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\layout Title

IPython
\newline 

\size larger 
An enhanced Interactive Python
\size large 

\newline 
User Manual, v.
 __version__
\layout Author

Fernando P�rez
\begin_inset Foot
collapsed true

\layout Standard


\size scriptsize 
Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Colorado at Boulder.
 
\family typewriter 
<[e-mail]>
\end_inset 


\layout Standard


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\begin_inset LatexCommand \tableofcontents{}

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\layout Section
\pagebreak_top 
Overview
\layout Standard

One of Python's most useful features is its interactive interpreter.
 This system allows very fast testing of ideas without the overhead of creating
 test files as is typical in most programming languages.
 However, the interpreter supplied with the standard Python distribution
 is somewhat limited for extended interactive use.
\layout Standard

IPython is a free software project (released under the BSD license) which
 tries to:
\layout Enumerate

Provide an interactive shell superior to Python's default.
 IPython has many features for object introspection, system shell access,
 and its own special command system for adding functionality when working
 interactively.
 It tries to be a very efficient environment both for Python code development
 and for exploration of problems using Python objects (in situations like
 data analysis).
\layout Enumerate

Serve as an embeddable, ready to use interpreter for your own programs.
 IPython can be started with a single call from inside another program,
 providing access to the current namespace.
 This can be very useful both for debugging purposes and for situations
 where a blend of batch-processing and interactive exploration are needed.
\layout Enumerate

Offer a flexible framework which can be used as the base environment for
 other systems with Python as the underlying language.
 Specifically scientific environments like Mathematica, IDL and Matlab inspired
 its design, but similar ideas can be useful in many fields.
\layout Enumerate

Allow interactive testing of threaded graphical toolkits.
 IPython has support for interactive, non-blocking control of GTK, Qt and
 WX applications via special threading flags.
 The normal Python shell can only do this for Tkinter applications.
\layout Subsection

Main features
\layout Itemize

Dynamic object introspection.
 One can access docstrings, function definition prototypes, source code,
 source files and other details of any object accessible to the interpreter
 with a single keystroke (`
\family typewriter 
?
\family default 
', and using `
\family typewriter 
??
\family default 
' provides additional detail).
\layout Itemize

Searching through modules and namespaces with `
\family typewriter 
*
\family default 
' wildcards, both when using the `
\family typewriter 
?
\family default 
' system and via the 
\family typewriter 
%psearch
\family default 
 command.
\layout Itemize

Completion in the local namespace, by typing TAB at the prompt.
 This works for keywords, methods, variables and files in the current directory.
 This is supported via the readline library, and full access to configuring
 readline's behavior is provided.
\layout Itemize

Numbered input/output prompts with command history (persistent across sessions
 and tied to each profile), full searching in this history and caching of
 all input and output.
\layout Itemize

User-extensible `magic' commands.
 A set of commands prefixed with 
\family typewriter 
%
\family default 
 is available for controlling IPython itself and provides directory control,
 namespace information and many aliases to common system shell commands.
\layout Itemize

Alias facility for defining your own system aliases.
\layout Itemize

Complete system shell access.
 Lines starting with ! are passed directly to the system shell, and using
 !! captures shell output into python variables for further use.
\layout Itemize

Background execution of Python commands in a separate thread.
 IPython has an internal job manager called 
\family typewriter 
jobs
\family default 
, and a conveninence backgrounding magic function called 
\family typewriter 
%bg
\family default 
.
\layout Itemize

The ability to expand python variables when calling the system shell.
 In a shell command, any python variable prefixed with 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
 is expanded.
 A double 
\family typewriter 
$$
\family default 
 allows passing a literal 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
 to the shell (for access to shell and environment variables like 
\family typewriter 
$PATH
\family default 
).
\layout Itemize

Filesystem navigation, via a magic 
\family typewriter 
%cd
\family default 
 command, along with a persistent bookmark system (using 
\family typewriter 
%bookmark
\family default 
) for fast access to frequently visited directories.
\layout Itemize

A lightweight persistence framework via the 
\family typewriter 
%store
\family default 
 command, which allows you to save arbitrary Python variables.
 These get restored automatically when your session restarts.
\layout Itemize

Automatic indentation (optional) of code as you type (through the readline
 library).
\layout Itemize

Macro system for quickly re-executing multiple lines of previous input with
 a single name.
 Macros can be stored persistently via 
\family typewriter 
%store
\family default 
 and edited via 
\family typewriter 
%edit
\family default 
.
 
\layout Itemize

Session logging (you can then later use these logs as code in your programs).
 Logs can optionally timestamp all input, and also store session output
 (marked as comments, so the log remains valid Python source code).
\layout Itemize

Session restoring: logs can be replayed to restore a previous session to
 the state where you left it.
\layout Itemize

Verbose and colored exception traceback printouts.
 Easier to parse visually, and in verbose mode they produce a lot of useful
 debugging information (basically a terminal version of the cgitb module).
\layout Itemize

Auto-parentheses: callable objects can be executed without parentheses:
 
\family typewriter 
`sin 3'
\family default 
 is automatically converted to 
\family typewriter 
`sin(3)
\family default 
'.
\layout Itemize

Auto-quoting: using `
\family typewriter 
,
\family default 
' or `
\family typewriter 
;
\family default 
' as the first character forces auto-quoting of the rest of the line: 
\family typewriter 
`,my_function a\SpecialChar ~
b'
\family default 
 becomes automatically 
\family typewriter 
`my_function("a","b")'
\family default 
, while 
\family typewriter 
`;my_function a\SpecialChar ~
b'
\family default 
 becomes 
\family typewriter 
`my_function("a b")'
\family default 
.
\layout Itemize

Extensible input syntax.
 You can define filters that pre-process user input to simplify input in
 special situations.
 This allows for example pasting multi-line code fragments which start with
 
\family typewriter 
`>>>'
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
`...'
\family default 
 such as those from other python sessions or the standard Python documentation.
\layout Itemize

Flexible configuration system.
 It uses a configuration file which allows permanent setting of all command-line
 options, module loading, code and file execution.
 The system allows recursive file inclusion, so you can have a base file
 with defaults and layers which load other customizations for particular
 projects.
\layout Itemize

Embeddable.
 You can call IPython as a python shell inside your own python programs.
 This can be used both for debugging code or for providing interactive abilities
 to your programs with knowledge about the local namespaces (very useful
 in debugging and data analysis situations).
\layout Itemize

Easy debugger access.
 You can set IPython to call up an enhanced version of the Python debugger
 (
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
) every time there is an uncaught exception.
 This drops you inside the code which triggered the exception with all the
 data live and it is possible to navigate the stack to rapidly isolate the
 source of a bug.
 The 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 magic command --with the 
\family typewriter 
-d
\family default 
 option-- can run any script under 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
's control, automatically setting initial breakpoints for you.
 This version of 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 has IPython-specific improvements, including tab-completion and traceback
 coloring support.
\layout Itemize

Profiler support.
 You can run single statements (similar to 
\family typewriter 
profile.run()
\family default 
) or complete programs under the profiler's control.
 While this is possible with standard 
\family typewriter 
cProfile
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
profile
\family default 
 modules, IPython wraps this functionality with magic commands (see 
\family typewriter 
`%prun'
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
`%run -p
\family default 
') convenient for rapid interactive work.
\layout Subsection

Portability and Python requirements
\layout Standard


\series bold 
Python requirements: 
\series default 
IPython requires with Python version 2.3 or newer.
 If you are still using Python 2.2 and can not upgrade, the last version
 of IPython which worked with Python 2.2 was 0.6.15, so you will have to use
 that.
\layout Standard

IPython is developed under 
\series bold 
Linux
\series default 
, but it should work in any reasonable Unix-type system (tested OK under
 Solaris and the *BSD family, for which a port exists thanks to Dryice Liu).
\layout Standard


\series bold 
Mac OS X
\series default 
: it works, apparently without any problems (thanks to Jim Boyle at Lawrence
 Livermore for the information).
 Thanks to Andrea Riciputi, Fink support is available.
\layout Standard


\series bold 
CygWin
\series default 
: it works mostly OK, though some users have reported problems with prompt
 coloring.
 No satisfactory solution to this has been found so far, you may want to
 disable colors permanently in the 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 configuration file if you experience problems.
 If you have proper color support under cygwin, please post to the IPython
 mailing list so this issue can be resolved for all users.
\layout Standard


\series bold 
Windows
\series default 
: it works well under Windows XP/2k, and I suspect NT should behave similarly.
 Section\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sub:Under-Windows}

\end_inset 

 describes installation details for Windows, including some additional tools
 needed on this platform.
\layout Standard

Windows 9x support is present, and has been reported to work fine (at least
 on WinME).
\layout Standard

Note, that I have very little access to and experience with Windows development.
 However, an excellent group of Win32 users (led by Ville Vainio), consistently
 contribute bugfixes and platform-specific enhancements, so they more than
 make up for my deficiencies on that front.
 In fact, Win32 users report using IPython as a system shell (see Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:IPython-as-shell}

\end_inset 

 for details), as it offers a level of control and features which the default
 
\family typewriter 
cmd.exe
\family default 
 doesn't provide.
\layout Subsection

Location
\layout Standard

IPython is generously hosted at 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://ipython.scipy.org}

\end_inset 

 by the Enthought, Inc and the SciPy project.
 This site offers downloads, subversion access, mailing lists and a bug
 tracking system.
 I am very grateful to Enthought (
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://www.enthought.com}

\end_inset 

) and all of the SciPy team for their contribution.
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:install}

\end_inset 

Installation
\layout Subsection

Instant instructions
\layout Standard

If you are of the impatient kind, under Linux/Unix simply untar/unzip the
 download, then install with 
\family typewriter 
`python setup.py install'
\family default 
.
 Under Windows, double-click on the provided 
\family typewriter 
.exe
\family default 
 binary installer.
\layout Standard

Then, take a look at Sections 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:good_config}

\end_inset 

 for configuring things optimally and 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:quick_tips}

\end_inset 

 for quick tips on efficient use of IPython.
 You can later refer to the rest of the manual for all the gory details.
\layout Standard

See the notes in sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:upgrade}

\end_inset 

 for upgrading IPython versions.
\layout Subsection

Detailed Unix instructions (Linux, Mac OS X, etc.)
\layout Standard

For RPM based systems, simply install the supplied package in the usual
 manner.
 If you download the tar archive, the process is:
\layout Enumerate

Unzip/untar the 
\family typewriter 
ipython-XXX.tar.gz
\family default 
 file wherever you want (
\family typewriter 
XXX
\family default 
 is the version number).
 It will make a directory called 
\family typewriter 
ipython-XXX.
 
\family default 
Change into that directory where you will find the files 
\family typewriter 
README
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
setup.py
\family default 
.

\family typewriter 
 O
\family default 
nce you've completed the installation, you can safely remove this directory.
 
\layout Enumerate

If you are installing over a previous installation of version 0.2.0 or earlier,
 first remove your 
\family typewriter 
$HOME/.ipython
\family default 
 directory, since the configuration file format has changed somewhat (the
 '=' were removed from all option specifications).
 Or you can call ipython with the 
\family typewriter 
-upgrade
\family default 
 option and it will do this automatically for you.
\layout Enumerate

IPython uses distutils, so you can install it by simply typing at the system
 prompt (don't type the 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
)
\newline 

\family typewriter 
$ python setup.py install
\family default 

\newline 
Note that this assumes you have root access to your machine.
 If you don't have root access or don't want IPython to go in the default
 python directories, you'll need to use the 
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
verb|--home|
\end_inset 

 option (or 
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
verb|--prefix|
\end_inset 

).
 For example:
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
verb|$ python setup.py install --home $HOME/local|
\end_inset 


\newline 
will install IPython into 
\family typewriter 
$HOME/local 
\family default 
and its subdirectories (creating them if necessary).
\newline 
You can type
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
verb|$ python setup.py --help|
\end_inset 

 
\newline 
for more details.
\newline 
Note that if you change the default location for 
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
verb|--home|
\end_inset 

 at installation, IPython may end up installed at a location which is not
 part of your 
\family typewriter 
$PYTHONPATH
\family default 
 environment variable.
 In this case, you'll need to configure this variable to include the actual
 directory where the 
\family typewriter 
IPython/
\family default 
 directory ended (typically the value you give to 
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
verb|--home|
\end_inset 

 plus 
\family typewriter 
/lib/python
\family default 
).
\layout Subsubsection

Mac OSX information
\layout Standard

Under OSX, there is a choice you need to make.
 Apple ships its own build of Python, which lives in the core OSX filesystem
 hierarchy.
 You can also manually install a separate Python, either purely by hand
 (typically in 
\family typewriter 
/usr/local
\family default 
) or by using Fink, which puts everything under 
\family typewriter 
/sw
\family default 
.
 Which route to follow is a matter of personal preference, as I've seen
 users who favor each of the approaches.
 Here I will simply list the known installation issues under OSX, along
 with their solutions.
\layout Standard

This page: 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~tobis/pylab.html}

\end_inset 

 contains information on this topic, with additional details on how to make
 IPython and matplotlib play nicely under OSX.
\layout Subsubsection*

GUI problems
\layout Standard

The following instructions apply to an install of IPython under OSX from
 unpacking the 
\family typewriter 
.tar.gz
\family default 
 distribution and installing it for the default Python interpreter shipped
 by Apple.
 If you are using a fink install, fink will take care of these details for
 you, by installing IPython against fink's Python.
\layout Standard

IPython offers various forms of support for interacting with graphical applicati
ons from the command line, from simple Tk apps (which are in principle always
 supported by Python) to interactive control of WX, Qt and GTK apps.
 Under OSX, however, this requires that ipython is installed by calling
 the special 
\family typewriter 
pythonw
\family default 
 script at installation time, which takes care of coordinating things with
 Apple's graphical environment.
\layout Standard

So when installing under OSX, it is best to use the following command:
\family typewriter 

\newline 

\family default 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
verb|  $ sudo pythonw setup.py install --install-scripts=/usr/local/bin|
\end_inset 


\newline 
 or
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
verb|  $ sudo pythonw setup.py install --install-scripts=/usr/bin|
\end_inset 


\newline 
depending on where you like to keep hand-installed executables.
\layout Standard

The resulting script will have an appropriate shebang line (the first line
 in the script whic begins with 
\family typewriter 
#!...
\family default 
) such that the ipython interpreter can interact with the OS X GUI.
 If the installed version does not work and has a shebang line that points
 to, for example, just 
\family typewriter 
/usr/bin/python
\family default 
, then you might have a stale, cached version in your 
\family typewriter 
build/scripts-<python-version>
\family default 
 directory.
 Delete that directory and rerun the 
\family typewriter 
setup.py
\family default 
.
 
