Common Issues & Errors

Important

This list will be updated as issues and errors are discovered or fixed.

Note

If the information on this page fails to resolve the roadblocks that you are experiencing, please contact us using the contact information listed under the Tracktable Contacts section. Include a description of your problem, the OS and version you’re using, details of your Python/Anaconda environment, and any screenshots and error messages you can capture.

Installation

  • Pip fails to install Tracktable

    Look carefully at the error message. It is most likely an error while trying to install Cartopy, a map rendering toolkit that tracktable uses to render images. This will show up as a complaint about a GEOS version or a request for Proj 4.9.0.

    The solution is to install Cartopy and its dependencies yourself before you try to install Tracktable.

    • If you’re using Anaconda:

      The command conda install --channel conda-forge cartopy should resolve the issue.

    • If you’re using pip:

      Tip

      We highly recommend using Anaconda to install and manage Tracktable and its dependencies.

      • Install the Cartopy required dependencies

      • Once the dependencies are in place, the command pip install cartopy should succeed.

    • If neither of the above worked, then please refer to the Cartopy installation instructions for additional ways to install Cartopy.

    After you have installed Cartopy, retry pip install tracktable.

  • Python reports "Error importing core types.  Path information follows." or "NameError: name '_core_types' is not defined".

    • This is an OS-specific shared library issue. See the second bullet in the Runtime section below.

  • Errors about client certificates, certificate validation, or connections timing out while trying to install anything with Conda or Pip.

    • This is a proxy/SSL issue and outside the scope of this document.

  • Pip tries and fails to build Cartopy

    • If at all possible, please use Anaconda. The developers of Cartopy provide binary packages for Anaconda.

    • If you absolutely can’t use Anaconda and your operating system’s package manager does not include Cartopy, refer to “Pip fails to install Tracktable” above.

Build Time

Note

For more information about building Tracktable from source, please refer to the Installing Tracktable From Source guide. These issues and others are covered there.

  • Boost import targets not found

    • This happens when your installed version of CMake is too old for your installed version of Boost. Please upgrade CMake to at least 3.19.

  • Anaconda CMake package doesn’t include ccmake

    • This is a known bug that has been fixed in conda-forge but has not yet propagated to the main distribution. Install cmake from the conda-forge channel as follows:

      $ conda install --channel conda-forge cmake

  • Old Boost version found in /usr/lib or /usr/lib64

    • Set the Boost_INCLUDE_DIR variable in CMake to point to the location of the include files for your preferred Boost installation. The filenames for the compiled libraries will be updated the next time you press c or Configure.

Runtime

  • Python throwing an error similar to “ModuleNotFoundError: No module named ‘tracktable’”

    • If you installed Tracktable using pip, this error indicates that the Python interpreter you just started is probably not the one for which you installed Tracktable. If you are using virtual environments, make sure the correct one is active.

    • If you installed Tracktable from source, add Tracktable’s installation directory (for example, /usr/local/Python) to the front of your PYTHONPATH environment variable.

  • Python throwing an error similar to “ModuleNotFoundError: No module named ‘<package name>’” that is unrelated to Tracktable

    • If Python can’t find a package that isn’t tracktable it’s possible that the package isn’t installed in the environment. If you are using virtual environments, make sure the correct one is active. If the problem persists, use one of the following commands to install the missing package:

      conda install --channel conda-forge <package name>

      conda install <package name>

      pip3 install <package name>

      Tip

      We highly recommend using Anaconda to install and manage tracktable and it’s dependencies.

  • Python throwing an import or name error referring to the _core_types library when trying to import tracktable

    • This error occurs when the Python interpreter is unable to find a shared library used by Tracktable or one of the libraries it depends upon. Here are the most common remedies:

      1. Microsoft Windows: The C++ runtime library may be missing. It can be downloaded from Microsoft’s Visual C++ downloads page.

      2. MacOS: The ICU library may be too recent. Tracktable 1.5 was built using ICU version 64. If you are using Anaconda, run the following command to install the correct version:

        conda install --channel conda-forge icu=64

        Note

        If Anaconda reports a conflict from that command, you may need to remove and recreate the environment. Conda can often resolve version conflicts when an environment is created. Specify icu=64 as one of the arguments to conda create. Refer to Anaconda Virtual Environment for instructions.

      3. If you built one or more dependencies from source, they may need to be added to your environment. On Windows, add the directory containing the package’s libraries to your PATH environment variable. On Linux, add the package’s library directory to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable. On MacOS, add the package’s library directory to the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable.