importing pyttsx3 in python3.8 and found an error

Question

I downloaded pyttsx3 in command prompt I have a big error this the code:

import pyttsx3
engine = pyttsx3.init()
engine.say("I will speak this text")
engine.runAndWait()

output error:

''' = RESTART: C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\text t speech.py Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\pyttsx3_init_.py", line 20, in init eng = _activeEngines[driverName] File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\weakref.py", line 131, in getitem o = self.datakey KeyError: None

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\pyttsx3\drivers\sapi5.py", line 3, in <module>
    from comtypes.gen import SpeechLib  # comtypes
ImportError: cannot import name 'SpeechLib' from 'comtypes.gen' (C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\comtypes\gen\__init__.py)

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\ctypes\__init__.py", line 123, in WINFUNCTYPE
    return _win_functype_cache[(restype, argtypes, flags)]
KeyError: (<class 'ctypes.HRESULT'>, (<class 'comtypes.automation.tagVARIANT'>, <class 'ctypes.wintypes.LP_c_long'>), 0)

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\text t speech.py", line 2, in <module>
    engine = pyttsx3.init()
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\pyttsx3\__init__.py", line 22, in init
    eng = Engine(driverName, debug)
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\pyttsx3\engine.py", line 30, in __init__
    self.proxy = driver.DriverProxy(weakref.proxy(self), driverName, debug)
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\pyttsx3\driver.py", line 50, in __init__
    self._module = importlib.import_module(name)
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\importlib\__init__.py", line 127, in import_module
    return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:], package, level)
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1014, in _gcd_import
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 991, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 975, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 671, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 783, in exec_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 219, in _call_with_frames_removed
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\pyttsx3\drivers\sapi5.py", line 6, in <module>
    engine = comtypes.client.CreateObject("SAPI.SpVoice")
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\comtypes\client\__init__.py", line 250, in CreateObject
    return _manage(obj, clsid, interface=interface)
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\comtypes\client\__init__.py", line 188, in _manage
    obj = GetBestInterface(obj)
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\comtypes\client\__init__.py", line 110, in GetBestInterface
    mod = GetModule(tlib)
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\comtypes\client\_generate.py", line 110, in GetModule
    mod = _CreateWrapper(tlib, pathname)
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\comtypes\client\_generate.py", line 184, in _CreateWrapper
    mod = _my_import(fullname)
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\comtypes\client\_generate.py", line 24, in _my_import
    return __import__(fullname, globals(), locals(), ['DUMMY'])
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\comtypes\gen\_C866CA3A_32F7_11D2_9602_00C04F8EE628_0_5_4.py", line 1467, in <module>
    ISpeechBaseStream._methods_ = [
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\comtypes\__init__.py", line 329, in __setattr__
    self._make_methods(value)
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\site-packages\comtypes\__init__.py", line 698, in _make_methods
    prototype = WINFUNCTYPE(restype, *argtypes)
  File "C:\Users\RAMS\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38\lib\ctypes\__init__.py", line 125, in WINFUNCTYPE
    class WinFunctionType(_CFuncPtr):
TypeError: item 1 in _argtypes_ passes a union by value, which is unsupported

''' this is the error I don't know why In command prompt pip install pyttsx3:

Requirement already satisfied: pyttsx3 in c:\users\rams\appdata\local\programs\p
ython\python38\lib\site-packages (2.90)
Requirement already satisfied: comtypes; platform_system == "Windows" in c:\user
s\rams\appdata\local\programs\python\python38\lib\site-packages (from pyttsx3) (
1.1.7)
Requirement already satisfied: pypiwin32; platform_system == "Windows" in c:\use
rs\rams\appdata\local\programs\python\python38\lib\site-packages (from pyttsx3)
(223)
Requirement already satisfied: pywin32; platform_system == "Windows" in c:\users
\rams\appdata\local\programs\python\python38\lib\site-packages (from pyttsx3) (2
28)

Answer 1

I had a similar error when trying to import pyttsx3. I downgraded to Python 3.7 and then it worked without issues.

Answer 2

Pyttsx3 isn't compatible with the newer python versions like 3.8 and most likely the upcoming 3.9. While I haven't tested with python 3.7, I recommend using 3.6 or 3.5 because these versions are compatible with the majority of libraries out there right now and are great for any big projects including Speech Recognition. I have done this and my python project featuring google SpeechRecognition works very well.

Answer 3

First, install Python version 3.6 or 3.5 in your system. Then, install this version pip install pyttsx3==2.86. It will work!