Getting Started
The following page goes through effective ways of getting started with Genysis. It includes information on how to download tutorials/documentation, and start testing your own scripts.
Installing Jupyter Notebook
Jupyter Notebook is a great tool for testing scripts with Genysis and is how the tutorials are setup.
Jupyter Notebook is now included with the anaconda package, which we highly recommend. To install Anaconda simply go to the following link https://docs.anaconda.com/anaconda/install/windows/ and follow the directions.
After installing anaconda, do the following to create and use any Jupyter Notebook:
Open the Anaconda Prompt. You can access the Anaconda Prompt by simply using the search toolbar (Windows 10)
Once the anaconda prompt is open, type in ‘jupyter notebook’. This will open a new tab in your default browser.
The new tab will show your current file directory. Please navigate to the directory where your jupyter notebook is stored and/or where you would like to make a new jupyter notebook.
For those trying to run an existing notebook:
Once you have reached your desired file location. If you are accessing an existing notebook, simply click on the notebook to open it. This will open a new tab with the notebook open.
Notice that the notebook is separated into different sections of code. These sections are called cells, and they can run individually from one another if variables and definitions in one cell are not dependent on another. To test the script simply click on to the desired kernel and press ‘Run’ at the top of the screen, right below the toolbar.
Once you click run you will see the favicon turn into an hourglass, indicating that the cell is running. Once the cell is finished you can move on to the next cell and run that section of the code. If there is an error the screen will print the error right below the relevant cell.
For those creating a new notebook:
Once you have reached your desired file location click on the drop-down button towards the top right of the page and press ‘New’ then ‘Python3’.
This will open an empty notebook on a separate tab. To rename this notebook and save it to the current directory click on the name of the notebook at the top of the page and enter the desired filename then press on the save icon right below the toolbar.
One of jupyter notebook’s biggest advantages is the ability to breakdown code into different sections called cells. This aids in identifying problem areas within the code to facilitate troubleshooting. To create your own code simply type inside of any cell just like you would in any IDE or text editor.
To create a new cell press the ‘+’ icon directly next to the save icon.
To run your code, click on the cell you would like to run and press the ‘Run’ button at the top of the page. The fav-icon will change to an hourglass until that cell’s code is done building. Any errors or warnings will show directly below the cell being run.
Downloading Genysis Notebook Documentation:
To download the existing Genysis notebooks. Go to https://github.com/francisbitontistudio/genysis_documentation and press the ‘Clone or download’ drop-down. If you are interested in keeping up to date with the genysis-documentation and have a Github account we highly suggest cloning the repository, otherwise you can download a zip file which contains all the necessary notebooks and materials.
Once you have downloaded and/or cloned the Genysis notebooks refer to the instructions on using jupyter notebooks to open the tutorials and use them.
If you are interested in cloning the Github repository but don’t have a Github account, please follow the instructions below.
Cloning the Genysis-Documentation Repository:
Go to https://github.com/ and create or sign into a github account.
Download github desktop for your computer here: https://desktop.github.com/
Once you have github desktop installed navigate back to the genysis-documentation link here: https://github.com/francisbitontistudio/genysis_documentation and press the ‘Clone or download’ drop-down. Select the ‘Open in Desktop’ option.
Your Github desktop application should open and ask you if you would like to clone this repository to a specific file location. The default path being the location of your github repositories with the name of this repository appended onto it. We highly suggest you use the default directory.
By cloning the repository you can open github desktop at any time and press fetch to update all of the genysis-documentation files in case there are any changes.