Conda-build: `MANIFEST.in` appears to be ignored when running `python setup.py bdist_conda`

[jakirkham]

It seems that running python setup.py bdist_conda should be somewhat like bdist in that it uses MANIFEST.in to include files that it may not be including otherwise. However, this currently appears not to be the case.

[asmeurer]

Does MANIFEST.in specify stuff things that actually get installed? I thought it was just extra things for the bdist tarball. Anyway, bdist_conda is currently based on install, since that's how conda build works.

[marscher]

This file is very central feature to distutils/setuptools projects, since one defines what is going to be installed and packaged (sdist, bdist etc.). So supporting this is IMHO crucial for operation. I just ran into this, since I'm installing test-data into my projects package via the manifest and it just got silently ignored.

Do you suggest a workaround until this (hopefully) gets fixed?

[marscher]

The funny thing is that the build-wrapper just does the normal install via setup.py, so the data should be there, but it is then not being packaged, when the conda package is created.

[marscher]

using test: files: list in meta.yaml seems to be a temporary workaround, but the conda package is not containing the same stuff as the pypi one. For example I explicitly want to ship the test data, so users can use them for their purposes.

[jakirkham]

If it is data that you want, and you can use setuptools, you could try this ( https://pythonhosted.org/setuptools/setuptools.html#including-data-files ).

[marscher]

The problem with that approach is, that this files are then not included
in sdist, but only bdist commands.

If you tell me, where in conda-build those files are being stripped
away, I want to open a PR to change this. I'm pretty sure that this
behaviour is not expected by literally all external package managers and
it is very hard to spot, why things are failing - just because the
standard way of doing things is broken.

[marscher]

include_package_data=True in setuptools makes not difference either. The
files are just missing in the conda package.

[marscher]

Please note that including data files works perfectly for my projects if only using setuptools. I can not spot the location in the conda build code where my files are being thrown away. Don't you just recursively include the newly installed package in the _build environment?

[marscher]

You're right @jakirkham. If one sets up a proper package_data in setup.py it works perfectly (and it has to, because its written like that). Actually I belive that setuptools/pip does some voodoo to fix missing package_data declarations by parsing the Manifest, but this is not official.

sorry @conda-devs! This issue can be closed as it also works in bdist_conda!

[jasongrout]

I also had a problem where conda build is not including files that the normal python setup.py build includes. It seems for me that the problem is that conda builds the manifest from MANIFEST.in _before_ the install, and I add some files during the install that should be included. Maybe this is part of the issue?

[jakirkham]

To be clear @marscher, I don't believe this can be closed. The fact that MANIFEST.in is ignored still presents a problem.

[wmayner]

Perhaps relevant: pypa/sampleproject#30

[bilderbuchi]

@jakirkham do you still see this issue? I have a package that uses a MANIFEST.in with a recursive-include statement, which gets correctly parsed when I build with python setup.py bdist_conda, so I'm not sure if this still occurs.