I have pants generating

setup.py

for wheels (

python_distribution

). In an exported venv,

./pants export ...

, I would like to use editable mode installations of all the exported resolve's code (Ie the code that will end up in that resolve's `python_distribution`s). So, is there a way to get the pants-generated

setup.py

and do something like

setup.py develop

.? Or perhaps a PEP 660 install? One constraint to the solution: Setuptools gained support for PEP 660 in v64, but that is python 3.7+, and I need python 3.6 for the StackStorm project (for now - I need to figure out editable install to unblock some other things before we can work on finally dropping 3.6).

I think you're on your own here blazing new trails @proud-dentist-22844.

Not the first time 😛

I’ve been down this path too in the past: https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/issues/11812#issuecomment-810831415 😉 (long since abandoned so have no up-to-date ideas.. 😕 )

(BTW, this is slightly different than my venv request from a few days ago, which was more about final installation, whereas this is explicitly for development, so the exported venv is just fine if I can get it to work)

@proud-dentist-22844 I'm not sure what that would mean even since a PEX file is really a lockfile + contents. You freeze things in and so editable makes roughly no sense. You can use local project directories as input requirements, which snapshots the local project at that point in time - but the project is snapshotted, edits won't interfere with the now hermetic PEX capture of the project.

Yup. this would be a very non-hermetic thing that would only really make sense in venv mode. I went through all of the various

--help

options in

pex

and

pex-tools

(and subcommands) to see what flexibility pex has. I'm not sure where editable anything might be shoehorned into pex unless maybe pex could be a PEX 660 frontend and install the PEX 660 wheels? Though I guess it would use pip for that. Sorry for the train of thought.

I guess you're hacking around our provided

pants export

hack for IDE hacky support?

My problem is: I can't yet migrate tests to run under pants (in particular I need to migrate from nosetest to pytest and ST2's use of eventlet makes migrations like that more difficult). Today, the makefile creates a virtualenv, installs all the requirements, and then runs

setup.py develop

for each of the wheels. I want to replace that venv with one generated somehow via pants so that the current Makefile can still be used to run tests while transitioning over to pytest + pants. And that means that I need editable installs. Also, our code relies heavily on setuptools metadata (esp entrypoints that are managed by openstack/stevedore), so PYTHONPATH alone is insufficient for testing our code.

Oh Jesus. Ok. You're having to deal with crazy land.

The entire ST2 migration to Pants has been crazy land. And I'm apparently the mayor there...

Ha!

Yeah, but now pants use of PEX is pushing it squarely into the "development" phase instead of just the "deployment" or "install" phase of software dev lifecycle.

Well, the venv is the right tool. That's the place to solve this for sure.

venv + PYTHONPATH=subproj1:subproj2 nets the same thing - is that right?

Nope. not quite. We need the egg-info

dist-info

directories to expose the setuptools entry points.

God.

I like Him. 🙂

I do not!

I wonder if I can hook into

export

somewhere to inject the

entry_points.txt

files... I already have the logic to generate that: https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/blob/main/src/python/pants/backend/python/framework/stevedore/rules.py#L43-L45

Or if you do like I suggested and stomach the non-DRY. That will work too.

I just check in my dist-info and treat it as a resource.

Fascinating idea. I'll cogitate on it.

Ok. Well - good luck to you. This is all very ... I think you'll continue to be voted in as Mayor for life.

LOL

I’m willing to sit as second chair in your town hall @proud-dentist-22844 .. as my linked to issue comment was based in my desire to leverage precisely that too (setup entry_points data)

Welcome! LOL