Installing packages, plugins, and extensions

If you receive permission errors on Windows, run OpenSesame / Rapunzel as administrator or pass the --user flag to pip.

Package managers

Conda

The standard Windows packages of OpenSesame / Rapuzel come with a fully functioning Anaconda environment. This means that you can use conda to manage packages.

Example: To install seaborn (a plotting library) execute the following command in the console:

conda install seaborn -y

Example: to update rapunzel and all its dependencies (which includes OpenSesame) using the cogsci and conda-forge channels:

conda update rapunzel -c cogsci -c conda-forge -y

Pro-tips:

• Pass the -y flag to avoid conda from prompting for input, which sometimes freezes the console.
• Have patience! conda is known to be slow, and you will not get visual feedback until the command is finished.
• In some cases, you may need to prefix the conda command with ! to indicate that you want to execute a program rather than Python code.

The official conda docs:

• https://docs.conda.io/projects/conda/en/latest/user-guide/tasks/manage-pkgs.html

Pip

You can use pip to manage packages directly from the console. Prefix pip with ! (to indicate that you want to execute a program rather than Python code).

Example: To install the OpenScienceFramework extension enter the following command into the console:

pip install opensesame-extension-osf

Pro-tips:

• The --user flag allows you to install libraries without requiring administrator privileges.
• In some cases, you may need to prefix the pip command with ! to indicate that you want to execute a program rather than Python code.

The official pip docs:

• https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/user_guide/

Customizing your environment

Using an environment file

You can tell OpenSesame / Rapunzel to scan extra folders, by specifying these folders in a file called environment.yaml. There are three entries:

• PYTHON_PATH is a semicolon-separated list of folders that are scanned for Python packages.
• OPENSESAME_PLUGIN_PATH is a semicolon-separated list of folders that are scanned for OpenSesame / Rapunzel extensions.
• OPENSESAME_EXTENSION_PATH is a semi-colon separated list of folders that are scanned for OpenSesame plugins (not used in Rapunel).

Each entry should be a semicolon-separated list of folders. All entries are optional and are prepended to the folders that are already scanned.

PYTHON_PATH: "/home/user/mylibs1;/home/user/mylibs2"
OPENSESAME_PLUGIN_PATH: "/home/user/myplugins1;/home/user/myplugins2"
OPENSESAME_EXTENSION_PATH: "/home/user/myextensions1;/home/user/myextensions2"

This file should be placed in the working directory of OpenSesame. Under Windows, this is generally the OpenSesame program folder; under Linux and Mac OS this is generally your home folder. You can find out what the working directory is by executing the following in the debug window:

import os
print(os.getcwd())

Using environment variables

The following environment variables control your Python environment:

• PYTHON_PATH is a colon-separated list of folders that are scanned for Python packages. (See official Python docs.)
• OPENSESAME_EXTENSION_PATH is a semicolon-separated list of folders that are scanned for OpenSesame / Rapunzel extensions.
• OPENSESAME_PLUGIN_PATH is a semi-colon separated list of folders that are scanned for OpenSesame plugins (not used in Rapunel).
• OPENSESAME_RESOURCES_PATH is a single additional folder to scan for resource files (e.g. locale and ui files). This is mostly for development or packaging purposes.