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Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 20:07:39 -0500
Subject: Re: How do I update a virtualenv?
From: Skip Montanaro <skip@pobox.com>
To: Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com>
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>> Hmmm... And my git repo?
>
> Usually the virtualenv is outside the git repo (and vice-versa), but git
> repos are also easy to recreate from the git server if you need to.  Maybe I
> don't understand what you mean?

I'm using Heroku, following their instructions. They have a "git init"
in the midst of things, so I wind up with a git repo that matches up
one-to-one for my Django project. ("git push" installs).

Part of the problem here is, of course, that I have done essentially
no web work since the days of editing HTML directly. I just have to
hunt around for something I can sort of understand and that has some
recommendations from someone I trust (in this case, some of the
denizens of chicago@python.org), and head off in that direction. I'm
sure the combinations of packaging systems, web application platforms,
and distribution tools are nearly limitless. I don't enough time left
to investigate and try out every combination, so for now, it's
HomeBrew+Django+Heroku. The decision to switch from MacPorts to
HomeBrew may well turn out to be problematic, but it is what it is.

>> I imagine I will eventually figure this out,
>> but updating an existing virtualenv in place to adapt to a new version
>> of Python (say, a new micro) or some of its libraries (contents of
>> requirements.txt) seems like it would be a very nice thing to have.
>
> "pip install --upgrade" will upgrade your Python packages.  "pip install -r
> requirements.txt"  will install new packages or versions named in the
> requirements.txt file.

Thanks. That's done.

So, in addition to the various virtualenv bits I needed to

* move .git and .gitignore from the old directory
* recreate the heroku stuff
* set up the remote heroku association again
* push everything
* sync the database

None of these things have anything to do with virtualenv, but they all
were things *in* the virtualenv. There are clearly various dot files
left laying around in my old virtualenv. I still think it would have
been easier overall if I was able to refresh the virtualenv in place.
It all boils down to a virtualenv only being one piece of a larger
puzzle. I'm not sure its constraints should drive the entire process.

Skip