Spyder IDE Setup for FDS Python Utilities - firemodels/fds GitHub Wiki

Spyder IDE Setup for FDS Python Utilities

Spyder is a popular open-source IDE for Python.
To set it up, first download FDS following:
👉 FDS Compilation Guide

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Linux and macOS

One-time setup

1. Open a terminal and go to:

   cd $FIREMODELS/fds/Utilities/Python
   

2. Run:

   source setup_spyder_env.sh
   

3. Add this line to your ~/.bash_profile (or ~/.bashrc):

   source $FIREMODELS/fds/fds_python_env/bin/activate
   

Next time onwards

From any terminal:

spyder

Spyder will launch, ready to edit, run, and visualize Python scripts (similar to MATLAB).

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Windows

One-time setup

1. Install Python 3.11 or earlier from python.org.
   Python 3.12+ has a DLL issue with NumPy < 2.0 — this will be addressed later.
   Ensure python.exe is in your PATH.
2. Open Command Prompt and go to:

   cd %FIREMODELS%\fds\Utilities\Python
   

3. Run:

   call setup_spyder_env.bat
   

Next time onwards

In Command Prompt:

call %FIREMODELS%\fds\fds_python_env\Scripts\activate
spyder

Spyder will open with the FDS Python environment active.

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Troubleshooting

To reset and reinstall (all platforms):

1. Delete the environment folder:

   rm -rf $FIREMODELS/fds/fds_python_env
   

   (On Windows, delete %FIREMODELS%\fds\fds_python_env manually.)
2. Repeat the setup steps above.