It's probably counter intuitive, but the moment you click the "install for all users" in the older GUI, it just installed Python once. What is the story with the cli driven CPython 3.14 installer which is asking me entirely different questions to what Python used to ask, and thus no longer has defaults for things. I am not really understanding how to just default install so I can get a repro system typical to most users who just installed using defaults. Installing for all users is optional, but it's part of the "Y" that has now cropped up.

I'm trying to prevent being accused of an XY question by explaining my confusion in the hope I get people politely fill knowledge gaps I have which, are gaps, because they are things I completely do not know about the new installer. Let me explain my X.

I want a script I wrote, to work in all version of Python > 3.7, and ran into a TCL bug/snag where any version of python 3.13 upwards reports a TCL is not correctly installed whenever I use a virtual env and matplotlib. Yes I know everyone needs to be on at least 3.11, but that's not my question, my question is why do virtual environments with matplotlib blow up, but manually/globally installed (is that the correct term) modules do not blow up and I can draw graphs as long as I don't use a virtual env in 3.13 onwards. I don't really know what TCL is, I assume it's a GUI that matplot uses? But someone said to set environment variables up TK_LIBRARY=C:\Users\Phoenix\AppData\Local\Python\bin\python.exe and TCL_LIBRARY=C:\Users\Phoenix\AppData\Local\Python\bin\python.exe and have been re-installing and editing paths and restarting a fresh console most of the morning, and am no wiser yet. Someone suggested monkey-patching an init.tcl file in a post about 2 years ago which I'm not keen to necro, not sure how to do that in a virtual environment though.

UPDATED: This is a stack trace off a random coleagues machine

  File "C:\Users\a.user\Downloads\ethernetspeed6\sdktests\PythonCSVPlotter\plot_figure.py", line 401, in first_plotline
    self._figure, self._main_axis = plt.subplots(num=self._figure_title)
                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\a.user\Downloads\ethernetspeed6\venv\Lib\site-packages\matplotlib\pyplot.py", line 1886, in subplots
    fig = figure(**fig_kw)
  File "C:\Users\a.user\Downloads\ethernetspeed6\venv\Lib\site-packages\matplotlib\pyplot.py", line 1096, in figure
    manager = new_figure_manager(
        num, figsize=figsize, dpi=dpi,
        facecolor=facecolor, edgecolor=edgecolor, frameon=frameon,
        FigureClass=FigureClass, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Users\a.user\Downloads\ethernetspeed6\venv\Lib\site-packages\matplotlib\pyplot.py", line 576, in new_figure_manager
    return _get_backend_mod().new_figure_manager(*args, **kwargs)
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\a.user\Downloads\ethernetspeed6\venv\Lib\site-packages\matplotlib\backend_bases.py", line 3664, in new_figure_manager
    return cls.new_figure_manager_given_figure(num, fig)
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\a.user\Downloads\ethernetspeed6\venv\Lib\site-packages\matplotlib\backend_bases.py", line 3669, in new_figure_manager_given_figure
    return cls.FigureCanvas.new_manager(figure, num)
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\a.user\Downloads\ethernetspeed6\venv\Lib\site-packages\matplotlib\backend_bases.py", line 1836, in new_manager
    return cls.manager_class.create_with_canvas(cls, figure, num)
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "C:\Users\a.user\Downloads\ethernetspeed6\venv\Lib\site-packages\matplotlib\backends\_backend_tk.py", line 546, in create_with_canvas
    window = tk.Tk(className="matplotlib")
  File "C:\Users\a.user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python313\Lib\tkinter\__init__.py", line 2459, in __init__
    self.tk = _tkinter.create(screenName, baseName, className, interactive, wantobjects, useTk, sync, use)
              ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
_tkinter.TclError: Can't find a usable init.tcl in the following directories:
    C:/Users/a.user/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/Python313/lib/tcl8.6 C:/Users/a.user/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/lib/tcl8.6 C:/Users/a.user/AppData/Local/Programs/lib/tcl8.6 C:/Users/a.user/AppData/Local/Programs/Python/library C:/Users/a.user/AppData/Local/Programs/library C:/Users/a.user/AppData/Local/Programs/tcl8.6.14/library C:/Users/a.user/AppData/Local/tcl8.6.14/library
 
 
This probably means that Tcl wasn't installed properly.