\layout Standard

It is also a good idea to use the special flag 
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
verb|--install-scripts|
\end_inset 

 as indicated above, to ensure that the ipython scripts end up in a location
 which is part of your 
\family typewriter 
$PATH
\family default 
.
 Otherwise Apple's Python will put the scripts in an internal directory
 not available by default at the command line (if you use 
\family typewriter 
/usr/local/bin
\family default 
, you need to make sure this is in your 
\family typewriter 
$PATH
\family default 
, which may not be true by default).
\layout Subsubsection*

Readline problems
\layout Standard

By default, the Python version shipped by Apple does 
\emph on 
not
\emph default 
 include the readline library, so central to IPython's behavior.
 If you install IPython against Apple's Python, you will not have arrow
 keys, tab completion, etc.
 For Mac OSX 10.3 (Panther), you can find a prebuilt readline library here:
\newline 

\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://pythonmac.org/packages/readline-5.0-py2.3-macosx10.3.zip}

\end_inset 

 
\layout Standard

If you are using OSX 10.4 (Tiger), after installing this package you need
 to either: 
\layout Enumerate

move 
\family typewriter 
readline.so
\family default 
 from 
\family typewriter 
/Library/Python/2.3
\family default 
 to 
\family typewriter 
/Library/Python/2.3/site-packages
\family default 
, or
\layout Enumerate

install 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://pythonmac.org/packages/TigerPython23Compat.pkg.zip}

\end_inset 


\layout Standard

Users installing against Fink's Python or a properly hand-built one should
 not have this problem.
\layout Subsubsection*

DarwinPorts
\layout Standard

I report here a message from an OSX user, who suggests an alternative means
 of using IPython under this operating system with good results.
 Please let me know of any updates that may be useful for this section.
 His message is reproduced verbatim below:
\layout Quote

From: Markus Banfi 
\family typewriter 
<markus.banfi-AT-mospheira.net>
\layout Quote

As a MacOS X (10.4.2) user I prefer to install software using DawinPorts instead
 of Fink.
 I had no problems installing ipython with DarwinPorts.
 It's just:
\layout Quote


\family typewriter 
sudo port install py-ipython
\layout Quote

It automatically resolved all dependencies (python24, readline, py-readline).
 So far I did not encounter any problems with the DarwinPorts port of ipython.
 
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sub:Under-Windows}

\end_inset 

Windows instructions
\layout Standard

Some of IPython's very useful features are:
\layout Itemize

Integrated readline support (Tab-based file, object and attribute completion,
 input history across sessions, editable command line, etc.)
\layout Itemize

Coloring of prompts, code and tracebacks.
\layout Standard

These, by default, are only available under Unix-like operating systems.
 However, thanks to Gary Bishop's work, Windows XP/2k users can also benefit
 from them.
 His readline library originally implemented both GNU readline functionality
 and color support, so that IPython under Windows XP/2k can be as friendly
 and powerful as under Unix-like environments.
 
\layout Standard

This library, now named 
\family typewriter 
PyReadline
\family default 
, has been absorbed by the IPython team (J�rgen Stenarson, in particular),
 and it continues to be developed with new features, as well as being distribute
d directly from the IPython site.
\layout Standard

The
\family typewriter 
 PyReadline
\family default 
 extension requires 
\family typewriter 
CTypes
\family default 
 and the windows IPython installer needs 
\family typewriter 
PyWin32
\family default 
, so in all you need:
\layout Enumerate


\family typewriter 
PyWin32
\family default 
 from 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://starship.python.net/crew/mhammond}

\end_inset 

.
\layout Enumerate


\family typewriter 
CTypes
\family default 
 from 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://starship.python.net/crew/theller/ctypes}

\end_inset 

 (you 
\emph on 
must
\emph default 
 use version 0.9.1 or newer).
\layout Enumerate


\family typewriter 
PyReadline
\family default 
 for Windows from 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://projects.scipy.org/ipython/ipython/wiki/PyReadline/Intro}

\end_inset 

.
 That page contains further details on using and configuring the system
 to your liking.
\layout Standard


\series bold 
Warning about a broken readline-like library:
\series default 
 several users have reported problems stemming from using the pseudo-readline
 library at 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://newcenturycomputers.net/projects/readline.html}

\end_inset 

.
 This is a broken library which, while called readline, only implements
 an incomplete subset of the readline API.
 Since it is still called readline, it fools IPython's detection mechanisms
 and causes unpredictable crashes later.
 If you wish to use IPython under Windows, you must NOT use this library,
 which for all purposes is (at least as of version 1.6) terminally broken.
\layout Subsubsection

Installation procedure
\layout Standard

Once you have the above installed, from the IPython download directory grab
 the 
\family typewriter 
ipython-XXX.win32.exe
\family default 
 file, where 
\family typewriter 
XXX
\family default 
 represents the version number.
 This is a regular windows executable installer, which you can simply double-cli
ck to install.
 It will add an entry for IPython to your Start Menu, as well as registering
 IPython in the Windows list of applications, so you can later uninstall
 it from the Control Panel.
 
\layout Standard

IPython tries to install the configuration information in a directory named
 
\family typewriter 
.ipython
\family default 
 (
\family typewriter 
_ipython
\family default 
 under Windows) located in your `home' directory.
 IPython sets this directory by looking for a 
\family typewriter 
HOME
\family default 
 environment variable; if such a variable does not exist, it uses 
\family typewriter 
HOMEDRIVE
\backslash 
HOMEPATH 
\family default 
(these are always defined by Windows).
 This typically gives something like 
\family typewriter 
C:
\backslash 
Documents and Settings
\backslash 
YourUserName
\family default 
, but your local details may vary.
 In this directory you will find all the files that configure IPython's
 defaults, and you can put there your profiles and extensions.
 This directory is automatically added by IPython to 
\family typewriter 
sys.path
\family default 
, so anything you place there can be found by 
\family typewriter 
import
\family default 
 statements.
\layout Paragraph

Upgrading
\layout Standard

For an IPython upgrade, you should first uninstall the previous version.
 This will ensure that all files and directories (such as the documentation)
 which carry embedded version strings in their names are properly removed.
\layout Paragraph

Manual installation under Win32
\layout Standard

In case the automatic installer does not work for some reason, you can download
 the 
\family typewriter 
ipython-XXX.tar.gz
\family default 
 file, which contains the full IPython source distribution (the popular
 WinZip can read 
\family typewriter 
.tar.gz
\family default 
 files).
 After uncompressing the archive, you can install it at a command terminal
 just like any other Python module, by using 
\family typewriter 
`python setup.py install'
\family default 
.
 
\layout Standard

After the installation, run the supplied 
\family typewriter 
win32_manual_post_install.py 
\family default 
script, which creates the necessary Start Menu shortcuts for you.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:upgrade}

\end_inset 

Upgrading from a previous version
\layout Standard

If you are upgrading from a previous version of IPython, after doing the
 routine installation described above, you should call IPython with the
 
\family typewriter 
-upgrade
\family default 
 option the first time you run your new copy.
 This will automatically update your configuration directory while preserving
 copies of your old files.
 You can then later merge back any personal customizations you may have
 made into the new files.
 It is a good idea to do this as there may be new options available in the
 new configuration files which you will not have.
\layout Standard

Under Windows, if you don't know how to call python scripts with arguments
 from a command line, simply delete the old config directory and IPython
 will make a new one.
 Win2k and WinXP users will find it in 
\family typewriter 
C:
\backslash 
Documents and Settings
\backslash 
YourUserName
\backslash 
_ipython
\family default 
, and Win 9x users under 
\family typewriter 
C:
\backslash 
Program Files
\backslash 
IPython
\backslash 
_ipython.
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:good_config}

\end_inset 


\begin_inset OptArg
collapsed true

\layout Standard

Initial configuration
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
ldots
\end_inset 


\end_inset 

Initial configuration of your environment
\layout Standard

This section will help you set various things in your environment for your
 IPython sessions to be as efficient as possible.
 All of IPython's configuration information, along with several example
 files, is stored in a directory named by default 
\family typewriter 
$HOME/.ipython
\family default 
.
 You can change this by defining the environment variable 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR
\family default 
, or at runtime with the command line option 
\family typewriter 
-ipythondir
\family default 
.
\layout Standard

If all goes well, the first time you run IPython it should automatically
 create a user copy of the config directory for you, based on its builtin
 defaults.
 You can look at the files it creates to learn more about configuring the
 system.
 The main file you will modify to configure IPython's behavior is called
 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 (with a 
\family typewriter 
.ini
\family default 
 extension under Windows), included for reference in Sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:ipytonrc-sample}

\end_inset 

.
 This file is very commented and has many variables you can change to suit
 your taste, you can find more details in Sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:customization}

\end_inset 

.
 Here we discuss the basic things you will want to make sure things are
 working properly from the beginning.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:help-access}

\end_inset 

Access to the Python help system
\layout Standard

This is true for Python in general (not just for IPython): you should have
 an environment variable called 
\family typewriter 
PYTHONDOCS
\family default 
 pointing to the directory where your HTML Python documentation lives.
 In my system it's 
\family typewriter 
/usr/share/doc/python-docs-2.3.4/html
\family default 
, check your local details or ask your systems administrator.
 
\layout Standard

This is the directory which holds the HTML version of the Python manuals.
 Unfortunately it seems that different Linux distributions package these
 files differently, so you may have to look around a bit.
 Below I show the contents of this directory on my system for reference:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
[html]> ls
\newline 
about.dat acks.html dist/ ext/ index.html lib/ modindex.html stdabout.dat tut/
 about.html api/ doc/ icons/ inst/ mac/ ref/ style.css
\layout Standard

You should really make sure this variable is correctly set so that Python's
 pydoc-based help system works.
 It is a powerful and convenient system with full access to the Python manuals
 and all modules accessible to you.
\layout Standard

Under Windows it seems that pydoc finds the documentation automatically,
 so no extra setup appears necessary.
\layout Subsection

Editor
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
%edit
\family default 
 command (and its alias 
\family typewriter 
%ed
\family default 
) will invoke the editor set in your environment as 
\family typewriter 
EDITOR
\family default 
.
 If this variable is not set, it will default to 
\family typewriter 
vi
\family default 
 under Linux/Unix and to 
\family typewriter 
notepad
\family default 
 under Windows.
 You may want to set this variable properly and to a lightweight editor
 which doesn't take too long to start (that is, something other than a new
 instance of 
\family typewriter 
Emacs
\family default 
).
 This way you can edit multi-line code quickly and with the power of a real
 editor right inside IPython.
 
\layout Standard

If you are a dedicated 
\family typewriter 
Emacs
\family default 
 user, you should set up the 
\family typewriter 
Emacs
\family default 
 server so that new requests are handled by the original process.
 This means that almost no time is spent in handling the request (assuming
 an 
\family typewriter 
Emacs
\family default 
 process is already running).
 For this to work, you need to set your 
\family typewriter 
EDITOR 
\family default 
environment variable to 
\family typewriter 
'emacsclient'
\family default 
.

