build: Package examples outside of the distribution

[cadenmyers13]

Problem

See issues/discussion here: scikit-package/scikit-package#667

Proposed solution

include it in MANIFEST.in and remove this from pyproject.toml

[tool.setuptools]
include-package-data = true

[tool.setuptools.package-data]
"diffpy.cmi" = ["../docs/examples/**/*"]

After doing this, build the sdist and whl files, install the package through them and make sure the cmi copy <example> still works

[cadenmyers13]

@sbillinge This is proving a bit more challenging than i thought. It was probably a bad idea to package examples with diffpy.cmi like we've done. This could get pretty heavy really quick. All of our CLI depends on requirements and examples being packaged with cmi. if you remove the setup.py (see here: https://github.com/diffpy/diffpy.cmi/blob/main/setup.py), code cannot find the necessary information when cmi commands are ran.

One idea for a fix would be to house all examples in a separate github repo, then when the user wants to get an example, the example is pulled from that repo. This would require internet though. Just an idea, im open to other options

[sbillinge]

One idea for a fix would be to house all examples in a separate github repo, then when the user wants to get an example, the example is pulled from that repo. This would require internet though. Just an idea, im open to other options

This would be fine. I can see occasions where it would be inconvenient (live demo in a room with bad internet for example), but in general, I would say it is a good tradeoff. If we have an "install all" kind of functionality it would be quick and easy to get all the examples before the demo for example.

What would be involved in making this switch?