Adding and using specific Python versions

Available Python interpreter versions

See ZEISS INSPECT’s preferences (Edit ► Preferences… – Apps / Python installation) for available Python interpreters.

You can add Python interpreters by adding the path to an existing Python installation on your computer or by installation from an App.

Using a specific Python version in an App

To select a specific Python version (instead of the default) in an App – in the App’s properties:

Go to “Further properties”
Add “Python version”
Provide the desired Python version specification , e.g. “3.12.x”. npm semantic versioning syntax is supported.

Note

Alternatively, you can add the Python version specification directly to metainfo.json: "python-version": "3.12.x"

Caution

“Protected Apps” can only be used with Python interpreters approved by ZEISS (Preferences – Apps / Python installation – Python interpreter: “System”).

Providing a custom Python interpreter as an App

Important

The Python distribution must have the package websocket-client installed!

Download “Python install manager” from https://www.python.org/downloads/

Download the desired Python version

Example:

pymanager install 3.12.7-64 --target .\python-dist

Install websocket-client into the Python directory (mandatory)

.\python-dist\python.exe -m pip install websocket-client

Install additional Python packages (optional)

See step 3.

Create a ZIP archive (replace the archive name as needed)

Compress-Archive -Path .\python-dist\* -DestinationPath .\python-3.12.7-64.zip -Force

Create a new App (e.g. ‘Python 3.12.7’)
Find the App’s uuid in its metainfo.json
Go to the App’s directory in %APPDATA%\gom\2027\gom_edited_addons\<uuid>

In the App’s directory, copy the Python archive into a python\<python_version>\ directory

Example:

gom_edited_addons\<uuid>\
  |
  |-- python
        |
        |-- Python312
              |
              |-- python-3.12.7-64.zip

Click the ‘Refresh’ button in the App Editor

The new Python interpreter is now unpacked into %APPDATA%\gom\2027\gom_python_interpreters\<uuid> (same uuid as the App which provided the Python archive).

You can finalize and export your Python interpreter App as usual.

Creating a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)

Note

An SBOM is a structured list of the software components included in a package, including third-party and transitive dependencies. Its purpose is to make the contents of the package transparent so vendors, customers, and security teams know exactly what was shipped.

A CycloneDX SBOM for the custom Python interpreter App consists of two parts:

The packages BOM: lists all pip-installed packages and their licenses.
The Python distribution BOM: describes the CPython runtime itself.

Both are merged into a single file using cyclonedx-cli.

Important

Do not install cyclonedx-bom into the Python distribution archive that you want to ship. Otherwise the BOM will also contain cyclonedx-bom and its dependencies, even though these packages are not part of the final archive.

1. Install `cyclonedx-bom` outside the portable Python directory

Install cyclonedx-bom into a separate helper Python installation, for example your regular local Python installation:

python -m pip install cyclonedx-bom

You can also use any other Python installation that is not part of the shipped archive.

2. Generate the packages BOM for the target interpreter

Run cyclonedx-py from the helper installation and point it to the Python interpreter inside the portable distribution:

cyclonedx-py environment .\python-dist\python.exe --output-format JSON -o packages-bom.json

This creates packages-bom.json listing all installed packages with their names, versions, licenses, and package URLs (PURLs).

3. Obtain the Python distribution BOM

The Python Software Foundation provides SPDX SBOM files for CPython releases. Download the BOM for your Python version from https://www.python.org/ftp/python/<version>/.

Example for 3.12.7: https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.12.7/

Look for a file named python-<version>-amd64.spdx.json or similar. These files are SPDX JSON and must be converted to CycloneDX JSON before merging with the packages BOM.

4. Convert the Python distribution BOM to CycloneDX

Download the cyclonedx-win-x64.exe standalone binary from https://github.com/CycloneDX/cyclonedx-cli/releases.

Then convert the Python distribution SPDX BOM to CycloneDX JSON:

./cyclonedx-win-x64.exe convert `
   --input-file .\python-3.12.7-amd64.exe.spdx.json `
   --input-format spdxjson `
   --output-file .\python-3.12.7-amd64.cdx.json `
   --output-format json

If no SBOM is available for the specific release, you can create a minimal CycloneDX component entry manually:

{
  "bomFormat": "CycloneDX",
  "specVersion": "1.6",
  "version": 1,
  "components": [
    {
      "type": "application",
      "name": "CPython",
      "version": "3.12.7",
      "licenses": [{ "license": { "id": "PSF-2.0" } }],
      "purl": "pkg:generic/python@3.12.7"
    }
  ]
}

Save this as python-dist-bom.json.

5. Merge the BOMs

Then merge both BOM files into one:

.\cyclonedx-win-x64.exe merge `
   --input-files .\python-3.12.7-amd64.cdx.json packages-bom.json `
    --output-format json `
    --output-file python-3.12.7-64-sbom.json

The resulting python-3.12.7-64-sbom.json covers both the Python runtime and all installed packages.