What do (s)witch, (i)gnore, (w)ipe, (b)ackup options mean when installing a package from repository using pip?
Question:
When installing a package using pip, I get the following message:
Obtaining some-package from git+git://github.com/some-user/some-package.git@commit-hash#egg=some_package-dev (from -r requirements.txt
(line 3))
git clone in /Users/me/Development/some-env/src/some-package exists with
URL https://github.com/some-user/some-package.git
The plan is to install the git repository git://github.com/some-user/some-package.git
What to do? (s)witch, (i)gnore, (w)ipe, (b)ackup
I see that this particular case is probably caused by a change of protocol in URL (new requirement uses git://, while the one already installed uses https://).
However, I wonder what exactly happens if I choose either of the choices (switch, ignore, wipe, backup). I’m unable to find an explanation in pip documentation.
Answers:
A patch explaining this option was merged into the PIP documentation, but it was not released until Pip 6.0 (2014-12-22). (https://github.com/pypa/pip/commit/b5e54fc61c06268c131f1fad3bb4471e8c37bb25). Here is what that patch says:
–exists-action option
This option specifies default behavior when path already exists.
Possible cases: downloading files or checking out repositories for installation,
creating archives. If --exists-action is not defined, pip will prompt
when decision is needed.
-
(s)witch
Only relevant to VCS checkout. Attempt to switch the checkout
to the appropriate url and/or revision.
-
(i)gnore
Abort current operation (e.g. don’t copy file, don’t create archive,
don’t modify a checkout).
-
(w)ipe
Delete the file or VCS checkout before trying to create, download, or checkout a new one.
-
(b)ackup
Rename the file or checkout to {name}{'.bak' * n}, where n is some number
of .bak extensions, such that the file didn’t exist at some point.
So the most recent backup will be the one with the largest number after .bak.
And here is a link to description of that option in the now-updated documentation: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/cli/pip/#exists-action-option.
When installing a package using pip, I get the following message:
Obtaining some-package from git+git://github.com/some-user/some-package.git@commit-hash#egg=some_package-dev (from -r requirements.txt
(line 3))
git clone in /Users/me/Development/some-env/src/some-package exists with
URL https://github.com/some-user/some-package.git
The plan is to install the git repository git://github.com/some-user/some-package.git
What to do? (s)witch, (i)gnore, (w)ipe, (b)ackup
I see that this particular case is probably caused by a change of protocol in URL (new requirement uses git://, while the one already installed uses https://).
However, I wonder what exactly happens if I choose either of the choices (switch, ignore, wipe, backup). I’m unable to find an explanation in pip documentation.
A patch explaining this option was merged into the PIP documentation, but it was not released until Pip 6.0 (2014-12-22). (https://github.com/pypa/pip/commit/b5e54fc61c06268c131f1fad3bb4471e8c37bb25). Here is what that patch says:
–exists-action option
This option specifies default behavior when path already exists.
Possible cases: downloading files or checking out repositories for installation,
creating archives. If--exists-actionis not defined, pip will prompt
when decision is needed.
(s)witch
Only relevant to VCS checkout. Attempt to switch the checkout
to the appropriate url and/or revision.(i)gnore
Abort current operation (e.g. don’t copy file, don’t create archive,
don’t modify a checkout).(w)ipe
Delete the file or VCS checkout before trying to create, download, or checkout a new one.
(b)ackup
Rename the file or checkout to
{name}{'.bak' * n}, where n is some number
of.bakextensions, such that the file didn’t exist at some point.
So the most recent backup will be the one with the largest number after.bak.
And here is a link to description of that option in the now-updated documentation: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/cli/pip/#exists-action-option.