What am I forgetting?

A Windows terminal/consoles VT100 emulation question.

https://espterm.github.io/docs/VT100%20escape%20codes.html specifies

getcursor DSR         Get cursor position                    ^[6n
cursorpos CPR            Response: cursor is at v,h          ^[<v>;<h>R

so print("\x1b[6n") ends up returning the cursor position. How do I read the CPR reply back?

It's printing out in the console afterward, how do I read it in my code? I've not messed with terminals before and I know that blessed will let me read the position with get_location(), but installing blessed feels overkill if right now all I need is to be able to read the response. I'm aware that I

Does anyone have experience using any built in filters or such for sys.stdout or raw python I/O primer I can use to start finding my way forward if I'm totally new to the raw I/O and python I/O in general? Or do I just add blessed to my virtual environment requirements.txt and be done. Am keen to learn how it ticks internally.

the following line does what i want

   for %A in (*.zip) do @echo %~fA - %~zA Bytes

but when i add it to a batch .bat file i instead get

The following usage of the path operator in batch-parameter
substitution is invalid: %~zA Bytes


For valid formats type CALL /? or FOR /?
The syntax of the command is incorrect.

while when typed in I get

C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting>for %A in (*.zip) do @echo %~fA - %~zA Bytes
C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\ethernetspeed.zip - 769203 Bytes

Before someone tells me all about and lectures me on X Y theory I''l explain the X or the Y whatever order The goal: I've just got a 10 lines batch script that start

setlocal ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

Which runs a compiler, a few steps in python, and creates (from scratch) a large zip file from a temp folder and then deletes the folder. It's literally 10 lines. At the end it would be very slick if all I had was a line that prints the size of the zip file. Any hints what's borked in my very n00b interpretation of the runes for DOS, this is the first ever DOS loop I've written that was not straight-up copy-pasta.

Seems a lot of effort and I feel I might be in a rabbit hole. But I'm a bit confused by the enclosing braces and escapes. I just want to unzip a file on windows.

powershell.exe -nologo -noprofile -command "& { $shell = New-Object -COM Shell.Application; $target = $shell.NameSpace(`.\temp`); $zip = $shell.NameSpace( '.\ethernetspeed.zip'); $target.CopyHere($zip.Items(), 16); }" 

Which obvs does not work because the library wants absolute paths.

If I hard code the paths (as below) I have joy, but I don't want to hard-code

powershell.exe -nologo -noprofile -command "& { $shell = New-Object -COM Shell.Application; $target = $shell.NameSpace(`C:\temp`); $zip = $shell.NameSpace( 'C:\ethernetspeed.zip'); $target.CopyHere($zip.Items(), 16); }" 

I'm a bit clueless as to how to prefix the paths with %~0dp and I last wrote powershells about 3 years ago. I'm also as usual struggling to get the markdown to markdown.

esp32-C3 supermini. I have been sending it applications using the Arduino IDE when after a while it stopped downloading suddenly.

Sketch uses 286328 bytes (21%) of program storage space. Maximum is 1310720 bytes.
Global variables use 14332 bytes (4%) of dynamic memory, leaving 313348 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 327680 bytes.
esptool v5.3.1
Serial port COM14:

A fatal error occurred: Could not open COM14, the port is busy or doesn't exist.
(could not open port 'COM14': FileNotFoundError(2, 'The system cannot find the file specified.', None, 2))

Hint: Check if the port is correct and ESP connected

Failed uploading: uploading error: exit status 2

I then worked out, to hold down boot and tap reset, which seems has wiped the running application, but does not let it start nor be detected as a CDC (communications device) again. Do I have to read all the docs again and start from scratch somehow?

