dlopen() fails on Windows

[SimonSapin]

Reported by @randfb on Reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/165bbf/cairocffi_dropin_pycairo_replacement_installs/c7tjwo7
http://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/165bbf/cairocffi_dropin_pycairo_replacement_installs/c7tkae4

I can't install on windows. I had pycairo working fine.
I can do a:

import cairo

without errors, but not

import cairocffi as cairo

319 path = ctypes.util.find_library(name)
320 if path is None:
--> 321 raise OSError("library not found: %r" % (name,))
322 #
323 backend = ffi._backend

OSError: library not found: 'cairo'

It seems that dlopen() fails to find cairo.dll.

@randfb, how did you install pycairo and cairo?

[arigo]

As you've seen, it uses internally ctypes.util.find_library('cairo'). Make sure that this works. Consult if needed http://docs.python.org/2/library/ctypes.html#finding-shared-libraries .

[SimonSapin]

@randfb please try this:

1. Download and extract the GTK all-in-one bundle from http://www.gtk.org/download/win32.php or http://www.gtk.org/download/win64.php depending on whether your Python is 32-bit or 64-bit
2. Add its bin directory to your PATH environment variable
3. In cairocffi/__init__.py, replace ffi.dlopen('cairo') by ffi.dlopen('libcairo-2')

I’ll write up more detailed instruction later.

[SimonSapin]

Alternatively for step 1~2, try the PyGTK all-in-one installer. It installs more stuff, but an installer might be easier than changing the PATH manually.

Step 3 is now done in 07cba79. Please test with the cairocffi’s git version.

[SimonSapin]

Fixed in 0.3 (just released.)

[fjcaetano]

I'm having a similar problem, but it's specifically with 'libcairo.so.2'. I searched the project and realised that there's no file with that name.

Was I supposed to have installed something before cairocffi? I simply ran 'pip install cairocffi'

[SimonSapin]

Hi @fjcaetano. If you issue is not exactly the same, it’s usually better to open a new one and refer to this with the number like #1. What OS are you on? And yes, cairocffi needs cairo.

[sasnfbi1234]

There is no ffi.dlopen('cairo') and I am still having this issue

[SimonSapin]

@sasnfbi1234 Yes, on Windows it’s (probably) ffi.dlopen('libcairo-2'). Did you install cairo?