GRAMPS (Geneology) and Python problems

Neoslak · 10-15-2006, 07:58 AM

Hi -

I've been trying to get the GRAMPS genealogy program to work on Slackware using packages from linuxpackages.net and/or compiling my own but I've run into a problem that I haven't been able to figure out a solution to and I don't know for sure if it is a dependency problem, a configuration problem, or a bug somewhere.

I'm currently running Slackware 11.0 with Freerock Gnome 2.14.3

Regardless of whether I install the package from linuxpackages.net (gramps-2.0.9rc1-i486-2rsa.tgz), or any of the later versions that I built packages for myself that I have tried (gramps-2.0.10, 2.0.11, or 2.2.0rc1), whenever I run gramps I get:

----
$ gramps
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/usr/share/gramps/gramps.py", line 43, in ?
import gtk.gdk
File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/PIL/__init__.py", line 45, in ?

File "/usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/cairo/__init__.py", line 1, in ?
from _cairo import *
ImportError: /usr/lib/python2.4/site-packages/cairo/_cairo.so: undefined symbol: cairo_pdf_surface_create

--------

I also get the same error if I just run python from the command line and just type 'import gtk.gdk'

I even get this error if I just type 'gramps --help'.

So, I'm not sure what package this gtk.gdk python module or whatever it is is supposed to be in.

As part of FRG I have installed:
gnome-python-2.16.0-i486-1frg
gnome-python-desktop-2.16.0-i486-1frg
gnome-python-extras-2.14.2-i486-1frg
pygtk-2.8.6-i486-1frg
pyorbit-2.14.1-i486-1frg
pygobject-2.10.1-i486-1frg
pycairo-1.0.2-i486-2frg
etc., etc.

The README in the GRAMPS sources says:
Requirements
--------------------------------
The following packages *MUST* be installed in order for Gramps to work:
Python 2.3 or greater
Gnome 2.8 or greater
PyGTK2 2.4 or greater
Gnome-python 2.6 or greater

Any help at all would be much appreciated as I would really like to get this program to work under Slackware.

I used to use a program called Personal Ancestral File (PAF) under Windows and I have a huge genealogy database that I'd like to import into GRAMPS. Unfortunatley the PAF program hasn't been usable under WINE, and I haven't used Windows since 1999 and don't intend to. GRAMPS looks like about the only program that comes even close to having the functionality I need under Linux.

I've googled and searched forums mailing lists and recompiled and checked dependencies, and asked on IRC etc. for hours and hours and hours trying to get this problem resolved.

Any ideas?

Thanks -

Chuck Bell

tronayne · 10-15-2006, 08:27 AM

I tried -- and failed -- to get gramps working (more than once) and went to two alternatives: LifeLines (http://lifelines.sourceforge.net) and PhpGedView (http://www.phpgedview.net). If you've got a GEDCOM (not a PAF) file, either of those is quite useful; PhpGedView more so than LifeLines (which is a curses-based application, works fine, but it can be tricky).

PhpGedView imports your GEDCOM to a MySQL data base (this is a real plus), and you can have multiple data bases. It's a LAMP application, so it does not depend on any particular window manager (no GNOME problems or KDE problems to deal with). If your server is publicly available, any family member can use PhpGedView with any browser (you permit login and password for access).

Neither of these is PAF or FamilyTreeMaker (yet!), but they're a whole lot less screwing around to get going -- I'd give 'em a try.

Neoslak · 10-15-2006, 03:06 PM

Thanks for the suggestions, but I'd really like to get GRAMPS working. I've got other programs such as GeneWeb http://cristal.inria.fr/%7Eddr/GeneWeb/ which is good.

Anybody familiar with Python know what is up with this gtk.gdk module?

Thanks -

Chuck

dracolich · 10-15-2006, 06:40 PM

I, too, tried GRAMPS a few times unsuccessfully. I got the same errors even though I had the required gnome libs. I found FTree, which is very small, works in any GUI, supports GEDCOM5.5, add the Graphviz package to make visual reports. It might be ugly compared to GRAMPS but it works!

TSquaredF · 11-14-2006, 03:24 PM

I've been using gramps in -current for quite a while. I'm using the following packages, as recommended on linuxpackages.net:

Code:

Slackware package     Freerock Gnome packages		
python >= 2.4.3		/frgnome/desktop/gnome-doc-utils >= 0.6.1
			/frgnome/desktop/scrollkeeper >= 0.3.14
			/frgnome/platform/gamin >= 0.1.7
			/frgnome/platform/gtk+2 >= 2.8.20 (replaces Slackware package)
			/frgnome/platform/pycairo >= 1.0.2
			/frgnome/platform/pygobject >= 2.10.1
			/frgnome/platform/pygtk >= 2.8.6
			/frgnome/platform/pyorbit >= 2.14.1

I think the difference may be in using the FRG gtk+2 package, instead of the Slackware package. I'm currently using a slackbuild I wrote to compile gramps & it works really well.
Regards,
Bill

Neoslak · 11-14-2006, 03:47 PM

Hi - Yeah I finally did get Gramps working with Slackware 11 and by upgrading Freerock GNOME to the newer 2.16.x version in frg-unstable compiled for Slackware 11. It works pretty good now. Thanks!

Chuck