# Using Paraview.simple externally Numpy error
**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/using-paraview-simple-externally-numpy-error/5630
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Tags:** python
**Created:** [October 22, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/using-paraview-simple-externally-numpy-error/5630 "2020-10-22T15:28:38Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Alexandros](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Alexandros)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/using-paraview-simple-externally-numpy-error/5630/1 "2020-10-22T15:28:38Z")
Dear all,
I need to run paraview.simple externaly on my python distribution for extracting several results. I followed the instructions found online and added to pythonpath the following: /home/alexandrosstathas/PlotEnv/bin/ParaView-5.8.1-MPI-Linux-Python3.7-64bit/lib/python3.7/site-packages/
While paraview.simple loads fine, when I try to import numpy I get the following error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “/home/alexandrosstathas/PlotEnv/bin/ParaView-5.8.1-MPI-Linux-Python3.7-64bit/lib/python3.7/site-packages/numpy/core/ **init**.py”, line 40, in
from . import multiarray
File “/home/alexandrosstathas/PlotEnv/bin/ParaView-5.8.1-MPI-Linux-Python3.7-64bit/lib/python3.7/site-packages/numpy/core/multiarray.py”, line 12, in
from . import overrides
File “/home/alexandrosstathas/PlotEnv/bin/ParaView-5.8.1-MPI-Linux-Python3.7-64bit/lib/python3.7/site-packages/numpy/core/overrides.py”, line 6, in
from numpy.core.\_multiarray\_umath import (
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named ‘numpy.core.\_multiarray\_umath’
During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File “”, line 1, in
File “/home/alexandrosstathas/PlotEnv/bin/ParaView-5.8.1-MPI-Linux-Python3.7-64bit/lib/python3.7/site-packages/numpy/ **init**.py”, line 142, in
from . import core
File “/home/alexandrosstathas/PlotEnv/bin/ParaView-5.8.1-MPI-Linux-Python3.7-64bit/lib/python3.7/site-packages/numpy/core/ **init**.py”, line 71, in
raise ImportError(msg)
ImportError:
IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ THIS FOR ADVICE ON HOW TO SOLVE THIS ISSUE!
Importing the multiarray numpy extension module failed. Most
likely you are trying to import a failed build of numpy.
Here is how to proceed:
- If you’re working with a numpy git repository, try `git clean -xdf`
(removes all files not under version control) and rebuild numpy.
- If you are simply trying to use the numpy version that you have installed:
your installation is broken - please reinstall numpy.
- If you have already reinstalled and that did not fix the problem, then:
1. Check that you are using the Python you expect (you’re using /home/alexandrosstathas/PlotEnv/bin/python),
and that you have no directories in your PATH or PYTHONPATH that can
interfere with the Python and numpy versions you’re trying to use.
2. If (1) looks fine, you can open a new issue at
[https://github.com/numpy/numpy/issues](https://github.com/numpy/numpy/issues). Please include details on:
Original error was: No module named ‘numpy.core.\_multiarray\_umath’
Based on the error above I looked for problems in numpy, but numpy installation works fine by itself. Next I searched for possible conflicts with my pythonpath but wasn’t able to locate any.
My Pythonpath is:
[’/home/alexandrosstathas’, ‘/home/alexandrosstathas/PlotEnv/bin/ParaView-5.8.1-MPI-Linux-Python3.7-64bit/lib/python3.7/site-packages’, ‘/usr/lib/python36.zip’, ‘/usr/lib/python3.6’, ‘/usr/lib/python3.6/lib-dynload’, ‘/home/alexandrosstathas/PlotEnv/lib/python3.6/site-packages’]
I am using the last version of Paraview downloaded from the site. The installation of numpy,matplotlib etc was done via pip. Does anyone have an idea why the error appears?
---
### Author:  [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [May 15, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/using-paraview-simple-externally-numpy-error/5630/2 "2021-05-15T18:22:09Z")
> [@Alexandros](#):
>
> The installation of numpy,matplotlib etc was done via pip.
The ParaView binaries ship with its own copies of these libraries. There’s no (supported) way to use external numpy or matplotlib.
---
### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2021, 8:13am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/using-paraview-simple-externally-numpy-error/5630/3 "2021-05-17T08:13:31Z")
Of course, one can always compile ParaView instead of using the binary.