[UX] Clarification: 'pipx' command not found - Installation required in Windows OS

[sn3hay]

Description
Reference: https://www.pyopensci.org/python-package-guide/tutorials/get-to-know-hatch.html
When trying to run: pipx install hatch in Windows command line, the following error is faced: 'pipx' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open a terminal or command prompt.
2. Try running pipx install hatch

Expected Behavior
The pipx command should be recognized and install the package in an isolated environment.

Actual Behavior
The error message "pipx is not recognized" appears as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

Solution
Install pipx using pip install pipx.

• pip install pipx

This is not a bug report but rather a clarification to help users understand the issue.

[pb-413]

Great information!

The first mention of pipx is a link to their page. That page includes a section "On Windows," which recommends scoop (I'm not familiar with that) or pip. The pip steps from there:

1. py -m pip install --user pipx
2. navigate to install directory
3. .\pipx.exe ensurepath

Perhaps it would be valuable to elaborate on the recommended actions and tools here like you say, or we can expect the audience to go through the link and get the recommended tool using the right steps for their machine.

When I went through this step, I decided to use the discouraged approach of installing hatch via pip because I felt comfortable making sure that I installed it outside any virtual environments.

[zackw]

Hmm, I think the key issue here is that a naive reader may not realize that pipx itself may need to be installed, even if you've already installed Python. We can refer to the pipx documentation for how to do that, but we should make clear that it doesn't come with the OS or with core Python.

[pb-413]

Sounds good @zackw; I could agree with that!

[sn3hay]

Agreed! Adding something as simple as a sidenote should help.

[pb-413]

After our discussion IRL, I was curious how hatch itself recommends installing on Windows. Here is that: https://hatch.pypa.io/dev/install/#windows

Have not tested that, but seems to rely on native tools rather than grabbing something else; that seemed to be our aim?

1. msiexec /passive /i https://github.com/pypa/hatch/releases/latest/download/hatch-x64.msi
2. Restart your terminal.
3. hatch --version to verify installation

hatch also mentions that it can be installed via pip, but warns that you might want to use pipx, 😅

I'm unfamiliar with the problem pipx is trying to solve, so I defer to those with more experience with such tools.

[Vaunty]

This is a walkthrough of all the steps I made, as a Windows user, to install Hatch.
I hope to limit the amount of windows users facing issues with installation, as the first step is impossible (at least for me) without these steps.

Step 1: Open Powershell

Step 2: Check to see if python is installed
Copy and Paste python --version
If Python is not installed, don't be alarmed!

Step 2.5: Download python from https://www.python.org/downloads/

Step 3: Using "curl" (a curl is a tool for transferring data requests to and from a server) you can download Pip
Copy and Paste: curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py
Copy and Paste: python get-pip.py

Step 4: Download Scoop
Copy and Paste: iwr -useb get.scoop.sh | iex
If any errors try
Copy and Paste: Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
Then retry
Copy and Paste: iwr -useb get.scoop.sh | iex

Step 5: Install Pipx
Copy and Paste: scoop install pipx
Copy and Paste: pipx ensurepath

After completion of Step 5, the "Get to know hatch" Tutorial can be followed to completion without any more issues (atleast for me).
Meaning you can actually do the first step for the tutorial " pipx install hatch " .

[willingc]

Related to #270. Let's incorporate Ofek's suggestion from that issue.

Next action: #270 (comment)

[lwasser]

@willingc would that be using the hatch installers rather than a different way to install on windows vs mac? i believe we have an open pr with instructions that @Vaunty created. i'm not sure how to best navigate this but i DO know that our windows users had a lot of installation issues - most of which were related to pipx on windows (so allowing for a global hatch install on windows was hard)