After writing loads of code that parses 30 different commandline flags using argparse.ArgumentParser, I decided I needed to add more smarts to make default values easier to control. So I wrapped ArgumentParser, and now I'm feeling like I should not have inherited, but should rather have composed than inherited from ArgumentParser. My real concern is that because ArgumentParser is dynamic and for example adds the parse_args() method after construction is just one example of where inheritance runs the risk of any methods or even private attributes being abused and clobbered. I basically overloaded add_argument to add a "default" of my own, but as things progress I often find inheritance is risky if I inherit from classes I do not control nor designed. I have added a load of private variables, but very little stops this from being a place where things later on name-collide.

So why do I do it? Are people generally composing even if inherit is logical?

I got an email about an unused api token thingy about to be deleted. Im just learning as a student about oauth and sharing etc, and have moved on and frankly would like to delete this client connection to my spreadsheet. But I'm not finding a button anywhere in the cloud console that makes this possible to do. Do I just wait another month and let it be auto deleted?

I have a few other resources curiously that are not flagged for expiry, but are unused, so being able to find the delete button on them would be helpful. My screen looks nothing like what the steps suggested by the google docs say, which normally means I'm looking in the wrong place altogether in the Cloud hub.

I last logged into arduino.cc 4 years ago, and am unable to get a password reset today - it's simply not sending me an email. Are things on the arduino.cc platform running right?

X: The desire to scrape a log file for specific interesting messages, any apps I tried are a pain to use and require manually setting all the search strings every so often. I want to scan for about a dozen or so expressions/strings in a 40-100K lines file, and then dump just the timestamps and lines of interest. What approach scales best for speed? I have to probably also use a mix of regex and regular string search I guess. Is going with Multiprocessing and passing the file as a shared-memory object, going to be the easiest route? Surely it's easier to do in C++. I guess I asking for some skeleton or prior art in C++ ore Python to be honest.

Y: My context is that I would like to use my knowledge of C++ threads and code it in C++, but it should be possible in Python if I learn to use Pipes, and learn to use shared memory object to save having to load the file per multi-processing process?

I had some resin not setting for me. It was a fancy clear resin and I added a bit more than the 1 ml of agent to the mix because the resin was about 6 years old and already starting to dry out. It was thus really hard to mix and still did not set after 24 hours, so I turned to google and found a random thread suggesting heat. I had lain the resin into a few voids in a kitchen door, and added a bit of colour, so no way I could back out of this job.

I cannot find the thread now, but wanted to say thank you, heat gun (a beefy hair dryer might do) for about 2 minutes at a time on a low setting to make the resin soften. Repeated that 3 times and now I'm golden. Thank you all you keen hobbyists.

Had for a long time a routine to patch a text file: the core of the script which merely rewrites a text file:

rewrite = False

with open(args.filepath[0], "r") as f:
    lines = f.readlines()
    for line in lines:
        if re.match(args.expression[0] , line):
            rewrite = True

if rewrite:
    print(f"ReplaceExpression: '{args.expression[0]}' in file: '{args.filepath[0]}'")
    with open(args.filepath[0], "w", encoding='utf-8') as f:
        for line in lines:
            if not re.match(args.expression[0] , line):
                f.write(line)
            else:
                f.write(f"// line removeD: {line.strip()}\r\n") # <????
                print("OK")
else:
    print(f"Nothing to do in file: {args.filepath[0]}")

the

                f.write(f"// line removeD: {line.strip()}\r\n") # <????

never ends up writing a <CR><LF> pair!

Now I get that this is the encoding as utf-8 and the default us unix encoding, but even if i wrote it as

                f.write(f"// line removeD: {line.strip()}{os.linesep}") # <????

os.linesep still wrote a <CR> never a pair like on windows would be normal. Remind me why the encoding and os.linesep interact in this way on Windows to never write a pair of terminators?

1. Why is there no flair for Studio 2026?
2. Is "rename" in C++ just broken, it fails to rename all 3, yes THREE usages of a local declared in a function that is literally 10 lines long.

    std::string const headings()
    {
        std::string buff;
        std::string seperator = "";
        for (std::string head : _writer._schema.headings()) {
            buff.append(seperator);
            buff.append(head);
            seperator = ",";
        }
        return buff;
    }

It's unable to rename 'seperator' in this code, how! I spelled it wrong don't make my IDE punish me too.

