shared libraries - python pip specify a library directory and an include directory

Question

I am using pip and trying to install a python module called pyodbc which has some dependencies on non-python libraries like unixodbc-dev, unixodbc-bin, unixodbc. I cannot install these dependencies system wide at the moment, as I am only playing, so I have installed them in a non-standard location. How do I tell pip where to look for these dependencies ? More exactly, how do I pass information through pip of include dirs (gcc -I) and library dirs (gcc -L -l) to be used when building the pyodbc extension ?

Answer 1

pip has a --global-option flag

You can use it to pass additional flags to build_ext.
For instance, to add a --library-dirs (-L) flag:
pip install --global-option=build_ext --global-option="-L/path/to/local" pyodbc

gcc supports also environment variables: http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Environment-Variables.html

I couldn't find any build_ext documentation, so here is the command line help

Options for 'build_ext' command:
  --build-lib (-b)     directory for compiled extension modules
  --build-temp (-t)    directory for temporary files (build by-products)
  --plat-name (-p)     platform name to cross-compile for, if supported
                       (default: linux-x86_64)
  --inplace (-i)       ignore build-lib and put compiled extensions into the
                       source directory alongside your pure Python modules
  --include-dirs (-I)  list of directories to search for header files
                       (separated by ':')
  --define (-D)        C preprocessor macros to define
  --undef (-U)         C preprocessor macros to undefine
  --libraries (-l)     external C libraries to link with
  --library-dirs (-L)  directories to search for external C libraries
                       (separated by ':')
  --rpath (-R)         directories to search for shared C libraries at runtime
  --link-objects (-O)  extra explicit link objects to include in the link
  --debug (-g)         compile/link with debugging information
  --force (-f)         forcibly build everything (ignore file timestamps)
  --compiler (-c)      specify the compiler type
  --swig-cpp           make SWIG create C++ files (default is C)
  --swig-opts          list of SWIG command line options
  --swig               path to the SWIG executable
  --user               add user include, library and rpath
  --help-compiler      list available compilers