Initializing help system before first use

# Module Installation

To install the xpressinsight module, complete the following steps. You must have administrator account privileges on the host machine.
Python 2 and Python 3 are different programs, and Python 2 installations can be run separately from the Python 3 version on the same system.
Important: Python 2 is not supported by the `xpressinsight` module.
You might have multiple versions of Python, however only one can be set as the default. You can check to see if there are two installations on your system.

## Windows

Both the Python 2 and Python 3 executables are named python.exe. To check the default version of Python you are running, open a Command window and enter the following command:

    python --version

On Windows, The different installations are identified by the output from the command.

Example output of a Python 2 installation: | `Python 2.7.2`
Example output of a Python 3 installation: | `Python 3.9.0`

Do not call the python3.exe executable on Windows. It is not part of the Python distribution. It is provided by Microsoft and when you execute it, Windows will ask you to install Python from the Microsoft Store. This is not necessary, use the binaries from https://www.python.org or https://www.anaconda.com.

## Linux and Mac

The python executable usually points to a Python 2 installation and python3 points to a Python 3 installation. For this reason, it is recommended to call Python 3 directly via the python3 executable. Open a Terminal window and type the following command to check the version of Python 3 you have installed on Linux and Mac:

     python3 --version

The python3 executable on Linux and Mac must not be confused with the python3 Mosel module.
Use the following command see whether the 'python' executable points to a Python 2 or 3 installation:

    python --version

## Install the xpressinsight module

Full instructions on installing the Insight Python module, including the supported versions, are available in the Installation and Setup section of the Insight Python Reference provided in the online FICO Documentation site.

You might see f2py and pip warnings when you install certain packages, such as pandas. The pip command can be run with the `--no-warn-script-location` argument to suppress the first warning.

Parent Topic Python Development Environment

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