\family typewriter 
 
\family default 
The code below, supplied by Francois Pinard, can then be used in your 
\family typewriter 
.emacs
\family default 
 file to enable the server:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
(defvar server-buffer-clients)
\newline 
(when (and (fboundp 'server-start) (string-equal (getenv "TERM") 'xterm))
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
(server-start)
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
(defun fp-kill-server-with-buffer-routine ()
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
(and server-buffer-clients (server-done)))
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
(add-hook 'kill-buffer-hook 'fp-kill-server-with-buffer-routine))
\layout Standard

You can also set the value of this editor via the commmand-line option '-
\family typewriter 
editor'
\family default 
 or in your 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 file.
 This is useful if you wish to use specifically for IPython an editor different
 from your typical default (and for Windows users who tend to use fewer
 environment variables).
\layout Subsection

Color 
\layout Standard

The default IPython configuration has most bells and whistles turned on
 (they're pretty safe).
 But there's one that 
\emph on 
may
\emph default 
 cause problems on some systems: the use of color on screen for displaying
 information.
 This is very useful, since IPython can show prompts and exception tracebacks
 with various colors, display syntax-highlighted source code, and in general
 make it easier to visually parse information.
\layout Standard

The following terminals seem to handle the color sequences fine:
\layout Itemize

Linux main text console, KDE Konsole, Gnome Terminal, E-term, rxvt, xterm.
\layout Itemize

CDE terminal (tested under Solaris).
 This one boldfaces light colors.
\layout Itemize

(X)Emacs buffers.
 See sec.
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:emacs}

\end_inset 

 for more details on using IPython with (X)Emacs.
\layout Itemize

A Windows (XP/2k) command prompt 
\emph on 
with Gary Bishop's support extensions
\emph default 
.
 Gary's extensions are discussed in Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sub:Under-Windows}

\end_inset 

.
\layout Itemize

A Windows (XP/2k) CygWin shell.
 Although some users have reported problems; it is not clear whether there
 is an issue for everyone or only under specific configurations.
 If you have full color support under cygwin, please post to the IPython
 mailing list so this issue can be resolved for all users.
\layout Standard

These have shown problems:
\layout Itemize

Windows command prompt in WinXP/2k logged into a Linux machine via telnet
 or ssh.
\layout Itemize

Windows native command prompt in WinXP/2k, 
\emph on 
without 
\emph default 
Gary Bishop's extensions.
 Once Gary's readline library is installed, the normal WinXP/2k command
 prompt works perfectly.
\layout Standard

Currently the following color schemes are available:
\layout Itemize


\family typewriter 
NoColor
\family default 
: uses no color escapes at all (all escapes are empty 
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset 

 
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset 

 strings).
 This 'scheme' is thus fully safe to use in any terminal.
\layout Itemize


\family typewriter 
Linux
\family default 
: works well in Linux console type environments: dark background with light
 fonts.
 It uses bright colors for information, so it is difficult to read if you
 have a light colored background.
\layout Itemize


\family typewriter 
LightBG
\family default 
: the basic colors are similar to those in the 
\family typewriter 
Linux
\family default 
 scheme but darker.
 It is easy to read in terminals with light backgrounds.
\layout Standard

IPython uses colors for two main groups of things: prompts and tracebacks
 which are directly printed to the terminal, and the object introspection
 system which passes large sets of data through a pager.
\layout Subsubsection

Input/Output prompts and exception tracebacks
\layout Standard

You can test whether the colored prompts and tracebacks work on your system
 interactively by typing 
\family typewriter 
'%colors Linux'
\family default 
 at the prompt (use '
\family typewriter 
%colors LightBG'
\family default 
 if your terminal has a light background).
 If the input prompt shows garbage like:
\newline 

\family typewriter 
[0;32mIn [[1;32m1[0;32m]: [0;00m
\family default 

\newline 
instead of (in color) something like:
\newline 

\family typewriter 
In [1]:
\family default 
 
\newline 
this means that your terminal doesn't properly handle color escape sequences.
 You can go to a 'no color' mode by typing '
\family typewriter 
%colors NoColor
\family default 
'.
 
\layout Standard

You can try using a different terminal emulator program (Emacs users, see
 below).
 To permanently set your color preferences, edit the file
\family typewriter 
 $HOME/.ipython/ipythonrc 
\family default 
and set the 
\family typewriter 
colors
\family default 
 option to the desired value.
\layout Subsubsection

Object details (types, docstrings, source code, etc.)
\layout Standard

IPython has a set of special functions for studying the objects you are
 working with, discussed in detail in Sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:dyn-object-info}

\end_inset 

.
 But this system relies on passing information which is longer than your
 screen through a data pager, such as the common Unix 
\family typewriter 
less
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
more
\family default 
 programs.
 In order to be able to see this information in color, your pager needs
 to be properly configured.
 I strongly recommend using 
\family typewriter 
less
\family default 
 instead of 
\family typewriter 
more
\family default 
, as it seems that 
\family typewriter 
more
\family default 
 simply can not understand colored text correctly.
\layout Standard

In order to configure 
\family typewriter 
less
\family default 
 as your default pager, do the following:
\layout Enumerate

Set the environment 
\family typewriter 
PAGER
\family default 
 variable to 
\family typewriter 
less
\family default 
.
\layout Enumerate

Set the environment 
\family typewriter 
LESS
\family default 
 variable to 
\family typewriter 
-r
\family default 
 (plus any other options you always want to pass to 
\family typewriter 
less
\family default 
 by default).
 This tells 
\family typewriter 
less
\family default 
 to properly interpret control sequences, which is how color information
 is given to your terminal.
\layout Standard

For the 
\family typewriter 
csh
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
tcsh
\family default 
 shells, add to your 
\family typewriter 
~/.cshrc
\family default 
 file the lines:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
setenv PAGER less
\newline 
setenv LESS -r
\layout Standard

There is similar syntax for other Unix shells, look at your system documentation
 for details.
\layout Standard

If you are on a system which lacks proper data pagers (such as Windows),
 IPython will use a very limited builtin pager.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:emacs}

\end_inset 

(X)Emacs configuration
\layout Standard

Thanks to the work of Alexander Schmolck and Prabhu Ramachandran, currently
 (X)Emacs and IPython get along very well.
 
\layout Standard


\series bold 
Important note:
\series default 
 You will need to use a recent enough version of 
\family typewriter 
python-mode.el
\family default 
, along with the file 
\family typewriter 
ipython.el
\family default 
.
 You can check that the version you have of 
\family typewriter 
python-mode.el
\family default 
 is new enough by either looking at the revision number in the file itself,
 or asking for it in (X)Emacs via 
\family typewriter 
M-x py-version
\family default 
.
 Versions 4.68 and newer contain the necessary fixes for proper IPython support.
\layout Standard

The file 
\family typewriter 
ipython.el
\family default 
 is included with the IPython distribution, in the documentation directory
 (where this manual resides in PDF and HTML formats).
\layout Standard

Once you put these files in your Emacs path, all you need in your 
\family typewriter 
.emacs
\family default 
 file is:
\layout LyX-Code

(require 'ipython)
\layout Standard

This should give you full support for executing code snippets via IPython,
 opening IPython as your Python shell via 
\family typewriter 
C-c\SpecialChar ~
!
\family default 
, etc.
 
\layout Standard

If you happen to get garbage instead of colored prompts as described in
 the previous section, you may need to set also in your 
\family typewriter 
.emacs
\family default 
 file:
\layout LyX-Code

(setq ansi-color-for-comint-mode t)
\layout Subsubsection*

Notes
\layout Itemize

There is one caveat you should be aware of: you must start the IPython shell
 
\emph on 
before
\emph default 
 attempting to execute any code regions via 
\family typewriter 
C-c\SpecialChar ~
|
\family default 
.
 Simply type 
\family typewriter 
C-c\SpecialChar ~
!
\family default 
 to start IPython before passing any code regions to the interpreter, and
 you shouldn't experience any problems.
\newline 
This is due to a bug in Python itself, which has been fixed for Python 2.3,
 but exists as of Python 2.2.2 (reported as SF bug [ 737947 ]).
\layout Itemize

The (X)Emacs support is maintained by Alexander Schmolck, so all comments/reques
ts should be directed to him through the IPython mailing lists.
 
\layout Itemize

This code is still somewhat experimental so it's a bit rough around the
 edges (although in practice, it works quite well).
\layout Itemize

Be aware that if you customize 
\family typewriter 
py-python-command
\family default 
 previously, this value will override what 
\family typewriter 
ipython.el
\family default 
 does (because loading the customization variables comes later).
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:quick_tips}

\end_inset 

Quick tips
\layout Standard

IPython can be used as an improved replacement for the Python prompt, and
 for that you don't really need to read any more of this manual.
 But in this section we'll try to summarize a few tips on how to make the
 most effective use of it for everyday Python development, highlighting
 things you might miss in the rest of the manual (which is getting long).
 We'll give references to parts in the manual which provide more detail
 when appropriate.
\layout Standard

The following article by Jeremy Jones provides an introductory tutorial
 about IPython:
\newline 

\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/python/2005/01/27/ipython.html}

\end_inset 


\layout Itemize

The TAB key.
 TAB-completion, especially for attributes, is a convenient way to explore
 the structure of any object you're dealing with.
 Simply type 
\family typewriter 
object_name.<TAB>
\family default 
 and a list of the object's attributes will be printed (see sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:readline}

\end_inset 

 for more).
 Tab completion also works on file and directory names, which combined with
 IPython's alias system allows you to do from within IPython many of the
 things you normally would need the system shell for.
 
\layout Itemize

Explore your objects.
 Typing 
\family typewriter 
object_name?
\family default 
 will print all sorts of details about any object, including docstrings,
 function definition lines (for call arguments) and constructor details
 for classes.
 The magic commands 
\family typewriter 
%pdoc
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
%pdef
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
%psource
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
%pfile
\family default 
 will respectively print the docstring, function definition line, full source
 code and the complete file for any object (when they can be found).
 If automagic is on (it is by default), you don't need to type the '
\family typewriter 
%
\family default 
' explicitly.
 See sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:dyn-object-info}

\end_inset 

 for more.
\layout Itemize

The 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 magic command allows you to run any python script and load all of its data
 directly into the interactive namespace.
 Since the file is re-read from disk each time, changes you make to it are
 reflected immediately (in contrast to the behavior of 
\family typewriter 
import
\family default 
).
 I rarely use 
\family typewriter 
import
\family default 
 for code I am testing, relying on 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 instead.
 See sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:magic}

\end_inset 

 for more on this and other magic commands, or type the name of any magic
 command and ? to get details on it.
 See also sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:dreload}

\end_inset 

 for a recursive reload command.
\newline 

\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 also has special flags for timing the execution of your scripts (
\family typewriter 
-t
\family default 
) and for executing them under the control of either Python's 
\family typewriter 
pdb 
\family default 
debugger (
\family typewriter 
-d
\family default 
) or profiler (
\family typewriter 
-p
\family default 
).
 With all of these, 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 can be used as the main tool for efficient interactive development of code
 which you write in your editor of choice.
\layout Itemize

Use the Python debugger, 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 

\begin_inset Foot
collapsed true

\layout Standard

Thanks to Christian Hart and Matthew Arnison for the suggestions leading
 to IPython's improved debugger and profiler support.
\end_inset 

.
 The 
\family typewriter 
%pdb
\family default 
 command allows you to toggle on and off the automatic invocation of an
 IPython-enhanced 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 debugger (with coloring, tab completion and more) at any uncaught exception.
 The advantage of this is that 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 starts 
\emph on 
inside
\emph default 
 the function where the exception occurred, with all data still available.
 You can print variables, see code, execute statements and even walk up
 and down the call stack to track down the true source of the problem (which
 often is many layers in the stack above where the exception gets triggered).
\newline 
Running programs with 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 and pdb active can be an efficient to develop and debug code, in many cases
 eliminating the need for 
\family typewriter 
print
\family default 
 statements or external debugging tools.
 I often simply put a 
\family typewriter 
1/0
\family default 
 in a place where I want to take a look so that pdb gets called, quickly
 view whatever variables I need to or test various pieces of code and then
 remove the 
\family typewriter 
1/0
\family default 
.
\newline 
Note also that `
\family typewriter 
%run -d
\family default 
' activates 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 and automatically sets initial breakpoints for you to step through your
 code, watch variables, etc.
 See Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:cache_output}

\end_inset 

 for details.
\layout Itemize

Use the output cache.
 All output results are automatically stored in a global dictionary named
 
\family typewriter 
Out
\family default 
 and variables named 
\family typewriter 
_1
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
_2
\family default 
, etc.
 alias them.
 For example, the result of input line 4 is available either as 
\family typewriter 
Out[4]
\family default 
 or as 
\family typewriter 
_4
\family default 
.
 Additionally, three variables named 
\family typewriter 
_
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
__
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
___
\family default 
 are always kept updated with the for the last three results.
 This allows you to recall any previous result and further use it for new
 calculations.
 See Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:cache_output}

\end_inset 

 for more.
\layout Itemize

Put a '
\family typewriter 
;
\family default 
' at the end of a line to supress the printing of output.
 This is useful when doing calculations which generate long output you are
 not interested in seeing.
 The 
\family typewriter 
_*
\family default 
 variables and the 
\family typewriter 
Out[]
\family default 
 list do get updated with the contents of the output, even if it is not
 printed.
 You can thus still access the generated results this way for further processing.
\layout Itemize

A similar system exists for caching input.
 All input is stored in a global list called 
\family typewriter 
In
\family default 
 , so you can re-execute lines 22 through 28 plus line 34 by typing 
\family typewriter 
'exec In[22:29]+In[34]'
\family default 
 (using Python slicing notation).
 If you need to execute the same set of lines often, you can assign them
 to a macro with the 
\family typewriter 
%macro
\family default 
 
\family typewriter 
function.
 
