Error when installing GSAS-II: matplotlib cannot import name cbook
GSAS-II is a fantastic crystallography package developed by the ANL written in python: https://subversion.xray.aps.anl.gov/trac/pyGSAS
During installation, you will find that the package itself cannot be set up properly. When running its bootstrap.py, you will see the following error:
Sorry, this version of Python cannot be
used
for GSAS-II. It is missing the following
package(s):
` matplotlib`
Please install these package(s) and try
running this again.
Showing first error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
` File “GSASII\bootstrap.py”, line 187, in
This is simply the newer matplotlib versions breaks the code (misteriously). I searched on the web for a while and finally found some other people encountering similar problems with some other packages (https://stackoverflow.com/questions/46651581/importerror-cannot-import-name-cbook-when-using-pycharms-profiler?noredirect=1&lq=1). The solution is simple: downgrading the matplotlib to 2.0.2 by running:
conda install matplotlib=2.0.2
Note that I tested both 2.2.x and 2.1.x, and neither worked. 2.0.2 is the highest version that will run GSAS-II.
Update (10/23/2018)
I also found that the recent wxpython version 4.0.x has some problems working with GSAS-II. I downgraded to the classic wxpython 3.0 and now it works fine.