People who've had problems getting started with iFindStuff in the Alpha phase have one thing in common. They haven't got two well known python libraries installed that iFindStuff uses to manage web and compatibility features. So in order to use the Plugin you have to have these packages installed in python 2.6.
iFindStuff uses two external libraries which are present in python 2.7 but not in python 2.6. Because of this and the fact that indigo uses python 2.6 you may have to install these into the right place for iFindStuff to work. The following gives you step by step instructions for doing this. You must do this BEFORE you run iFindStuff
requests.py manages the http:// communications on the web
six.py provides compatibility functionality for iFindStuff and saves a lot of additional coding
In order to use iFindStuff the easiest option is to install these libraries as part of python 2.6 for use with indigo. Not many people are that happy using the Apple Terminal programme to complete installs but the process is fairly simple and will work almost without any intervention.
To install the request and six under the python 2.6 version we need to tell Terminal exactly where we want the package installed otherwise it will install requests and six under python 2.7 which is the default python version for most Mac systems.
Easy install is a standard programme on MAC OS that we can use to install python libraries. As of version 0.6a11, Easy_Install installs itself under two names: easy_install and easy_install-N.N, where N.N is the Python version used to install it. Thus, if you install EasyInstall for both Python 2.6 and 2.7, you can use the easy_install-2.6 or easy_install-2.7 scripts to install packages for Python 2.6 or 2.7, respectively.
So to prepare your system for iFindStuff you need to do the following:
Open a Terminal window by clicking on Terminal in the /Applications/Utilities directory
When the $ prompt appears you can start installing the packages you need with the following commands:
Type sudo easy_install-2.6 pip followed by return
When you enter this command you may be prompted for your system password. Type in your password and press return
Now you can install the packages in the following manner:
Type sudo easy_install-2.6 pip requests followed by return
Type sudo easy_install-2.6 pip six followed by return
Entering your password if prompted
You can test if your installation has worked properly by doing the following:
Type python2.6 following by return at the $ prompt
You will be presented with the python login prompt >>>
Now type import requests and the system should simply return with the >>> prompt again and no errors
Now type import six and the system should return with the >>> prompt for the final time
If you get an error saying that the package requests or six doesn’t exist then something hasn’t worked properly. Send me a screen grab of the error and I’ll try to help you sort it out.
Once you’ve done that you’re ready to start installing and running iFindStuff.
Have fun
Mike