\family default 
See sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:cache_input}

\end_inset 

 for more.
\layout Itemize

Use your input history.
 The 
\family typewriter 
%hist
\family default 
 command can show you all previous input, without line numbers if desired
 (option 
\family typewriter 
-n
\family default 
) so you can directly copy and paste code either back in IPython or in a
 text editor.
 You can also save all your history by turning on logging via 
\family typewriter 
%logstart
\family default 
; these logs can later be either reloaded as IPython sessions or used as
 code for your programs.
\layout Itemize

Define your own system aliases.
 Even though IPython gives you access to your system shell via the 
\family typewriter 
!
\family default 
 prefix, it is convenient to have aliases to the system commands you use
 most often.
 This allows you to work seamlessly from inside IPython with the same commands
 you are used to in your system shell.
\newline 
IPython comes with some pre-defined aliases and a complete system for changing
 directories, both via a stack (see 
\family typewriter 
%pushd
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
%popd
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
%dhist
\family default 
) and via direct 
\family typewriter 
%cd
\family default 
.
 The latter keeps a history of visited directories and allows you to go
 to any previously visited one.
\layout Itemize

Use Python to manipulate the results of system commands.
 The `
\family typewriter 
!!
\family default 
' special syntax, and the 
\family typewriter 
%sc
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
%sx
\family default 
 magic commands allow you to capture system output into Python variables.
\layout Itemize

Expand python variables when calling the shell (either via 
\family typewriter 
`!'
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
`!!'
\family default 
 or via aliases) by prepending a 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
 in front of them.
 You can also expand complete python expressions.
 See sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sub:System-shell-access}

\end_inset 

 for more.
\layout Itemize

Use profiles to maintain different configurations (modules to load, function
 definitions, option settings) for particular tasks.
 You can then have customized versions of IPython for specific purposes.
 See sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:profiles}

\end_inset 

 for more.
\layout Itemize

Embed IPython in your programs.
 A few lines of code are enough to load a complete IPython inside your own
 programs, giving you the ability to work with your data interactively after
 automatic processing has been completed.
 See sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:embed}

\end_inset 

 for more.
\layout Itemize

Use the Python profiler.
 When dealing with performance issues, the 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 command with a 
\family typewriter 
-p
\family default 
 option allows you to run complete programs under the control of the Python
 profiler.
 The 
\family typewriter 
%prun
\family default 
 command does a similar job for single Python expressions (like function
 calls).
\layout Itemize

Use the IPython.demo.Demo class to load any Python script as an interactive
 demo.
 With a minimal amount of simple markup, you can control the execution of
 the script, stopping as needed.
 See sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:interactive-demos}

\end_inset 

 for more.
\layout Subsection

Source code handling tips
\layout Standard

IPython is a line-oriented program, without full control of the terminal.
 Therefore, it doesn't support true multiline editing.
 However, it has a number of useful tools to help you in dealing effectively
 with more complex editing.
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
%edit
\family default 
 command gives a reasonable approximation of multiline editing, by invoking
 your favorite editor on the spot.
 IPython will execute the code you type in there as if it were typed interactive
ly.
 Type 
\family typewriter 
%edit?
\family default 
 for the full details on the edit command.
\layout Standard

If you have typed various commands during a session, which you'd like to
 reuse, IPython provides you with a number of tools.
 Start by using 
\family typewriter 
%hist
\family default 
 to see your input history, so you can see the line numbers of all input.
 Let us say that you'd like to reuse lines 10 through 20, plus lines 24
 and 28.
 All the commands below can operate on these with the syntax
\layout LyX-Code

%command 10-20 24 28
\layout Standard

where the command given can be:
\layout Itemize


\family typewriter 
%macro <macroname>
\family default 
: this stores the lines into a variable which, when called at the prompt,
 re-executes the input.
 Macros can be edited later using 
\family typewriter 
`%edit macroname
\family default 
', and they can be stored persistently across sessions with `
\family typewriter 
%store macroname
\family default 
' (the storage system is per-profile).
 The combination of quick macros, persistent storage and editing, allows
 you to easily refine quick-and-dirty interactive input into permanent utilities
, always available both in IPython and as files for general reuse.
\layout Itemize


\family typewriter 
%edit
\family default 
: this will open a text editor with those lines pre-loaded for further modificat
ion.
 It will then execute the resulting file's contents as if you had typed
 it at the prompt.
\layout Itemize


\family typewriter 
%save <filename>
\family default 
: this saves the lines directly to a named file on disk.
\layout Standard

While 
\family typewriter 
%macro
\family default 
 saves input lines into memory for interactive re-execution, sometimes you'd
 like to save your input directly to a file.
 The 
\family typewriter 
%save
\family default 
 magic does this: its input sytnax is the same as 
\family typewriter 
%macro
\family default 
, but it saves your input directly to a Python file.
 Note that the 
\family typewriter 
%logstart
\family default 
 command also saves input, but it logs 
\emph on 
all
\emph default 
 input to disk (though you can temporarily suspend it and reactivate it
 with 
\family typewriter 
%logoff/%logon
\family default 
); 
\family typewriter 
%save
\family default 
 allows you to select which lines of input you need to save.
\layout Subsubsection*

Lightweight 'version control'
\layout Standard

When you call 
\family typewriter 
%edit
\family default 
 with no arguments, IPython opens an empty editor with a temporary file,
 and it returns the contents of your editing session as a string variable.
 Thanks to IPython's output caching mechanism, this is automatically stored:
\layout LyX-Code

In [1]: %edit
\layout LyX-Code

IPython will make a temporary file named: /tmp/ipython_edit_yR-HCN.py
\layout LyX-Code

Editing...
 done.
 Executing edited code...
\layout LyX-Code

hello - this is a temporary file
\layout LyX-Code

Out[1]: "print 'hello - this is a temporary file'
\backslash 
n"
\layout Standard

Now, if you call 
\family typewriter 
`%edit -p'
\family default 
, IPython tries to open an editor with the same data as the last time you
 used 
\family typewriter 
%edit
\family default 
.
 So if you haven't used 
\family typewriter 
%edit
\family default 
 in the meantime, this same contents will reopen; however, it will be done
 in a 
\emph on 
new file
\emph default 
.
 This means that if you make changes and you later want to find an old version,
 you can always retrieve it by using its output number, via 
\family typewriter 
`%edit _NN'
\family default 
, where 
\family typewriter 
NN
\family default 
 is the number of the output prompt.
\layout Standard

Continuing with the example above, this should illustrate this idea:
\layout LyX-Code

In [2]: edit -p
\layout LyX-Code

IPython will make a temporary file named: /tmp/ipython_edit_nA09Qk.py
\layout LyX-Code

Editing...
 done.
 Executing edited code...
\layout LyX-Code

hello - now I made some changes
\layout LyX-Code

Out[2]: "print 'hello - now I made some changes'
\backslash 
n"
\layout LyX-Code

In [3]: edit _1
\layout LyX-Code

IPython will make a temporary file named: /tmp/ipython_edit_gy6-zD.py
\layout LyX-Code

Editing...
 done.
 Executing edited code...
\layout LyX-Code

hello - this is a temporary file
\layout LyX-Code

IPython version control at work :)
\layout LyX-Code

Out[3]: "print 'hello - this is a temporary file'
\backslash 
nprint 'IPython version control at work :)'
\backslash 
n"
\layout Standard

This section was written after a contribution by Alexander Belchenko on
 the IPython user list.
\layout LyX-Code

\layout Subsection

Effective logging
\layout Standard

A very useful suggestion sent in by Robert Kern follows:
\layout Standard

I recently happened on a nifty way to keep tidy per-project log files.
 I made a profile for my project (which is called "parkfield").
\layout LyX-Code

include ipythonrc
\layout LyX-Code

# cancel earlier logfile invocation:
\layout LyX-Code

logfile ''
\layout LyX-Code

execute import time
\layout LyX-Code

execute __cmd = '/Users/kern/research/logfiles/parkfield-%s.log rotate'
\layout LyX-Code

execute __IP.magic_logstart(__cmd % time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d'))
\layout Standard

I also added a shell alias for convenience:
\layout LyX-Code

alias parkfield="ipython -pylab -profile parkfield"
\layout Standard

Now I have a nice little directory with everything I ever type in, organized
 by project and date.
\layout Standard


\series bold 
Contribute your own: 
\series default 
If you have your own favorite tip on using IPython efficiently for a certain
 task (especially things which can't be done in the normal Python interpreter),
 don't hesitate to send it!
\layout Section

Command-line use
\layout Standard

You start IPython with the command:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
$ ipython [options] files
\layout Standard

If invoked with no options, it executes all the files listed in sequence
 and drops you into the interpreter while still acknowledging any options
 you may have set in your ipythonrc file.
 This behavior is different from standard Python, which when called as 
\family typewriter 
python -i
\family default 
 will only execute one file and ignore your configuration setup.
\layout Standard

Please note that some of the configuration options are not available at
 the command line, simply because they are not practical here.
 Look into your ipythonrc configuration file for details on those.
 This file typically installed in the 
\family typewriter 
$HOME/.ipython
\family default 
 directory.
 For Windows users, 
\family typewriter 
$HOME
\family default 
 resolves to 
\family typewriter 
C:
\backslash 

\backslash 
Documents and Settings
\backslash 

\backslash 
YourUserName
\family default 
 in most instances.
 In the rest of this text, we will refer to this directory as 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR
\family default 
.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:threading-opts}

\end_inset 

Special Threading Options
\layout Standard

The following special options are ONLY valid at the beginning of the command
 line, and not later.
 This is because they control the initial- ization of ipython itself, before
 the normal option-handling mechanism is active.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-gthread,\SpecialChar ~
-qthread,\SpecialChar ~
-wthread,\SpecialChar ~
-pylab:
\family default 
\series default 
 Only 
\emph on 
one
\emph default 
 of these can be given, and it can only be given as the first option passed
 to IPython (it will have no effect in any other position).
 They provide threading support for the GTK Qt and WXPython toolkits, and
 for the matplotlib library.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 With any of the first three options, IPython starts running a separate
 thread for the graphical toolkit's operation, so that you can open and
 control graphical elements from within an IPython command line, without
 blocking.
 All three provide essentially the same functionality, respectively for
 GTK, QT and WXWidgets (via their Python interfaces).
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 Note that with 
\family typewriter 
-wthread
\family default 
, you can additionally use the -wxversion option to request a specific version
 of wx to be used.
 This requires that you have the 
\family typewriter 
wxversion
\family default 
 Python module installed, which is part of recent wxPython distributions.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 If 
\family typewriter 
-pylab
\family default 
 is given, IPython loads special support for the mat plotlib library (
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net}

\end_inset 

), allowing interactive usage of any of its backends as defined in the user's
 
\family typewriter 
~/.matplotlib/matplotlibrc
\family default 
 file.
 It automatically activates GTK, Qt or WX threading for IPyhton if the choice
 of matplotlib backend requires it.
 It also modifies the 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 command to correctly execute (without blocking) any matplotlib-based script
 which calls 
\family typewriter 
show()
\family default 
 at the end.
 
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-tk
\family default 
\series default 
 The 
\family typewriter 
-g/q/wthread
\family default 
 options, and 
\family typewriter 
-pylab
\family default 
 (if matplotlib is configured to use GTK, Qt or WX), will normally block
 Tk graphical interfaces.
 This means that when either GTK, Qt or WX threading is active, any attempt
 to open a Tk GUI will result in a dead window, and possibly cause the Python
 interpreter to crash.
 An extra option, 
\family typewriter 
-tk
\family default 
, is available to address this issue.
 It can 
\emph on 
only
\emph default 
 be given as a 
\emph on 
second
\emph default 
 option after any of the above (
\family typewriter 
-gthread
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
-wthread
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
-pylab
\family default 
).
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 If 
\family typewriter 
-tk
\family default 
 is given, IPython will try to coordinate Tk threading with GTK, Qt or WX.
 This is however potentially unreliable, and you will have to test on your
 platform and Python configuration to determine whether it works for you.
 Debian users have reported success, apparently due to the fact that Debian
 builds all of Tcl, Tk, Tkinter and Python with pthreads support.
 Under other Linux environments (such as Fedora Core 2/3), this option has
 caused random crashes and lockups of the Python interpreter.
 Under other operating systems (Mac OSX and Windows), you'll need to try
 it to find out, since currently no user reports are available.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 There is unfortunately no way for IPython to determine at run time whether
 
\family typewriter 
-tk
\family default 
 will work reliably or not, so you will need to do some experiments before
 relying on it for regular work.
 
