For developers

The Catalog Builder team welcomes all contributions. If you would like to help develop the package, please follow the steps outlined below.

How to contribute

Set up a clean environment

First, create a new environment for your Catalog Builder development work. The recommended approach is to use a python virtual environment (venv). A conda environment will also work fine if such is desired.

python3 -m venv /path/to/new/virtual/environment

Then, activate the environment by sourcing the activation script. The command varies by operating system and shell:

  • Linux/macOS (bash/zsh):

source /path/to/new/virtual/environment/bin/activate

  • Linux/macOS (csh):

source /path/to/new/virtual/environment/bin/activate.csh

  • Linux/macOS (fish):

source /path/to/new/virtual/environment/bin/activate.fish

  • Linux/macOS (pwsh):

/path/to/new/virtual/environment/bin/activate.ps1

  • Windows (Command Prompt):

\path\to\new\virtual\environment\Scripts\activate.bat

  • Windows (PowerShell):

\path\to\new\virtual\environment\Scripts\Activate.ps1

Clone the Catalog Builder source code

Clone the Github repository using ssh:

git clone git@github.com:NOAA-GFDL/CatalogBuilder.git

or https:

git clone https://github.com/NOAA-GFDL/CatalogBuilder.git

Install the package

It is recommended that developers install an editable Catalog Builder package. This makes development simple as any local changes will immediately be testable. From the root of the repository, run:

pip install -e .

Sometimes it is necessary to deactivate and reactivate the virtual environment in order for PATH to be properly resolved.