1.4. Install the SPEX Python interface

The SPEX python interface depends on a quite specific python environment. Using conda, you can create this environment pretty quickly. Please make sure you have (mini)conda installed and initialized on your machine before you continue.

1.4.1. Binary installation

The easiest option to install the Python interface for SPEX is by downloading the SPEX binary version for your platform. See and follow the instruction in How to install SPEX.

Once the standard SPEX environment is set up using the spexdist.sh or spexdist.csh files, it is time to build the conda environment. This can be done using the spex.yml file provided in the SPEX directory. Please enter the following command:

(base) unix:~/SPEX> conda env create -f $SPEX90/python/spex.yml

This creates the spex-3.08 conda environment for you. This step should only be done once.

Note

If you installed SPEX through the Mac package installer, then spex.yml is not located in a writeable directory. Please copy spex.yml first to your home directory (cp /opt/spex/python/spex.yml ~/) and then create the conda environment like: conda env create -f ~/spex.yml.

If successful, you can from now on activate the environment with the command:

(base) unix:~/SPEX> conda activate spex-3.08

And from now on, you can use the python interface in SPEX:

(spex-3.08) unix:~/SPEX> python
Python 3.11.6 |Anaconda, Inc.
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> from pyspex.spex import Session
>>> s=Session()
 Welcome user to SPEX version 3.08.01

 NEW in this version of SPEX:
29-03-2024 Added plot ion command and linid program for line identification
27-05-2024 Fixed issue with trafo converting large XRISM matrix
15-07-2024 Multiple bugfixes for response binning, tpho, and pyspex
15-07-2024 Neutral nitrogen N I oscilator strength correction based on Garcia+09

 Currently using SPEXACT version 2.07.00. Type `help var calc` for details.
>>>

If you need other python packages for your project, you can install them through conda in your new spex-3.08 environment.

1.4.2. Compile Python interface for SPEX

If you do not want to use conda, you can also compile the Python interfaces for SPEX. This can be done either through a compile script called compile.py or manually with CMake by adding the option -DPYTHON=3.

1.4.3. Integration into iPython and Jupyter Notebook

Next to the dependencies installed in the conda environment spex-3.08, the Python interface also depends on the SPEX environment variables set with the spexdist.(c)sh files. So before running iPython or Jupyter notebook, it is necessary to source the SPEX environment (also make sure the conda spex-3.08 environment is activated):

(spex-3.08) unix:~> source /opt/spex/spexdist.sh

(replace /opt/spex in this path with the location of SPEX on your machine, or $SPEX90 if this variable is already set).

It may be that iPython and Jupyter are not yet installed in your conda environment. If not, please install them using the command:

(spex-3.08) unix:~> conda install jupyter_client ipykernel

With iPython and Jupyter notebook, it can be helpful to install the spex conda environment explicitly for your project:

(spex-3.08) unix:~> ipython kernel install --user --name=spex-3.08

In your Jupyter notebook, you can now select spex-3.08 from the drop-down menu if you are creating a new project. The spex-3.08 conda environment should now be linked to your Jupyter project.

1.5. Dependencies

PYSPEX depends on the numpy, astropy, and matplotlib python modules. The current numpy versions should include the f2py program that is necessary to create the Fortran to python interface.

Since Python 2 is no longer maintained, we do not actively support the Python 2 application of PYSPEX anymore.