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:cmd-line-opts}

\end_inset 

Regular Options
\layout Standard

After the above threading options have been given, regular options can follow
 in any order.
 All options can be abbreviated to their shortest non-ambiguous form and
 are case-sensitive.
 One or two dashes can be used.
 Some options have an alternate short form, indicated after a 
\family typewriter 
|
\family default 
.
\layout Standard

Most options can also be set from your ipythonrc configuration file.
 See the provided example for more details on what the options do.
 Options given at the command line override the values set in the ipythonrc
 file.
\layout Standard

All options with a 
\family typewriter 
[no]
\family default 
 prepended can be specified in negated form (
\family typewriter 
-nooption
\family default 
 instead of 
\family typewriter 
-option
\family default 
) to turn the feature off.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-help
\family default 
\series default 
: print a help message and exit.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-pylab:
\family default 
\series default 
 this can 
\emph on 
only
\emph default 
 be given as the 
\emph on 
first
\emph default 
 option passed to IPython (it will have no effect in any other position).
 It adds special support for the matplotlib library (
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl[http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net]{http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net}

\end_inset 

), allowing interactive usage of any of its backends as defined in the user's
 
\family typewriter 
.matplotlibrc
\family default 
 file.
 It automatically activates GTK or WX threading for IPyhton if the choice
 of matplotlib backend requires it.
 It also modifies the 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 command to correctly execute (without blocking) any matplotlib-based script
 which calls 
\family typewriter 
show()
\family default 
 at the end.
 See Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:matplotlib-support}

\end_inset 

 for more details.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-autocall <val>:
\family default 
\series default 
 Make IPython automatically call any callable object even if you didn't
 type explicit parentheses.
 For example, `str 43' becomes `str(43)' automatically.
 The value can be `0' to disable the feature, `1' for 
\emph on 
smart
\emph default 
 autocall, where it is not applied if there are no more arguments on the
 line, and `2' for 
\emph on 
full
\emph default 
 autocall, where all callable objects are automatically called (even if
 no arguments are present).
 The default is `1'.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]autoindent:
\family default 
\series default 
 Turn automatic indentation on/off.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]automagic
\series default 
:
\family default 
 make magic commands automatic (without needing their first character to
 be 
\family typewriter 
%
\family default 
).
 Type 
\family typewriter 
%magic
\family default 
 at the IPython prompt for more information.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]autoedit_syntax:
\family default 
\series default 
 When a syntax error occurs after editing a file, automatically open the
 file to the trouble causing line for convenient fixing.
 
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]banner
\series default 
:
\family default 
 Print the initial information banner (default on).
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-c\SpecialChar ~
<command>:
\family default 
\series default 
 execute the given command string, and set sys.argv to 
\family typewriter 
['c']
\family default 
.
 This is similar to the 
\family typewriter 
-c
\family default 
 option in the normal Python interpreter.
 
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-cache_size|cs\SpecialChar ~
<n>
\series default 
:
\family default 
 size of the output cache (maximum number of entries to hold in memory).
 The default is 1000, you can change it permanently in your config file.
 Setting it to 0 completely disables the caching system, and the minimum
 value accepted is 20 (if you provide a value less than 20, it is reset
 to 0 and a warning is issued) This limit is defined because otherwise you'll
 spend more time re-flushing a too small cache than working.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-classic|cl
\series default 
:
\family default 
 Gives IPython a similar feel to the classic Python prompt.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-colors\SpecialChar ~
<scheme>:
\family default 
\series default 
 Color scheme for prompts and exception reporting.
 Currently implemented: NoColor, Linux and LightBG.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]color_info:
\family default 
\series default 
 IPython can display information about objects via a set of functions, and
 optionally can use colors for this, syntax highlighting source code and
 various other elements.
 However, because this information is passed through a pager (like 'less')
 and many pagers get confused with color codes, this option is off by default.
 You can test it and turn it on permanently in your ipythonrc file if it
 works for you.
 As a reference, the 'less' pager supplied with Mandrake 8.2 works ok, but
 that in RedHat 7.2 doesn't.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 Test it and turn it on permanently if it works with your system.
 The magic function 
\family typewriter 
%color_info
\family default 
 allows you to toggle this interactively for testing.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]debug
\family default 
\series default 
: Show information about the loading process.
 Very useful to pin down problems with your configuration files or to get
 details about session restores.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]deep_reload
\series default 
:
\family default 
 IPython can use the 
\family typewriter 
deep_reload
\family default 
 module which reloads changes in modules recursively (it replaces the 
\family typewriter 
reload()
\family default 
 function, so you don't need to change anything to use it).
 
\family typewriter 
deep_reload()
\family default 
 forces a full reload of modules whose code may have changed, which the
 default 
\family typewriter 
reload()
\family default 
 function does not.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 When deep_reload is off, IPython will use the normal 
\family typewriter 
reload()
\family default 
, but deep_reload will still be available as 
\family typewriter 
dreload()
\family default 
.
 This feature is off by default [which means that you have both normal 
\family typewriter 
reload()
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
dreload()
\family default 
].
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-editor\SpecialChar ~
<name>
\family default 
\series default 
: Which editor to use with the 
\family typewriter 
%edit
\family default 
 command.
 By default, IPython will honor your 
\family typewriter 
EDITOR
\family default 
 environment variable (if not set, vi is the Unix default and notepad the
 Windows one).
 Since this editor is invoked on the fly by IPython and is meant for editing
 small code snippets, you may want to use a small, lightweight editor here
 (in case your default 
\family typewriter 
EDITOR
\family default 
 is something like Emacs).
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-ipythondir\SpecialChar ~
<name>
\series default 
:
\family default 
 name of your IPython configuration directory 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR
\family default 
.
 This can also be specified through the environment variable 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR
\family default 
.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-log|l
\family default 
\series default 
: generate a log file of all input.
 The file is named 
\family typewriter 
ipython_log.py
\family default 
 in your current directory (which prevents logs from multiple IPython sessions
 from trampling each other).
 You can use this to later restore a session by loading your logfile as
 a file to be executed with option 
\family typewriter 
-logplay
\family default 
 (see below).
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-logfile|lf\SpecialChar ~
<name>
\series default 
: 
\family default 
specify the name of your logfile.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-logplay|lp\SpecialChar ~
<name>
\series default 
:
\family default 
 you can replay a previous log.
 For restoring a session as close as possible to the state you left it in,
 use this option (don't just run the logfile).
 With 
\family typewriter 
-logplay
\family default 
, IPython will try to reconstruct the previous working environment in full,
 not just execute the commands in the logfile.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 When a session is restored, logging is automatically turned on again with
 the name of the logfile it was invoked with (it is read from the log header).
 So once you've turned logging on for a session, you can quit IPython and
 reload it as many times as you want and it will continue to log its history
 and restore from the beginning every time.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 Caveats: there are limitations in this option.
 The history variables 
\family typewriter 
_i*
\family default 
,
\family typewriter 
_*
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
_dh
\family default 
 don't get restored properly.
 In the future we will try to implement full session saving by writing and
 retrieving a 'snapshot' of the memory state of IPython.
 But our first attempts failed because of inherent limitations of Python's
 Pickle module, so this may have to wait.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]messages
\series default 
:
\family default 
 Print messages which IPython collects about its startup process (default
 on).
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]pdb
\family default 
\series default 
: Automatically call the pdb debugger after every uncaught exception.
 If you are used to debugging using pdb, this puts you automatically inside
 of it after any call (either in IPython or in code called by it) which
 triggers an exception which goes uncaught.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]pprint
\series default 
:
\family default 
 ipython can optionally use the pprint (pretty printer) module for displaying
 results.
 pprint tends to give a nicer display of nested data structures.
 If you like it, you can turn it on permanently in your config file (default
 off).
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-profile|p <name>
\series default 
:
\family default 
 assume that your config file is 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc-<name>
\family default 
 (looks in current dir first, then in 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR
\family default 
).
 This is a quick way to keep and load multiple config files for different
 tasks, especially if you use the include option of config files.
 You can keep a basic 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR/ipythonrc
\family default 
 file and then have other 'profiles' which include this one and load extra
 things for particular tasks.
 For example:
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\SpecialChar ~
 
\family default 
1.

\family typewriter 
 $HOME/.ipython/ipythonrc
\family default 
 : load basic things you always want.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\SpecialChar ~
 
\family default 
2.

\family typewriter 
 $HOME/.ipython/ipythonrc-math
\family default 
 : load (1) and basic math-related modules.
 
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\SpecialChar ~
 
\family default 
3.

\family typewriter 
 $HOME/.ipython/ipythonrc-numeric
\family default 
 : load (1) and Numeric and plotting modules.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 Since it is possible to create an endless loop by having circular file
 inclusions, IPython will stop if it reaches 15 recursive inclusions.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-prompt_in1|pi1\SpecialChar ~
<string>:
\family default 
\series default 
 Specify the string used for input prompts.
 Note that if you are using numbered prompts, the number is represented
 with a '
\backslash 
#' in the string.
 Don't forget to quote strings with spaces embedded in them.
 Default: '
\family typewriter 
In\SpecialChar ~
[
\backslash 
#]:
\family default 
'.
 Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:prompts}

\end_inset 

 discusses in detail all the available escapes to customize your prompts.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-prompt_in2|pi2\SpecialChar ~
<string>:
\family default 
\series default 
 Similar to the previous option, but used for the continuation prompts.
 The special sequence '
\family typewriter 

\backslash 
D
\family default 
' is similar to '
\family typewriter 

\backslash 
#
\family default 
', but with all digits replaced dots (so you can have your continuation
 prompt aligned with your input prompt).
 Default: '
\family typewriter 
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
.
\backslash 
D.:
\family default 
' (note three spaces at the start for alignment with '
\family typewriter 
In\SpecialChar ~
[
\backslash 
#]
\family default 
').
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-prompt_out|po\SpecialChar ~
<string>:
\family default 
\series default 
 String used for output prompts, also uses numbers like 
\family typewriter 
prompt_in1
\family default 
.
 Default: '
\family typewriter 
Out[
\backslash 
#]:
\family default 
'
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-quick
\family default 
\series default 
: start in bare bones mode (no config file loaded).
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-rcfile\SpecialChar ~
<name>
\series default 
:
\family default 
 name of your IPython resource configuration file.
 Normally IPython loads ipythonrc (from current directory) or
\family typewriter 
 IPYTHONDIR/ipythonrc
\family default 
.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 If the loading of your config file fails, IPython starts with a bare bones
 configuration (no modules loaded at all).
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-[no]readline
\family default 
\series default 
: use the readline library, which is needed to support name completion and
 command history, among other things.
 It is enabled by default, but may cause problems for users of X/Emacs in
 Python comint or shell buffers.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 Note that X/Emacs 'eterm' buffers (opened with 
\family typewriter 
M-x\SpecialChar ~
term
\family default 
) support IPython's readline and syntax coloring fine, only 'emacs' (
\family typewriter 
M-x\SpecialChar ~
shell
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
C-c\SpecialChar ~
!
\family default 
) buffers do not.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-screen_length|sl\SpecialChar ~
<n>
\series default 
:
\family default 
 number of lines of your screen.
 This is used to control printing of very long strings.
 Strings longer than this number of lines will be sent through a pager instead
 of directly printed.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 The default value for this is 0, which means IPython will auto-detect your
 screen size every time it needs to print certain potentially long strings
 (this doesn't change the behavior of the 'print' keyword, it's only triggered
 internally).
 If for some reason this isn't working well (it needs curses support), specify
 it yourself.
 Otherwise don't change the default.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-separate_in|si\SpecialChar ~
<string>
\series default 
:
\family default 
 separator before input prompts.
 Default: '
\family typewriter 

\backslash 
n
\family default 
'
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-separate_out|so\SpecialChar ~
<string>
\family default 
\series default 
: separator before output prompts.
 Default: nothing.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-separate_out2|so2\SpecialChar ~
<string>
\series default 
:
\family default 
 separator after output prompts.
 Default: nothing.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 For these three options, use the value 0 to specify no separator.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-nosep
\series default 
: 
\family default 
shorthand for 
\family typewriter 
'-SeparateIn 0 -SeparateOut 0 -SeparateOut2 0'
\family default 
.
 Simply removes all input/output separators.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-upgrade
\family default 
\series default 
: allows you to upgrade your 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR
\family default 
 configuration when you install a new version of IPython.
 Since new versions may include new command line options or example files,
 this copies updated ipythonrc-type files.
 However, it backs up (with a 
\family typewriter 
.old
\family default 
 extension) all files which it overwrites so that you can merge back any
 customizations you might have in your personal files.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-Version
\series default 
:
\family default 
 print version information and exit.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-wxversion\SpecialChar ~
<string>:
\family default 
\series default 
 Select a specific version of wxPython (used in conjunction with 
\family typewriter 
-wthread
\family default 
).
 Requires the wxversion module, part of recent wxPython distributions
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
-xmode\SpecialChar ~
<modename>
\series default 
:
\family default 
 Mode for exception reporting.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 Valid modes: Plain, Context and Verbose.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 Plain: similar to python's normal traceback printing.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 Context: prints 5 lines of context source code around each line in the
 traceback.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 Verbose: similar to Context, but additionally prints the variables currently
 visible where the exception happened (shortening their strings if too long).
 This can potentially be very slow, if you happen to have a huge data structure
 whose string representation is complex to compute.
 Your computer may appear to freeze for a while with cpu usage at 100%.
 If this occurs, you can cancel the traceback with Ctrl-C (maybe hitting
 it more than once).
\layout Section

Interactive use
\layout Standard


\series bold 
Warning
\series default 
: IPython relies on the existence of a global variable called 
\family typewriter 
__IP
\family default 
 which controls the shell itself.
 If you redefine 
\family typewriter 
__IP
\family default 
 to anything, bizarre behavior will quickly occur.
\layout Standard

