Why am I getting an invalid syntax easy_install error?

Question

I need to use easy_install to install a package. I installed the enthought distribution, and popped into IDLE to say:

>>> easy_install SQLobject
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

What am I doing wrong? easy_install certainly exists, as does the package. help('easy_install') gives me some basic help. import easy_install doesn't change things either.

Any hints? I know I'm missing something really basic here.

I've clarified your question title. Can we please stop using the words "fail", "win" and "so much awesome", they're not funny and they're really annoying when they're peppered through questions. — Soviut, Mar 09 '09 at 03:03

score 19 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 08 '09 at 22:58

19

easy_install is a shell command. You don't need to put it in a python script.

easy_install SQLobject

Type that straight into a bash (or other) shell, as long as easy_install is in your path.

answered Mar 08 '09 at 22:58

Matthew Schinckel

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Hm, I must have no idea what I'm doing to confuse them that much. Thanks, that works great! – Mar 08 '09 at 23:32
Tip: mark the answer that best solves your problem as "Accepted" – Matthew Schinckel Aug 26 '10 at 03:13

Why am I getting an invalid syntax easy_install error?

1 Answers1