I decided to move my "single-makefile" into a multiple makefiles project structure and I know it's my fault, but I'd love a clue as to what or where the actual error is in this output:

C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest>cmake --build build
MSBuild version 18.7.8+1ac568fee for .NET Framework

  gtest.vcxproj -> C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\lib\Debug\gtest.lib
  gtest_main.vcxproj -> C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\lib\Debug\gtest_main.lib
  eth_tests.vcxproj -> C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\Debug\eth_tests.exe
  CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-4.2/Modules/GoogleTestAddTests.cmake:382 (message):
    Error running test executable.

      Path: 'C:/MeteorRepos/remoteapitesting/gtest/build/eth_tests/Debug/eth_tests.exe'
      Working directory: 'C:/MeteorRepos/remoteapitesting/gtest/build/eth_tests'
      Result: Exit code 0xc0000135
      Output:


  Call Stack (most recent call first):
    C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-4.2/Modules/GoogleTestAddTests.cmake:421 (gtest_discover_tests_impl)


C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(166,5): error MSB3073: The command "setlocal [C
:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\eth_tests.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(166,5): error MSB3073: "C:\Program Files\CMake\
bin\cmake.exe" -D TEST_TARGET=eth_tests -D TEST_EXECUTABLE=C:/MeteorRepos/remoteapitesting/gtest/build/eth_tests/Debug/eth_tests.exe -D TEST_EXECUTOR= -D TEST
_WORKING_DIR=C:/MeteorRepos/remoteapitesting/gtest/build/eth_tests -D TEST_EXTRA_ARGS= -D TEST_PROPERTIES= -D TEST_PREFIX= -D TEST_SUFFIX= -D TEST_FILTER= -D
NO_PRETTY_TYPES=FALSE -D NO_PRETTY_VALUES=FALSE -D TEST_LIST=eth_tests_TESTS -D CTEST_FILE=C:/MeteorRepos/remoteapitesting/gtest/build/eth_tests/eth_tests[1]_
tests.cmake -D TEST_DISCOVERY_TIMEOUT=5 -D TEST_DISCOVERY_EXTRA_ARGS= -D TEST_XML_OUTPUT_DIR= -P "C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-4.2/Modules/GoogleTestAdd
Tests.cmake" [C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\eth_tests.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(166,5): error MSB3073: if %errorlevel% neq 0 go
to :cmEnd [C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\eth_tests.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(166,5): error MSB3073: :cmEnd [C:\MeteorRepos\r
emoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\eth_tests.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(166,5): error MSB3073: endlocal & call :cmError
Level %errorlevel% & goto :cmDone [C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\eth_tests.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(166,5): error MSB3073: :cmErrorLevel [C:\Meteor
Repos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\eth_tests.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(166,5): error MSB3073: exit /b %1 [C:\MeteorRep
os\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\eth_tests.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(166,5): error MSB3073: :cmDone [C:\MeteorRepos\
remoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\eth_tests.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(166,5): error MSB3073: if %errorlevel% neq 0 go
to :VCEnd [C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\eth_tests.vcxproj]
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Professional\MSBuild\Microsoft\VC\v180\Microsoft.CppCommon.targets(166,5): error MSB3073: :VCEnd" exited with code
 1. [C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\eth_tests\eth_tests.vcxproj]
  gmock.vcxproj -> C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\lib\Debug\gmock.lib
  gmock_main.vcxproj -> C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\lib\Debug\gmock_main.lib
  test_project1.vcxproj -> C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\proj1\Debug\test_project1.exe
  test_project2.vcxproj -> C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\proj2\Debug\test_project2.exe
  tests.vcxproj -> C:\MeteorRepos\remoteapitesting\gtest\build\tests\Debug\tests.exe

I upgraded to building 4 targets now instead of 1 and the target eth_tests.exe is clearly got a bad makefile as the others all build but what is this error message saying other than, hey you are not good enough to use this tool? Any way to get more clue on the build time error?

