[ZODB-Dev] failed installation attempt on Vista

[Ross Boylan]

Even though I've used ZODB before (not standalone on Windows, however), 
I've been unable to get it installed, and barely able to follow your web 
presence.

The general index of persistence tools for python, 
http://wiki.python.org/moin/PersistenceTools, leads to 
http://wiki.zope.org/ZODB.  That in turn directs one to launchpad, but 
that is a red-herring for either installing the package or discovering 
documentation.  launchpad in turn directs one back to 
http://wiki.zope.org/ZODB.

Downloads go to http://pypi.python.org/pypi/ZODB3.  You pick the latest 
version, and there is nothing to download on the page.  The installation 
instructions suggest using easy_install.  The installation instructions 
there direct you to http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools.  That in 
turn has an installation and download section.  That sends you to 
http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools#files, which finally provides a 
windows installer.

Having installed easy install, which itself has some not easy 
installation instructions (if you have a prior version installed do x y 
and z), I then found no help on it.  Going back to the easy install web 
pages for useage, I tried this:
<shell>
 >easy_install ZODB
easy_install ZODB
Searching for ZODB
Reading http://pypi.python.org/simple/ZODB/
Couldn't find index page for 'ZODB' (maybe misspelled?)
Scanning index of all packages (this may take a while)
Reading http://pypi.python.org/simple/
No local packages or download links found for ZODB
Best match: None
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Python26\Scripts\easy_install-script.py", line 8, in <module>
    load_entry_point('setuptools==0.6c11', 'console_scripts', 
'easy_install')()
  File 
"C:\Python26\lib\site-packages\setuptools\command\easy_install.py", line 
1712, in main
    with_ei_usage(lambda:
  File 
"C:\Python26\lib\site-packages\setuptools\command\easy_install.py", line 
1700, in with_ei_usage
    return f()
  File 
"C:\Python26\lib\site-packages\setuptools\command\easy_install.py", line 
1716, in <lambda>
    distclass=DistributionWithoutHelpCommands, **kw
  File "C:\Python26\lib\distutils\core.py", line 152, in setup
    dist.run_commands()
  File "C:\Python26\lib\distutils\dist.py", line 975, in run_commands
    self.run_command(cmd)
  File "C:\Python26\lib\distutils\dist.py", line 995, in run_command
    cmd_obj.run()
  File 
"C:\Python26\lib\site-packages\setuptools\command\easy_install.py", line 
211, in run
    self.easy_install(spec, not self.no_deps)
  File 
"C:\Python26\lib\site-packages\setuptools\command\easy_install.py", line 
434, in easy_install
    self.local_index
  File "C:\Python26\lib\site-packages\setuptools\package_index.py", line 
475, in fetch_distribution
    return dist.clone(location=self.download(dist.location, tmpdir))
AttributeError: 'NoneType' object has no attribute 'clone'
</shell>

I'm trying now with ZODB3, which seems to be going better.

And the documentation, as the package and web pages note, is in sad state.

This is all very awkward, and really quite unapproachable.

Ross Boylan