so this is unlikely to be an issue.

Pipfromrepl runs pip to install packages from the Python interactive shell aka REPL.

If you are leading a programming workshop and want to avoid headaches of running pip from students' machines (with all their possible environment configurations), pipfromrepl provides a single set of instructions to quickly get packages correctly installed.

The benefit of pipfromrepl is that the user doesn't need to know how to navigate the command-line or have their PATH environment variables set up. If multiple versions of Python are installed, pipfromrepl uses the pip module associated with the currently running interactive shell. The goal of pipfromrepl is to reduce the number of steps that students and beginners need to take to get Python packages installed on their computer.

Pipfromrepl is meant to assist students and instructors. It's probably a good idea to not rely on it in production environments.

Installation

To install pipfromrepl from the REPL, copy and paste the following into the REPL:

import subprocess, sys; subprocess.run([sys.executable, '-m', 'pip', 'install', 'pipfromrepl'])

Pipfromrepl works on Python 2.7 and Python 3.4+. Linux users may need to install pip separately by running sudo apt-get install python3-pip from a Terminal.

Quickstart Guide

After installing pipfromrepl, run import pipfromrepl:

>>> import pipfromrepl

Call pipfromrepl.install() to install a package from PyPI:

>>> pipfromrepl.install('pymsgbox')
Collecting pymsgbox
  Using cached PyMsgBox-1.0.9-py3-none-any.whl
Installing collected packages: pymsgbox
Successfully installed pymsgbox-1.0.9

Call pipfromrepl.list() to list the installed packages:

>>> pipfromrepl.list()
Package     Version Editable project location
----------- ------- -------------------------
pip         22.3.1
pipfromrepl 0.1.0   C:\github\pipfromrepl
PyMsgBox    1.0.9
setuptools  65.5.1
wheel       0.37.1

Call pipfromrepl.uninstall() to uninstall a package:

>>> pipfromrepl.uninstall('pymsgbox')
Found existing installation: PyMsgBox 1.0.9
Uninstalling PyMsgBox-1.0.9:
  Would remove:
    c:\users\al\.virtualenvs\pipfromrepl-fxbqt5ki\lib\site-packages\pymsgbox-1.0.9.dist-info\*
    c:\users\al\.virtualenvs\pipfromrepl-fxbqt5ki\lib\site-packages\pymsgbox\*
Proceed (Y/n)?   Successfully uninstalled PyMsgBox-1.0.9

Additional Details

The uninstall() function has a confirm keyword argument you can set to True to force the user to manually enter Y to proceed.

The user_install() function passes the '--user' argument to pip.

You can install a specific version just like pip: pipfromrepl.install('pymsgbox==1.0.9')

You can pass pip commands to pip directly with the pip() functions:

>>> import pipfromrepl

>>> pipfromrepl.pip('install pymsgbox')
Collecting pymsgbox
  Using cached PyMsgBox-1.0.9-py3-none-any.whl
Installing collected packages: pymsgbox
Successfully installed pymsgbox-1.0.9

>>> pipfromrepl.pip('list')
Package          Version    Editable project location
---------------- ---------- -------------------------
certifi          2022.9.24
distlib          0.3.6
filelock         3.8.0
pip              22.3.1
pipenv           2022.11.11
pipfromrepl      0.1.0      C:\github\pipfromrepl
platformdirs     2.5.4
PyMsgBox         1.0.9
setuptools       65.5.1
virtualenv       20.16.7
virtualenv-clone 0.5.7
wheel            0.37.1

>>> pipfromrepl.pip('uninstall pymsgbox')
Found existing installation: PyMsgBox 1.0.9
Uninstalling PyMsgBox-1.0.9:
  Would remove:
    c:\users\al\.virtualenvs\pipfromrepl-fxbqt5ki\lib\site-packages\pymsgbox-1.0.9.dist-info\*
    c:\users\al\.virtualenvs\pipfromrepl-fxbqt5ki\lib\site-packages\pymsgbox\*
Proceed (Y/n)? y
  Successfully uninstalled PyMsgBox-1.0.9