[Qgis-user] contour plugin

[David M. Lawrence]

On 7/9/2012 4:40 AM, Giovanni Manghi wrote:
> ImportError: No module named matplotlib
> the message is clear, you misses matplotlib, that is easily installable
> with osgeo4w or with your favourite package manager if you use Linux.
>
> cheers
>
> -- Giovanni --
>
No, the message is not clear.  I am a scientist, journalist, and do a 
fair bit of computer programming in other languages, but could use some 
better documentation myself.

Can someone provide step-by-step instructions -- with URLs needed to 
obtain modules -- so that those of us can get contour properly up and 
running?

Bullet points:
1) I use Win7-64.
2) I have QGIS 1.8 installed.
3) I seem to have OSGeo4W installed.
4) I separately installed the appropriate version of Python 2.8 for my 
processor.
5) I separately installed the appropriate version of NumPy for my 
processor/Python combination.
6) I separately installed the appropriate version of SciPyfor my 
processor/Python combination(I thought I saw it was needed for 
matplotlib or one of matplotlib's prerequisites).
7) I separately installed the appropriate version of matplotlibfor my 
processor/Python combination.

After all that, contour still freezes when I run it (all I get is a "Not 
Responding" for several hours with no other error message).  Maybe it 
takes that long, but I only have about 400 points to contour at present.

I fully appreciate that I may have not installed something properly, but 
after several hours of googling this and that to figure out how to get 
this or that installed and functioning I am no closer to a solution.  
So, please, don't be afraid to insult my intelligence -- you'll fail 
anyway -- but please be explicit and clear as to how I and others 
interested in the plugin can get it running.  Don't assume we know 
something you think is basic information.

I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here, but I am a communications 
professional -- in addition to being a geographer and natural scientist 
-- and I know something about how to get a message across.  Right now, 
I'd really, really like to get one.

Thank you all for your time.

Dave

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