Basic easy_install question on python 2.6

Question

I'm trying to install a python api for controlling imagemagick (this) and followed the instructions.

I imported easy_install:

import easy_install

and then input the line:

easy_install http://svn2.assembla.com/svn/pythonmagickwand/trunk

However I got the error

SyntaxError: invalid syntax

and 'http' was highlighted. I'm wondering what causes the error - this is on Windows XP.

Answer 1

easy_install is a shell command, run at the shell.

It's not a python command; it's not run from within Python.

Answer 2

I believe easy_install is a script that should be run from the command line

Answer 3

Check http://peak.telecommunity.com/DevCenter/EasyInstall#using-easy-install for a good reference.

also, easy_install is run from the command line.

Answer 4

Typical easy_install usage would be more like "easy_install imagemagick", a package name rather than a pointer to an svn repository. It looks like you can install from svn via easy_install with the -i flag. Long-term, I'd suggest looking at pip: it does everything easy_install does, but with a lot more flexibility and without creating eggs for everything (which makes it easier to edit and modify by hand when you need to patch something).