Installing EPICpy (and EpicCoder rule editor)
Operating System Requirements
Although we have not tested widely, EPICpy seems to work as expected in the following contexts:
- Windows 10-11
- MacOS Monteray-Ventura (Both Intel and ARM based chips)
- Linux: Debian/Unbuntu based distributions version 20.04 and later
- Linux: Fedora version 42+
Other Linux distributions will likely work properly if they are relatively recent, but only Debian/Ubuntu and Fedora is actively tested.
Installing Prerequisites
Installing these applications requires the following utilities to be installed on your computer:
- curl
- git
- uv
Installing curl
curl
is installed by default on MacOS (10.3+) and Windows (10+). Most Linux distributions come with curl
, and some (especially "minimal" distributions) may not.
If you use Linux and this check reports that curl
is not installed:
curl --version
then you can install curl with your Linux package manager, e.g.:
# replace apt if your distro uses something else, e.g., dnf on Fedora
sudo apt install curl
Installing git
git
is not typically installed by default.
If this check reports that git
is not installed:
git --version
then you may need to install git
. In all most cases, you can go here: https://git-scm.com/downloads and use the installer that goes with your operating system.
If you prefer a command-line solutions:
- MacOS:
- Install homebrew.
- run
brew install git
- Windows:
- Install scoop
- run
scoop install git
- Linux:
- run
sudo apt install git
on Debian/Ubuntu distributions - run
sudo dnf install git
on Fedora. - ditto for the package manager on other Linux distributions
- run
Installing uv
uv
is not automatically installed on any operating system.
If this check reports that uv
is not installed:
uv --version
Then you can see the installation instructions for on the uv installation webpage, which currently suggests use these commands:
MacOS and Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
Windows
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"
Downloading Sample EPICpy Simulations
To download the sample simulations (Task Devices, associated rules, etc.), you can "clone" (or download) them like this:
First open a terminal, and then change to the directory where you want the sample devices folders to live. E.g. cd Desktop
.
Then download the Task Device collection.
git clone https://www.github.com/travisseymour/EPICpyDevices
This will create a folder called EPICpyDevices
. You can see what is in this folder like this:
cd EPICpyDevices
# Linux & MacOS
ls
# Windows
# ls will also work if you are using powershell
dir
Downloading EPICpy and EpicCoder
To install EPICpy
and EpicCoder
manually, first make sure you have working versions of curl, git, and uv
.
Install EPICpy
Open a terminal window and type this:
uv tool install git+https://www.github.com/travisseymour/EPICpy.git --python 3.13
The "3.13" in the command above instructs uv to use any existing version of Python 3.13 you have installed on your system, and to otherwise download and install Python 3.13 automatically. As of the moment this document was written, EPICpy only supports Python versions 3.10-3.13. You can specify any of these versions. We will try to release versions of EPICpy compatible with new versions of Python as they are released.
Additional Step For Ubuntu/Debian Linux Users:
Run this command, or EPICpy will give you and error when you first try to run the application.
sudo apt install libxcb-cursor0
Install EpicCoder
EpicCoder
is less picky about which Python version you use. To install it, just run this:
uv tool install git+https://www.github.com/travisseymour/epiccoder.git
however, if you wish to specify a Python version, you can:
uv tool install git+https://www.github.com/travisseymour/epiccoder.git --python 3.13
Testing Your Installations
To ensure that EPICpy
correctly installed, try running it:
epicpy
If you see the EPICpy graphical interface, it worked!
To ensure that EpicCoder
correctly installed, try running it (you may have to open a new terminal if EPICpy is still running):
epiccoder
If you see the EpicCoder graphical interface, it worked!
Running EPIC Simulations
IMPORTANT: If you just installed EPICpy
and EpicCoder
, then you have the latest version. However, if you installed EPICpy or EpicCoder on your own machine during a previous session, you want to make sure you check for updates before running these tools.
uv tool upgrade EPICpy epiccoder
Now, run a simulation:
- To start EPICpy, just type
epicpy
in a terminal. - If this is your first time running
EPICpy
and the graphical interface seems wonky, then go to the menu and selectWindows🡆RestoreDefaultLayout
- To load a model, you'll need to do:
File🡆LoadDevice
and then locate your device file. A device file is a python file likechoice_device.py
File🡆CompileRules
and then locate your rules file. A rules file is a text file likechoicetask_rules_VM.prs
- To run a model, you'll need to do:
Run🡆Run
- Try to run the Choice task simulation with the "VM" rules 3 times in a row. If you do not see the colorful graph at the end, you may not have the Stats Window open. In the menu, select
Windows🡆ShowStatsWindow
.