Other than the above warning, IPython is meant to work as a drop-in replacement
 for the standard interactive interpreter.
 As such, any code which is valid python should execute normally under IPython
 (cases where this is not true should be reported as bugs).
 It does, however, offer many features which are not available at a standard
 python prompt.
 What follows is a list of these.
\layout Subsection

Caution for Windows users
\layout Standard

Windows, unfortunately, uses the `
\family typewriter 

\backslash 

\family default 
' character as a path separator.
 This is a terrible choice, because `
\family typewriter 

\backslash 

\family default 
' also represents the escape character in most modern programming languages,
 including Python.
 For this reason, issuing many of the commands discussed below (especially
 magics which affect the filesystem) with `
\family typewriter 

\backslash 

\family default 
' in them will cause strange errors.
\layout Standard

A partial solution is to use instead the `
\family typewriter 
/
\family default 
' character as a path separator, which Windows recognizes in 
\emph on 
most
\emph default 
 situations.
 However, in Windows commands `
\family typewriter 
/
\family default 
' flags options, so you can not use it for the root directory.
 This means that paths beginning at the root must be typed in a contrived
 manner like:
\newline 

\family typewriter 
%copy 
\backslash 
opt/foo/bar.txt 
\backslash 
tmp
\layout Standard

There is no sensible thing IPython can do to truly work around this flaw
 in Windows
\begin_inset Foot
collapsed true

\layout Standard

If anyone comes up with a 
\emph on 
clean
\emph default 
 solution which works consistently and does not negatively impact other
 platforms at all, I'll gladly accept a patch.
\end_inset 

.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:magic}

\end_inset 

Magic command system
\layout Standard

IPython will treat any line whose first character is a 
\family typewriter 
%
\family default 
 as a special call to a 'magic' function.
 These allow you to control the behavior of IPython itself, plus a lot of
 system-type features.
 They are all prefixed with a 
\family typewriter 
%
\family default 
 character, but parameters are given without parentheses or quotes.
\layout Standard

Example: typing 
\family typewriter 
'%cd mydir'
\family default 
 (without the quotes) changes you working directory to 
\family typewriter 
'mydir'
\family default 
, if it exists.
\layout Standard

If you have 'automagic' enabled (in your 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 file, via the command line option 
\family typewriter 
-automagic 
\family default 
or with the 
\family typewriter 
%automagic
\family default 
 function), you don't need to type in the 
\family typewriter 
%
\family default 
 explicitly.
 IPython will scan its internal list of magic functions and call one if
 it exists.
 With automagic on you can then just type '
\family typewriter 
cd mydir
\family default 
' to go to directory '
\family typewriter 
mydir
\family default 
'.
 The automagic system has the lowest possible precedence in name searches,
 so defining an identifier with the same name as an existing magic function
 will shadow it for automagic use.
 You can still access the shadowed magic function by explicitly using the
 
\family typewriter 
%
\family default 
 character at the beginning of the line.
\layout Standard

An example (with automagic on) should clarify all this:
\layout LyX-Code

In [1]: cd ipython # %cd is called by automagic
\layout LyX-Code

/home/fperez/ipython
\layout LyX-Code

In [2]: cd=1 # now cd is just a variable
\layout LyX-Code

In [3]: cd ..
 # and doesn't work as a function anymore
\layout LyX-Code

------------------------------------------------------------
\layout LyX-Code

    File "<console>", line 1
\layout LyX-Code

      cd ..
\layout LyX-Code

          ^
\layout LyX-Code

SyntaxError: invalid syntax
\layout LyX-Code

\layout LyX-Code

In [4]: %cd ..
 # but %cd always works
\layout LyX-Code

/home/fperez
\layout LyX-Code

In [5]: del cd # if you remove the cd variable
\layout LyX-Code

In [6]: cd ipython # automagic can work again
\layout LyX-Code

/home/fperez/ipython
\layout Standard

You can define your own magic functions to extend the system.
 The following is a snippet of code which shows how to do it.
 It is provided as file 
\family typewriter 
example-magic.py
\family default 
 in the examples directory:
\layout Standard


\begin_inset ERT
status Open

\layout Standard

\backslash 
codelist{examples/example-magic.py}
\end_inset 


\layout Standard

You can also define your own aliased names for magic functions.
 In your 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 file, placing a line like:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
execute __IP.magic_cl = __IP.magic_clear
\layout Standard

will define 
\family typewriter 
%cl
\family default 
 as a new name for 
\family typewriter 
%clear
\family default 
.
\layout Standard

Type 
\family typewriter 
%magic
\family default 
 for more information, including a list of all available magic functions
 at any time and their docstrings.
 You can also type 
\family typewriter 
%magic_function_name?
\family default 
 (see sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:dyn-object-info}

\end_inset 

 for information on the 
\family typewriter 
'?'
\family default 
 system) to get information about any particular magic function you are
 interested in.
\layout Subsubsection

Magic commands
\layout Standard

The rest of this section is automatically generated for each release from
 the docstrings in the IPython code.
 Therefore the formatting is somewhat minimal, but this method has the advantage
 of having information always in sync with the code.
\layout Standard

A list of all the magic commands available in IPython's 
\emph on 
default
\emph default 
 installation follows.
 This is similar to what you'll see by simply typing 
\family typewriter 
%magic
\family default 
 at the prompt, but that will also give you information about magic commands
 you may have added as part of your personal customizations.
\layout Standard


\begin_inset Include \input{magic.tex}
preview false

\end_inset 


\layout Subsection

Access to the standard Python help
\layout Standard

As of Python 2.1, a help system is available with access to object docstrings
 and the Python manuals.
 Simply type 
\family typewriter 
'help'
\family default 
 (no quotes) to access it.
 You can also type 
\family typewriter 
help(object)
\family default 
 to obtain information about a given object, and 
\family typewriter 
help('keyword')
\family default 
 for information on a keyword.
 As noted in sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:help-access}

\end_inset 

, you need to properly configure your environment variable 
\family typewriter 
PYTHONDOCS
\family default 
 for this feature to work correctly.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:dyn-object-info}

\end_inset 

Dynamic object information
\layout Standard

Typing 
\family typewriter 
?word
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
word?
\family default 
 prints detailed information about an object.
 If certain strings in the object are too long (docstrings, code, etc.) they
 get snipped in the center for brevity.
 This system gives access variable types and values, full source code for
 any object (if available), function prototypes and other useful information.
\layout Standard

Typing 
\family typewriter 
??word
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
word??
\family default 
 gives access to the full information without snipping long strings.
 Long strings are sent to the screen through the 
\family typewriter 
less
\family default 
 pager if longer than the screen and printed otherwise.
 On systems lacking the 
\family typewriter 
less
\family default 
 command, IPython uses a very basic internal pager.
\layout Standard

The following magic functions are particularly useful for gathering information
 about your working environment.
 You can get more details by typing 
\family typewriter 
%magic
\family default 
 or querying them individually (use 
\family typewriter 
%function_name?
\family default 
 with or without the 
\family typewriter 
%
\family default 
), this is just a summary:
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
%pdoc\SpecialChar ~
<object>
\family default 
\series default 
: Print (or run through a pager if too long) the docstring for an object.
 If the given object is a class, it will print both the class and the constructo
r docstrings.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
%pdef\SpecialChar ~
<object>
\family default 
\series default 
: Print the definition header for any callable object.
 If the object is a class, print the constructor information.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
%psource\SpecialChar ~
<object>
\family default 
\series default 
: Print (or run through a pager if too long) the source code for an object.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
%pfile\SpecialChar ~
<object>
\family default 
\series default 
: Show the entire source file where an object was defined via a pager, opening
 it at the line where the object definition begins.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
%who/%whos
\family default 
\series default 
: These functions give information about identifiers you have defined interactiv
ely (not things you loaded or defined in your configuration files).
 
\family typewriter 
%who
\family default 
 just prints a list of identifiers and 
\family typewriter 
%whos
\family default 
 prints a table with some basic details about each identifier.
\layout Standard

Note that the dynamic object information functions (
\family typewriter 
?/??, %pdoc, %pfile, %pdef, %psource
\family default 
) give you access to documentation even on things which are not really defined
 as separate identifiers.
 Try for example typing 
\family typewriter 
{}.get?
\family default 
 or after doing 
\family typewriter 
import os
\family default 
, type 
\family typewriter 
os.path.abspath??
\family default 
.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:readline}

\end_inset 

Readline-based features
\layout Standard

These features require the GNU readline library, so they won't work if your
 Python installation lacks readline support.
 We will first describe the default behavior IPython uses, and then how
 to change it to suit your preferences.
\layout Subsubsection

Command line completion
\layout Standard

At any time, hitting TAB will complete any available python commands or
 variable names, and show you a list of the possible completions if there's
 no unambiguous one.
 It will also complete filenames in the current directory if no python names
 match what you've typed so far.
\layout Subsubsection

Search command history
\layout Standard

IPython provides two ways for searching through previous input and thus
 reduce the need for repetitive typing:
\layout Enumerate

Start typing, and then use 
\family typewriter 
Ctrl-p
\family default 
 (previous,up) and 
\family typewriter 
Ctrl-n
\family default 
 (next,down) to search through only the history items that match what you've
 typed so far.
 If you use 
\family typewriter 
Ctrl-p/Ctrl-n
\family default 
 at a blank prompt, they just behave like normal arrow keys.
\layout Enumerate

Hit 
\family typewriter 
Ctrl-r
\family default 
: opens a search prompt.
 Begin typing and the system searches your history for lines that contain
 what you've typed so far, completing as much as it can.
\layout Subsubsection

Persistent command history across sessions
\layout Standard

IPython will save your input history when it leaves and reload it next time
 you restart it.
 By default, the history file is named 
\family typewriter 
$IPYTHONDIR/history
\family default 
, but if you've loaded a named profile, '
\family typewriter 
-PROFILE_NAME
\family default 
' is appended to the name.
 This allows you to keep separate histories related to various tasks: commands
 related to numerical work will not be clobbered by a system shell history,
 for example.
\layout Subsubsection

Autoindent
\layout Standard

IPython can recognize lines ending in ':' and indent the next line, while
 also un-indenting automatically after 'raise' or 'return'.
 
\layout Standard

This feature uses the readline library, so it will honor your 
\family typewriter 
~/.inputrc
\family default 
 configuration (or whatever file your 
\family typewriter 
INPUTRC
\family default 
 variable points to).
 Adding the following lines to your 
\family typewriter 
.inputrc
\family default 
 file can make indenting/unindenting more convenient (
\family typewriter 
M-i
\family default 
 indents, 
\family typewriter 
M-u
\family default 
 unindents):
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
$if Python
\newline 
"
\backslash 
M-i": "\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
" 
\newline 
"
\backslash 
M-u": "
\backslash 
d
\backslash 
d
\backslash 
d
\backslash 
d" 
\newline 
$endif
\layout Standard

Note that there are 4 spaces between the quote marks after 
\family typewriter 
"M-i"
\family default 
 above.
\layout Standard


\series bold 
Warning:
\series default 
 this feature is ON by default, but it can cause problems with the pasting
 of multi-line indented code (the pasted code gets re-indented on each line).
 A magic function 
\family typewriter 
%autoindent
\family default 
 allows you to toggle it on/off at runtime.
 You can also disable it permanently on in your 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 file (set 
\family typewriter 
autoindent 0
\family default 
).
\layout Subsubsection

Customizing readline behavior
\layout Standard

All these features are based on the GNU readline library, which has an extremely
 customizable interface.
 Normally, readline is configured via a file which defines the behavior
 of the library; the details of the syntax for this can be found in the
 readline documentation available with your system or on the Internet.
 IPython doesn't read this file (if it exists) directly, but it does support
 passing to readline valid options via a simple interface.
 In brief, you can customize readline by setting the following options in
 your 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 configuration file (note that these options can 
\emph on 
not
\emph default 
 be specified at the command line):
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
readline_parse_and_bind:
\family default 
\series default 
 this option can appear as many times as you want, each time defining a
 string to be executed via a 
\family typewriter 
readline.parse_and_bind()
\family default 
 command.
 The syntax for valid commands of this kind can be found by reading the
 documentation for the GNU readline library, as these commands are of the
 kind which readline accepts in its configuration file.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
readline_remove_delims:
\family default 
\series default 
 a string of characters to be removed from the default word-delimiters list
 used by readline, so that completions may be performed on strings which
 contain them.
 Do not change the default value unless you know what you're doing.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
readline_omit__names
\family default 
\series default 
: when tab-completion is enabled, hitting 
\family typewriter 
<tab>
\family default 
 after a '
\family typewriter 
.
\family default 
' in a name will complete all attributes of an object, including all the
 special methods whose names include double underscores (like 
\family typewriter 
__getitem__
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
__class__
\family default 
).
 If you'd rather not see these names by default, you can set this option
 to 1.
 Note that even when this option is set, you can still see those names by
 explicitly typing a 
\family typewriter 
_
\family default 
 after the period and hitting 
\family typewriter 
<tab>
\family default 
: '
\family typewriter 
name._<tab>
\family default 
' will always complete attribute names starting with '
\family typewriter 
_
\family default 
'.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

\SpecialChar ~
 This option is off by default so that new users see all attributes of any
 objects they are dealing with.
\layout Standard

You will find the default values along with a corresponding detailed explanation
 in your 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 file.
\layout Subsection

Session logging and restoring
\layout Standard

You can log all input from a session either by starting IPython with the
 command line switches 
\family typewriter 
-log
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
-logfile 
\family default 
(see sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:cmd-line-opts}

\end_inset 

)or by activating the logging at any moment with the magic function 
\family typewriter 
%logstart
\family default 
.
 
