Known Python Issues

If you're running Python on Windows, it is likely you will run into some issues. This page covers some common issues (but not all).

Python ImportError

It is likely that not all of the required libraries are installed on your computer. Make sure that pip is installed, which is what you will use to install the rest of the packages. More info can be found here. When pip is installed, you should be able to work out which libraries are not installed by attempting to run spaceshark.py in Python. Then use pip to install the missing library and repeat the process until no more libraries are missing.

Some libraries may require extra software to work, especially on Windows computers. You may need to download Microsoft Visual C++ for Python here or use the link provided in the Command Prompt. Wait for the installer to finish before reattempting to install the library.

Code Fails to Run

The file spaceshark.py needs to be run in the Command Prompt window for Windows, or in Terminal on Mac/Ubuntu. Make sure you have administrator privileges if on Windows, since you will need that to install libraries. If the code still does not run, try debugging with Idle or another Python editor. Idle is a piece of editing software that comes with python. You can open the file and press F5 to run, which will open a new window. Note - the code will not properly work in Idle. Always use the command prompt.

Pycurl Error

If you get this error, type pip install pycurl ( doesn't matter if its all caps or not) in the command prompt. Once installed try to run spaceshark.py again.

Other issues

Python doesn't work well with multiple versions on one computer. For example, if you're trying to run Python 3 and 2.7 on the same machine. Try to have only one version installed at a time, or if you have multiple versions try using python2.7 spaceshark.py instead of python spaceshark.py to force it to run on version 2.7.

Validation

If the code runs successfully, you will be given a URL in the command prompt. Copy this URL to Chrome or another browser, paste it and press go. You will be redirected to Space Shark cloud website, where you have to enter the device ID and Access token. These can be found on the Particle Photon Build website.

Google

We cannot cover ever possible error you will receive in this short page. Python usually gives informative error codes, so try to use Google where possible to debug. The Python code provided here is in very-alpha stage, and has not been worked on for several years. It will almost definitely have some problems, but we hope that there will be people working on rewriting all the server-side code within the next 6 months. Hopefully you won't even need to use Python yourself to run the Space Shark, once the code is re-written and deployed to a website. We look forward to that day...