Thanks for the help a few weeks ago getting clang-tidy running. Clang-tidy is flagging these constants as unused though.

constexpr char ASCII_MIDDLE_CH = (char)205; // box drawing =
constexpr char ASCII_START_CH = (char)204;  // box drawing left join
constexpr char ASCII_END_CH = (char)185;    // box drawing right join

Sure they are unused, but they are constants for a reason, they are for export. Should I turn off the rule and then loose the check for unused variables at the same time or should I annotate it with the [[maybe_unused]]? Or worse use some dead/unreachable code and reference the constants?

I used fopen() top open the file:

bool LogListenerThread::readline(FILE* file, std::string& line) {
    char ch(0);
    size_t nbytes(0);
    line = "";
    do {
        nbytes = fread(&ch, 1, 1, file);
        if ((ch == 0x0d) || (ch == 0x0a)) {
            return true;
        }
        line += ch;
    } while (nbytes);
    return false;
}

And clang is giving me a warning here that I'm not understanding, it says: "File position of the stream might be 'indeterminate' after a failed operation. Can cause undefined behavior [clang-analyzer-unix.Stream]" I'm checking that no bytes return and bailing if I hit EOF. What is wrong with this fread() call in the code?

I need a second list, of zeroes, that is the same size as another list:

first = [42,42,42,42]
second = [0 for _ in first]

The 0 and the _ here is a bit of code golf I think. Is this as clear as I can make it or is there a list initialiser I just don't know about?

Son is 22, we had to admit he is autistic when he failed to finnish his CS degree at University, he pretty much melted I suspect. He does not talk, much, except when playing online with friends. He is good with computers and with machines, no surprises there. Nobody told us, we suspected, but. Anyway, my request, he's a bright bugger, maybe even smarter than his dad, but how do I get him to talk to us? He seems so isolated. He started a job and drives himself to work on days when I don't give him a lift, but in the car he is dead silent.

Any question you ask is met with "I dont know", so instead I make statements, but often, just silent the whole drive. Inspire me please, I'm a fair bit ADHD so I appreciate some of his world, but I want to get in.

/edit :

Just figured I would summarise what I have now worked out. I should not try so hard to get him to open up, I should rather just listen and also steer towards computer games and topics he loves. I need to do some research on the Autism severity levels system, I assume it differs in USA and the UK. I need to do some more research on what assistance benefits an official diagnosis has and how to get one. Respect his feelings even if they never show. He wants to write computer games, I am seriously thinking to get a steam developer account and get him to write a game that I can publish for him so he never has to deal with the socials. I hope that's not too dangerous a move, but worth thinking about. We only figured him out when I went through a bad patch myself 2 years ago, and got effectively fired, because I have anxiety and needed help myself. I got coaching and got a new job, and I wanted the same for my son, but realise he does not move as fast as I was able to. At any rate, this is all going to take time and have to be super gentle. Thank you all for the tips!

I was about to factory reset the damn phone. I seem to be one of many people with a Sammy phone and specifically with an S23 Ultra having Bluetooth issues with Android auto (VW ID3). But nobody else in the family had issues with their A series Sammy phones, ... until one day I went into the settings for battery optimisation and bumped Bluetooth up from normal to highest. Now the Ultra has a stonking battery in it, so I'm never going to notice the drain, but for about a week I have had zero music drop-outs. Compared to at least one or two dropouts in every trip, that's looking solved.

It's a bit tricky to find the setting on a Sammy.

1. Open Settings/Apps ,you won't see Bluetooth yet

2. Instead of tapping on the ... burger menu to try include System Apps, tap the sorter-bar/filter-like icon and select "All" apps.

3. Find Bluetooth, it's a fair long list.

4. Tap Battery

5. Change it from "Optimised" to "Unrestricted"

Hope this helps the next person who has tweaked their phone a lot somehow to have changed the default power profile. I got this hint for a reddit thread which I honestly cannot find anymore for some reason. I'm blaming google for being junk at remembering. But this solved it and I really had to get this tip out there.