Editable pip installs for devs

[Helveg]

Context

I'd like to have NEURON pip installed coupled to my git repository using editable installs: pip install -e ..

Overview of the issue

When I run pip install -e . the following error is thrown while I have Cython and numpy:

(nrn-dev) robin@LAPTOP-N6QKV63M:~/git/nrn$ pip install -e .
Obtaining file:///mnt/c/Users/robin/Documents/GIT/nrn
  Installing build dependencies ... done
  Getting requirements to build wheel ... error
  ERROR: Command errored out with exit status 1:
   command: /home/robin/.pyenv/versions/3.9.0/envs/nrn-dev/bin/python3.9 /home/robin/.pyenv/versions/3.9.0/envs/nrn-dev/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pep517/in_process/_in_process.py get_requires_for_build_wheel /tmp/tmpn5uj8iah
       cwd: /mnt/c/Users/robin/Documents/GIT/nrn
  Complete output (1 lines):
  ERROR: RX3D wheel requires Cython and numpy. Please install beforehand
  ----------------------------------------
WARNING: Discarding file:///mnt/c/Users/robin/Documents/GIT/nrn. Command errored out with exit status 1: /home/robin/.pyenv/versions/3.9.0/envs/nrn-dev/bin/python3.9 /home/robin/.pyenv/versions/3.9.0/envs/nrn-dev/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pep517/in_process/_in_process.py get_requires_for_build_wheel /tmp/tmpn5uj8iah Check the logs for full command output.
ERROR: Command errored out with exit status 1: /home/robin/.pyenv/versions/3.9.0/envs/nrn-dev/bin/python3.9 /home/robin/.pyenv/versions/3.9.0/envs/nrn-dev/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pip/_vendor/pep517/in_process/_in_process.py get_requires_for_build_wheel /tmp/tmpn5uj8iah Check the logs for full command output.
(nrn-dev) robin@LAPTOP-N6QKV63M:~/git/nrn$ pip show cython numpy
Name: Cython
Version: 0.29.22
Summary: The Cython compiler for writing C extensions for the Python language.
Home-page: http://cython.org/
Author: Robert Bradshaw, Stefan Behnel, Dag Seljebotn, Greg Ewing, et al.
Author-email: cython-devel@python.org
License: Apache
Location: /home/robin/.pyenv/versions/3.9.0/envs/nrn-dev/lib/python3.9/site-packages
Requires:
Required-by:
---
Name: numpy
Version: 1.20.1
Summary: NumPy is the fundamental package for array computing with Python.
Home-page: https://www.numpy.org
Author: Travis E. Oliphant et al.
Author-email: None
License: BSD
Location: /home/robin/.pyenv/versions/3.9.0/envs/nrn-dev/lib/python3.9/site-packages
Requires:
Required-by: NEURON

FWIW pip install . has the same issue.

Expected result/behavior

An editable install

NEURON setup

• Version: master branch
• Installation method pip install -e .
• OS + Version: WSL2 + Ubuntu 20.04
• Compiler + Version: gcc-9

[alexsavulescu]

Not straightforward given the complexity of the package (C/C++ extensions, RXD + Cython, ...).

[Helveg]

Editable installs are now supported by https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0660/, so PEP517 compliant builds can be ran in editable mode (cibuildwheel uses PEP517 as well, so if it works there it should work editable). If you declare your entire build in accordance with PEP517 (which one can hope is as simple as declaring cython and numpy as build dependencies) could yield functional editable installs.