\layout Standard

Log files can later be reloaded with the 
\family typewriter 
-logplay
\family default 
 option and IPython will attempt to 'replay' the log by executing all the
 lines in it, thus restoring the state of a previous session.
 This feature is not quite perfect, but can still be useful in many cases.
\layout Standard

The log files can also be used as a way to have a permanent record of any
 code you wrote while experimenting.
 Log files are regular text files which you can later open in your favorite
 text editor to extract code or to 'clean them up' before using them to
 replay a session.
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
%logstart
\family default 
 function for activating logging in mid-session is used as follows:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
%logstart [log_name [log_mode]]
\layout Standard

If no name is given, it defaults to a file named 
\family typewriter 
'log'
\family default 
 in your IPYTHONDIR directory, in 
\family typewriter 
'rotate'
\family default 
 mode (see below).
\layout Standard

'
\family typewriter 
%logstart name
\family default 
' saves to file 
\family typewriter 
'name'
\family default 
 in 
\family typewriter 
'backup'
\family default 
 mode.
 It saves your history up to that point and then continues logging.
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
%logstart
\family default 
 takes a second optional parameter: logging mode.
 This can be one of (note that the modes are given unquoted):
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
over
\family default 
: overwrite existing 
\family typewriter 
log_name
\family default 
.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
backup
\family default 
: rename (if exists) to 
\family typewriter 
log_name~
\family default 
 and start 
\family typewriter 
log_name
\family default 
.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
append
\family default 
: well, that says it.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
rotate
\family default 
: create rotating logs 
\family typewriter 
log_name
\family default 
.
\family typewriter 
1~
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
log_name.2~
\family default 
, etc.
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
%logoff
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
%logon
\family default 
 functions allow you to temporarily stop and resume logging to a file which
 had previously been started with 
\family typewriter 
%logstart
\family default 
.
 They will fail (with an explanation) if you try to use them before logging
 has been started.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sub:System-shell-access}

\end_inset 

System shell access
\layout Standard

Any input line beginning with a 
\family typewriter 
!
\family default 
 character is passed verbatim (minus the 
\family typewriter 
!
\family default 
, of course) to the underlying operating system.
 For example, typing 
\family typewriter 
!ls
\family default 
 will run 
\family typewriter 
'ls'
\family default 
 in the current directory.
\layout Subsubsection

Manual capture of command output
\layout Standard

If the input line begins with 
\emph on 
two
\emph default 
 exclamation marks, 
\family typewriter 
!!
\family default 
, the command is executed but its output is captured and returned as a python
 list, split on newlines.
 Any output sent by the subprocess to standard error is printed separately,
 so that the resulting list only captures standard output.
 The 
\family typewriter 
!!
\family default 
 syntax is a shorthand for the 
\family typewriter 
%sx
\family default 
 magic command.
\layout Standard

Finally, the 
\family typewriter 
%sc
\family default 
 magic (short for `shell capture') is similar to 
\family typewriter 
%sx
\family default 
, but allowing more fine-grained control of the capture details, and storing
 the result directly into a named variable.
\layout Standard

See Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:magic}

\end_inset 

 for details on the magics 
\family typewriter 
%sc
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
%sx
\family default 
, or use IPython's own help (
\family typewriter 
sc?
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
sx?
\family default 
) for further details.
\layout Standard

IPython also allows you to expand the value of python variables when making
 system calls.
 Any python variable or expression which you prepend with 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
 will get expanded before the system call is made.
 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [1]: pyvar='Hello world'
\newline 
In [2]: !echo "A python variable: $pyvar" 
\newline 
A python variable: Hello world
\layout Standard

If you want the shell to actually see a literal 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
, you need to type it twice:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [3]: !echo "A system variable: $$HOME" 
\newline 
A system variable: /home/fperez
\layout Standard

You can pass arbitrary expressions, though you'll need to delimit them with
 
\family typewriter 
{}
\family default 
 if there is ambiguity as to the extent of the expression:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [5]: x=10
\newline 
In [6]: y=20
\newline 
In [13]: !echo $x+y 
\newline 
10+y 
\newline 
In [7]: !echo ${x+y} 
\newline 
30 
\layout Standard

Even object attributes can be expanded:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [12]: !echo $sys.argv 
\newline 
[/home/fperez/usr/bin/ipython] 
\layout Subsection

System command aliases
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
%alias
\family default 
 magic function and the 
\family typewriter 
alias
\family default 
 option in the 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 configuration file allow you to define magic functions which are in fact
 system shell commands.
 These aliases can have parameters.
 
\layout Standard

'
\family typewriter 
%alias alias_name cmd
\family default 
' defines '
\family typewriter 
alias_name
\family default 
' as an alias for '
\family typewriter 
cmd
\family default 
' 
\layout Standard

Then, typing '
\family typewriter 
%alias_name params
\family default 
' will execute the system command '
\family typewriter 
cmd params
\family default 
' (from your underlying operating system).
 
\layout Standard

You can also define aliases with parameters using 
\family typewriter 
%s
\family default 
 specifiers (one per parameter).
 The following example defines the 
\family typewriter 
%parts
\family default 
 function as an alias to the command '
\family typewriter 
echo first %s second %s
\family default 
' where each 
\family typewriter 
%s
\family default 
 will be replaced by a positional parameter to the call to 
\family typewriter 
%parts:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [1]: alias parts echo first %s second %s
\newline 
In [2]: %parts A B
\newline 
first A second B 
\newline 
In [3]: %parts A 
\newline 
Incorrect number of arguments: 2 expected.
 
\newline 
parts is an alias to: 'echo first %s second %s' 
\layout Standard

If called with no parameters, 
\family typewriter 
%alias
\family default 
 prints the table of currently defined aliases.
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
%rehash/rehashx
\family default 
 magics allow you to load your entire 
\family typewriter 
$PATH
\family default 
 as ipython aliases.
 See their respective docstrings (or sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:magic}

\end_inset 

 for further details).
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:dreload}

\end_inset 

Recursive reload
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
dreload
\family default 
 function does a recursive reload of a module: changes made to the module
 since you imported will actually be available without having to exit.
\layout Subsection

Verbose and colored exception traceback printouts
\layout Standard

IPython provides the option to see very detailed exception tracebacks, which
 can be especially useful when debugging large programs.
 You can run any Python file with the 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 function to benefit from these detailed tracebacks.
 Furthermore, both normal and verbose tracebacks can be colored (if your
 terminal supports it) which makes them much easier to parse visually.
\layout Standard

See the magic 
\family typewriter 
xmode
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
colors
\family default 
 functions for details (just type 
\family typewriter 
%magic
\family default 
).
\layout Standard

These features are basically a terminal version of Ka-Ping Yee's 
\family typewriter 
cgitb
\family default 
 module, now part of the standard Python library.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:cache_input}

\end_inset 

Input caching system
\layout Standard

IPython offers numbered prompts (In/Out) with input and output caching.
 All input is saved and can be retrieved as variables (besides the usual
 arrow key recall).
\layout Standard

The following GLOBAL variables always exist (so don't overwrite them!):
 
\family typewriter 
_i
\family default 
: stores previous input.
 
\family typewriter 
_ii
\family default 
: next previous.
 
\family typewriter 
_iii
\family default 
: next-next previous.
 
\family typewriter 
_ih
\family default 
 : a list of all input 
\family typewriter 
_ih[n]
\family default 
 is the input from line 
\family typewriter 
n
\family default 
 and this list is aliased to the global variable 
\family typewriter 
In
\family default 
.
 If you overwrite 
\family typewriter 
In
\family default 
 with a variable of your own, you can remake the assignment to the internal
 list with a simple 
\family typewriter 
'In=_ih'
\family default 
.
\layout Standard

Additionally, global variables named 
\family typewriter 
_i<n>
\family default 
 are dynamically created (
\family typewriter 
<n>
\family default 
 being the prompt counter), such that 
\newline 

\family typewriter 
_i<n> == _ih[<n>] == In[<n>].
\layout Standard

For example, what you typed at prompt 14 is available as 
\family typewriter 
_i14,
\family default 
 
\family typewriter 
_ih[14]
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
In[14]
\family default 
.
\layout Standard

This allows you to easily cut and paste multi line interactive prompts by
 printing them out: they print like a clean string, without prompt characters.
 You can also manipulate them like regular variables (they are strings),
 modify or exec them (typing 
\family typewriter 
'exec _i9'
\family default 
 will re-execute the contents of input prompt 9, '
\family typewriter 
exec In[9:14]+In[18]
\family default 
' will re-execute lines 9 through 13 and line 18).
\layout Standard

You can also re-execute multiple lines of input easily by using the magic
 
\family typewriter 
%macro
\family default 
 function (which automates the process and allows re-execution without having
 to type '
\family typewriter 
exec
\family default 
' every time).
 The macro system also allows you to re-execute previous lines which include
 magic function calls (which require special processing).
 Type 
\family typewriter 
%macro?
\family default 
 or see sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:magic}

\end_inset 

 for more details on the macro system.
\layout Standard

A history function 
\family typewriter 
%hist
\family default 
 allows you to see any part of your input history by printing a range of
 the 
\family typewriter 
_i
\family default 
 variables.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:cache_output}

\end_inset 

Output caching system
\layout Standard

For output that is returned from actions, a system similar to the input
 cache exists but using 
\family typewriter 
_
\family default 
 instead of 
\family typewriter 
_i
\family default 
.
 Only actions that produce a result (NOT assignments, for example) are cached.
 If you are familiar with Mathematica, IPython's 
\family typewriter 
_
\family default 
 variables behave exactly like Mathematica's 
\family typewriter 
%
\family default 
 variables.
\layout Standard

The following GLOBAL variables always exist (so don't overwrite them!):
 
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
_
\family default 
\series default 
 (a 
\emph on 
single
\emph default 
 underscore) : stores previous output, like Python's default interpreter.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
__
\family default 
\series default 
 (two underscores): next previous.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
___
\family default 
\series default 
 (three underscores): next-next previous.
\layout Standard

Additionally, global variables named 
\family typewriter 
_<n> 
\family default 
are dynamically created (
\family typewriter 
<n>
\family default 
 being the prompt counter), such that the result of output 
\family typewriter 
<n>
\family default 
 is always available as 
\family typewriter 
_<n>
\family default 
 (don't use the angle brackets, just the number, e.g.
 
\family typewriter 
_21
\family default 
).
\layout Standard

These global variables are all stored in a global dictionary (not a list,
 since it only has entries for lines which returned a result) available
 under the names 
\family typewriter 
_oh
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
Out
\family default 
 (similar to 
\family typewriter 
_ih
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
In
\family default 
).
 So the output from line 12 can be obtained as 
\family typewriter 
_12
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
Out[12]
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
_oh[12]
\family default 
.
 If you accidentally overwrite the 
\family typewriter 
Out
\family default 
 variable you can recover it by typing 
\family typewriter 
'Out=_oh
\family default 
' at the prompt.
\layout Standard

This system obviously can potentially put heavy memory demands on your system,
 since it prevents Python's garbage collector from removing any previously
 computed results.
 You can control how many results are kept in memory with the option (at
 the command line or in your 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 file) 
\family typewriter 
cache_size
\family default 
.
 If you set it to 0, the whole system is completely disabled and the prompts
 revert to the classic 
\family typewriter 
'>>>'
\family default 
 of normal Python.
\layout Subsection

Directory history
\layout Standard

Your history of visited directories is kept in the global list 
\family typewriter 
_dh
\family default 
, and the magic 
\family typewriter 
%cd
\family default 
 command can be used to go to any entry in that list.
 The 
\family typewriter 
%dhist
\family default 
 command allows you to view this history.
\layout Subsection

Automatic parentheses and quotes
\layout Standard

These features were adapted from Nathan Gray's LazyPython.
 They are meant to allow less typing for common situations.
\layout Subsubsection

Automatic parentheses
\layout Standard

Callable objects (i.e.
 functions, methods, etc) can be invoked like this (notice the commas between
 the arguments):
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
>>> callable_ob arg1, arg2, arg3 
\layout Standard

and the input will be translated to this: 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
--> callable_ob(arg1, arg2, arg3) 
\layout Standard

You can force automatic parentheses by using '/' as the first character
 of a line.
 For example:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
>>> /globals # becomes 'globals()' 
\layout Standard

Note that the '/' MUST be the first character on the line! This won't work:
 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
>>> print /globals # syntax error
\layout Standard

In most cases the automatic algorithm should work, so you should rarely
 need to explicitly invoke /.
 One notable exception is if you are trying to call a function with a list
 of tuples as arguments (the parenthesis will confuse IPython): 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [1]: zip (1,2,3),(4,5,6) # won't work 
\layout Standard

but this will work: 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [2]: /zip (1,2,3),(4,5,6)
\newline 
------> zip ((1,2,3),(4,5,6)) 
\newline 
Out[2]= [(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)] 
\layout Standard

