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I'm looking for a way to call my python project and display the console on my c# app.

My python project is a bit particular, i use some specific librairy, i even have to install a package whl not avalible with pip, avalible only with python3.7(not with 3.8) etc. So to run the project, i need python 3.7 exactly.

The problem is also that i want to deploy my c# app in ClickOnce to be use by clients, without having them to install a local python version.

I've seen on the net two ways to do work with python and c#, that both doesn't seem working for my need. using python in c# app

1.Call python in a shell

I've imported the python project in my c# app, i've called the python.exe avalible in the venv and i've deployed the app. Everithing seems to work, but i discover that python executable in the venv refer to the local python installation and doesn't seem autonomus. So it was only working for me and not the clients.

  1. Use IronPython in c#

Really far from working, starting by the encoding blowing from everywhere, even in imported librairy like numpy. I've referenced my venv librairy in SetSearchPaths(), and even with that, it's doesn't seem to work.

Any suggestions? The best way i think, would be to have a python.exe independant following the project that can load my venv.

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Python.Included and the Numpy.NET package made with it may work for this:

They are introduced in this post from 2019 and seem to be in active development today, https://medium.com/scisharp/using-python-libraries-in-net-without-a-python-installation-11124d6190cf

That solution does not use IronPython, but Python.NET: https://github.com/pythonnet/pythonnet

IronPython is an implementation of Python in C#, championed by others and then Microsoft itself back in 2010 era. Later Microsoft dropped it and largely the whole notion of supporting dynamic languages on .NET (they made a DLR system for it back then). It is very cool and works for pure Python code.

But NumPy and many useful and popular Python modules are written in C, using the C API of Python.org 's default C written Python implementation, aka. CPython. This is what Microsoft decided to back too instead, because C written Python modules don't work (easily and well) with IronPython. Also IronPython remains at Python 2.7.

Python.NET just bridges the .NET land with the normal CPython interpreter, so that you can call code cross the language boundary. So Numpy and everything works the same as with Python usually. Which is what you want.

Python.Included is one way to deploy that in C# projects - which may or may not work for you, but at least provides a starting point:

Python.Included is an automatic deployment mechanism for .NET packages which depend on the embedded Python distribution. This allows libraries depending on Python and/or Python packages to be deployed via Nuget without having to worry about any local Python installations.

It packages embedded Python (python-3.7.3-embed-amd64.zip) in its .NET assembly and automatically deploys it in the user's home directory upon first execution. On subsequent runs, it will find Python already deployed and therefor doesn't install it again.

If you don't want to use that install mechanism, I think you can just bundle the CPython interpreter with your C# application and use the Python.NET mechanism to call that from your app's directory instead.

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Thanks for the reply, i'm gonna try it!

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