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Getting started with Python

You will find some information on getting started with Python and Jupyter. The VIVA+ Validation Catalog uses these to postprocess and document results.

Python

Install Python on your computer

There are many ways to install Python on your computer. We recommend Anaconda which is a free and popular Python distribution. The Anaconda Individual Edition Installation will help you get started with the Python in a straightforward way

Using conda environment

Anaconda comes with an environment management system called conda. Conda environment helps us to work in 'isolated' programming environments. Setting up an environment ensures that we can reproduce the same results between users while postprocessing irrespective of which computer is used. For example, in the case of VIVA+ simulations, we may need different users to use the same version of Dynasaur to get the same postprocessed results.

One time setup: Create a conda environment

When you have downloaded the VIVA+ models, you will find a text file called viva-env.yml. You can use this to create a conda environment with the same libraries as used by the VIVA+ Validation Catalog.

  • Open your Anaconda Prompt
  • Navigate to the vivaplus folder using 'cd' (for example, cd path/to/vivaplus)
  • Create an environment using the following command
conda env create -f viva-env.yml

This would have created an environment called viva-env.

  • To start using this environment, activate the newly created environment.
conda activate viva-env

You will now see that the environment has changed from base to viva-env on the command prompt.

Now you can use this environment to run your postprocessing Jupyter notebooks.

Activate conda environment

Creating the conda environment as described above is a one-time setup, and from the next time you need to only activate the environment using

conda activate viva-env
For Windows users: Using Powershell

If you prefer to use the PowerShell Terminal instead of the Anaconda Prompt you need to do this one-time setup to access conda in PowerShell

Open your Anaconda Prompt and use the following command 

conda init powershell

Jupyter

Jupyter is an interactive computational notebook, which gives you the flexibility of writing code and text in the same file. Each load case in the VIVA+ Validation Catalog is a Jupyter Notebook. If you followed the steps to create a viva-env conda environment as described above, Jupyter and associated libraries would have been installed as part of the creation of the viva-env environment.

To start running Jupyter, first activate the viva-env conda environment(1). One way to run Jupyter is by using Jupyter Lab. Start a Jupyter Lab instance by using

  1. On your Anaconda Prompt, use conda activate viva-env
jupyter lab

Jupyter Lab is an environment/editor to run Jupyter notebooks. Another widely used option to run Jupyter notebooks is VSCode.