Using the Arena Python Package with VS Code for Windows

This knowledge base shows how to set up VS Code to run Python example files for the Arena Python Package.

1. Ensure that you have VS Code installed.
2. Open VS Code, and install the Python extension for VS Code.
   
3. Download the Arena Python Package from https://thinklucid.com/downloads-hub/
   
4. Unzip the zip file to the folder of your choice.
5. Ensure that you have Python installed. The Python version requirements are shown on the Downloads page.
6. Open the Windows command prompt, and navigate to the directory containing the package
   Example: “C:\projects\arena_api\arena_api-<>.<>.<>-py3-none-any\examples”
7. Set up a virtual environment inside  this examples folder, and activate it. Type:

   python -m venv ve_win_dev_py64
   cd ve_win_dev_py64/scripts
   activate

8. Navigate up to the example folder, and type:

   pip install-r requirements_win.txt

   This installs the required packages for the virtual environment to run.
   

9. In the command prompt, go up one directory to the root folder where the *.whl file is located. To install the Arena Python Package, type:

   pip install arena_api-<>.<>.<>-py3-none-any.whl

10. To open VS Code, ensure that you are in the root folder in the command prompt and type:

    code .

11. In VS Code, open an example such as py_acquisition.py.
12. Run the Python file as shown below.
    
13. The Python code runs inside a PowerShell terminal inside of VS Code. Ob serve that the green text “(ve_win_dev_py64)” before the path shows the virtual environment name.