IPython tells you that it has altered your command line by displaying the
 new command line preceded by 
\family typewriter 
-->
\family default 
.
 e.g.: 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [18]: callable list
\newline 
-------> callable (list)
\layout Subsubsection

Automatic quoting 
\layout Standard

You can force automatic quoting of a function's arguments by using 
\family typewriter 
`,'
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
`;'
\family default 
 as the first character of a line.
 For example: 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
>>> ,my_function /home/me # becomes my_function("/home/me") 
\layout Standard

If you use 
\family typewriter 
`;'
\family default 
 instead, the whole argument is quoted as a single string (while 
\family typewriter 
`,'
\family default 
 splits on whitespace):
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
>>> ,my_function a b c # becomes my_function("a","b","c")
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
>>> ;my_function a b c # becomes my_function("a b c")
\layout Standard

Note that the `
\family typewriter 
,
\family default 
' or `
\family typewriter 
;
\family default 
' MUST be the first character on the line! This won't work: 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
>>> x = ,my_function /home/me # syntax error
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:customization}

\end_inset 

Customization
\layout Standard

As we've already mentioned, IPython reads a configuration file which can
 be specified at the command line (
\family typewriter 
-rcfile
\family default 
) or which by default is assumed to be called 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
.
 Such a file is looked for in the current directory where IPython is started
 and then in your 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR
\family default 
, which allows you to have local configuration files for specific projects.
 In this section we will call these types of configuration files simply
 rcfiles (short for resource configuration file).
\layout Standard

The syntax of an rcfile is one of key-value pairs separated by whitespace,
 one per line.
 Lines beginning with a 
\family typewriter 
#
\family default 
 are ignored as comments, but comments can 
\series bold 
not
\series default 
 be put on lines with data (the parser is fairly primitive).
 Note that these are not python files, and this is deliberate, because it
 allows us to do some things which would be quite tricky to implement if
 they were normal python files.
\layout Standard

First, an rcfile can contain permanent default values for almost all command
 line options (except things like 
\family typewriter 
-help
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
-Version
\family default 
).
 Sec\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:cmd-line-opts}

\end_inset 

 contains a description of all command-line options.
 However, values you explicitly specify at the command line override the
 values defined in the rcfile.
\layout Standard

Besides command line option values, the rcfile can specify values for certain
 extra special options which are not available at the command line.
 These options are briefly described below.
 
\layout Standard

Each of these options may appear as many times as you need it in the file.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
include\SpecialChar ~
<file1>\SpecialChar ~
<file2>\SpecialChar ~
...
\family default 
\series default 
: you can name 
\emph on 
other 
\emph default 
rcfiles you want to recursively load up to 15 levels (don't use the 
\family typewriter 
<>
\family default 
 brackets in your names!).
 This feature allows you to define a 'base' rcfile with general options
 and special-purpose files which can be loaded only when needed with particular
 configuration options.
 To make this more convenient, IPython accepts the 
\family typewriter 
-profile <name>
\family default 
 option (abbreviates to 
\family typewriter 
-p <name
\family default 
>)
\family typewriter 
 which
\family default 
 tells it to look for an rcfile named 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc-<name>
\family default 
.
 
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
import_mod\SpecialChar ~
<mod1>\SpecialChar ~
<mod2>\SpecialChar ~
...
\family default 
\series default 
: import modules with '
\family typewriter 
import
\family default 
 
\family typewriter 
<mod1>,<mod2>,...
\family default 
' 
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
import_some\SpecialChar ~
<mod>\SpecialChar ~
<f1>\SpecialChar ~
<f2>\SpecialChar ~
...
\family default 
\series default 
: import functions with '
\family typewriter 
from <mod> import
\family default 
 
\family typewriter 
<f1>,<f2>,...
\family default 
' 
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
import_all\SpecialChar ~
<mod1>\SpecialChar ~
<mod2>\SpecialChar ~
...
\family default 
\series default 
: for each module listed import functions with '
\family typewriter 
from <mod> import *
\family default 
' 
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
execute\SpecialChar ~
<python\SpecialChar ~
code>
\family default 
\series default 
: give any single-line python code to be executed.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
execfile\SpecialChar ~
<filename>
\family default 
\series default 
: execute the python file given with an '
\family typewriter 
execfile(filename)
\family default 
' command.
 Username expansion is performed on the given names.
 So if you need any amount of extra fancy customization that won't fit in
 any of the above 'canned' options, you can just put it in a separate python
 file and execute it.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000


\family typewriter 
\series bold 
alias\SpecialChar ~
<alias_def>
\family default 
\series default 
: this is equivalent to calling '
\family typewriter 
%alias\SpecialChar ~
<alias_def>
\family default 
' at the IPython command line.
 This way, from within IPython you can do common system tasks without having
 to exit it or use the 
\family typewriter 
!
\family default 
 escape.
 IPython isn't meant to be a shell replacement, but it is often very useful
 to be able to do things with files while testing code.
 This gives you the flexibility to have within IPython any aliases you may
 be used to under your normal system shell.
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:ipytonrc-sample}

\end_inset 

Sample 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 file
\layout Standard

The default rcfile, called 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 and supplied in your 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR 
\family default 
directory contains lots of comments on all of these options.
 We reproduce it here for reference:
\layout Standard


\begin_inset ERT
status Open

\layout Standard

\backslash 
codelist{../IPython/UserConfig/ipythonrc}
\end_inset 


\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:prompts}

\end_inset 

Fine-tuning your prompt
\layout Standard

IPython's prompts can be customized using a syntax similar to that of the
 
\family typewriter 
bash
\family default 
 shell.
 Many of 
\family typewriter 
bash
\family default 
's escapes are supported, as well as a few additional ones.
 We list them below:
\layout Description


\backslash 
# the prompt/history count number
\layout Description


\backslash 
D the prompt/history count, with the actual digits replaced by dots.
 Used mainly in continuation prompts (prompt_in2)
\layout Description


\backslash 
w the current working directory
\layout Description


\backslash 
W the basename of current working directory
\layout Description


\backslash 
X
\emph on 
n
\emph default 
 where 
\begin_inset Formula $n=0\ldots5.$
\end_inset 

 The current working directory, with 
\family typewriter 
$HOME
\family default 
 replaced by 
\family typewriter 
~
\family default 
, and filtered out to contain only 
\begin_inset Formula $n$
\end_inset 

 path elements
\layout Description


\backslash 
Y
\emph on 
n
\emph default 
 Similar to 
\backslash 
X
\emph on 
n
\emph default 
, but with the 
\begin_inset Formula $n+1$
\end_inset 

 element included if it is 
\family typewriter 
~
\family default 
 (this is similar to the behavior of the %c
\emph on 
n
\emph default 
 escapes in 
\family typewriter 
tcsh
\family default 
)
\layout Description


\backslash 
u the username of the current user
\layout Description


\backslash 
$ if the effective UID is 0, a #, otherwise a $
\layout Description


\backslash 
h the hostname up to the first `.'
\layout Description


\backslash 
H the hostname
\layout Description


\backslash 
n a newline
\layout Description


\backslash 
r a carriage return
\layout Description


\backslash 
v IPython version string
\layout Standard

In addition to these, ANSI color escapes can be insterted into the prompts,
 as 
\family typewriter 

\backslash 
C_
\emph on 
ColorName
\family default 
\emph default 
.
 The list of valid color names is: Black, Blue, Brown, Cyan, DarkGray, Green,
 LightBlue, LightCyan, LightGray, LightGreen, LightPurple, LightRed, NoColor,
 Normal, Purple, Red, White, Yellow.
\layout Standard

Finally, IPython supports the evaluation of arbitrary expressions in your
 prompt string.
 The prompt strings are evaluated through the syntax of PEP 215, but basically
 you can use 
\family typewriter 
$x.y
\family default 
 to expand the value of 
\family typewriter 
x.y
\family default 
, and for more complicated expressions you can use braces: 
\family typewriter 
${foo()+x}
\family default 
 will call function 
\family typewriter 
foo
\family default 
 and add to it the value of 
\family typewriter 
x
\family default 
, before putting the result into your prompt.
 For example, using 
\newline 

\family typewriter 
prompt_in1 '${commands.getoutput("uptime")}
\backslash 
nIn [
\backslash 
#]: '
\newline 

\family default 
will print the result of the uptime command on each prompt (assuming the
 
\family typewriter 
commands
\family default 
 module has been imported in your 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 file).
\layout Subsubsection

Prompt examples
\layout Standard

The following options in an ipythonrc file will give you IPython's default
 prompts:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
prompt_in1 'In [
\backslash 
#]:'
\newline 
prompt_in2 '\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
.
\backslash 
D.:'
\newline 
prompt_out 'Out[
\backslash 
#]:'
\layout Standard

which look like this:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [1]: 1+2
\newline 
Out[1]: 3
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [2]: for i in (1,2,3):
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
...: \SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
print i,
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
...:
\newline 
1 2 3
\layout Standard

These will give you a very colorful prompt with path information:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
#prompt_in1 '
\backslash 
C_Red
\backslash 
u
\backslash 
C_Blue[
\backslash 
C_Cyan
\backslash 
Y1
\backslash 
C_Blue]
\backslash 
C_LightGreen
\backslash 
#>'
\newline 
prompt_in2 ' ..
\backslash 
D>'
\newline 
prompt_out '<
\backslash 
#>' 
\layout Standard

which look like this:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
\color red
fperez
\color blue
[
\color cyan
~/ipython
\color blue
]
\color green
1>
\color default
 1+2
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~

\color red
<1>
\color default
 3
\newline 

\color red
fperez
\color blue
[
\color cyan
~/ipython
\color blue
]
\color green
2>
\color default
 for i in (1,2,3):
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~

\color green
...>
\color default
 \SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
print i,
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~

\color green
...>
\color default

\newline 
1 2 3
\layout Standard

The following shows the usage of dynamic expression evaluation:
\layout Subsection


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:profiles}

\end_inset 

IPython profiles
\layout Standard

As we already mentioned, IPython supports the 
\family typewriter 
-profile
\family default 
 command-line option (see sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:cmd-line-opts}

\end_inset 

).
 A profile is nothing more than a particular configuration file like your
 basic 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 one, but with particular customizations for a specific purpose.
 When you start IPython with '
\family typewriter 
ipython -profile <name>
\family default 
', it assumes that in your 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR
\family default 
 there is a file called 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc-<name>
\family default 
, and loads it instead of the normal 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
.
\layout Standard

This system allows you to maintain multiple configurations which load modules,
 set options, define functions, etc.
 suitable for different tasks and activate them in a very simple manner.
 In order to avoid having to repeat all of your basic options (common things
 that don't change such as your color preferences, for example), any profile
 can include another configuration file.
 The most common way to use profiles is then to have each one include your
 basic 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc
\family default 
 file as a starting point, and then add further customizations.
\layout Standard

In sections 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:syntax-extensions}

\end_inset 

 and 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:Gnuplot}

\end_inset 

 we discuss some particular profiles which come as part of the standard
 IPython distribution.
 You may also look in your 
\family typewriter 
IPYTHONDIR
\family default 
 directory, any file whose name begins with 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc-
\family default 
 is a profile.
 You can use those as examples for further customizations to suit your own
 needs.
\layout Section


\begin_inset OptArg
collapsed false

\layout Standard

IPython as default...
\end_inset 

IPython as your default Python environment
\layout Standard

Python honors the environment variable 
\family typewriter 
PYTHONSTARTUP 
\family default 
and will execute at startup the file referenced by this variable.
 If you put at the end of this file the following two lines of code:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
import IPython
\newline 
IPython.Shell.IPShell().mainloop(sys_exit=1)
\layout Standard

then IPython will be your working environment anytime you start Python.
 The 
\family typewriter 
sys_exit=1
\family default 
 is needed to have IPython issue a call to 
\family typewriter 
sys.exit()
\family default 
 when it finishes, otherwise you'll be back at the normal Python '
\family typewriter 
>>>
\family default 
' prompt
\begin_inset Foot
collapsed true

\layout Standard

Based on an idea by Holger Krekel.
\end_inset 

.
\layout Standard

This is probably useful to developers who manage multiple Python versions
 and don't want to have correspondingly multiple IPython versions.
 Note that in this mode, there is no way to pass IPython any command-line
 options, as those are trapped first by Python itself.
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:embed}

\end_inset 

Embedding IPython
\layout Standard

It is possible to start an IPython instance 
\emph on 
inside
\emph default 
 your own Python programs.
 This allows you to evaluate dynamically the state of your code, operate
 with your variables, analyze them, etc.
 Note however that any changes you make to values while in the shell do
 
\emph on 
not
\emph default 
 propagate back to the running code, so it is safe to modify your values
 because you won't break your code in bizarre ways by doing so.
\layout Standard

This feature allows you to easily have a fully functional python environment
 for doing object introspection anywhere in your code with a simple function
 call.
 In some cases a simple print statement is enough, but if you need to do
 more detailed analysis of a code fragment this feature can be very valuable.
\layout Standard

It can also be useful in scientific computing situations where it is common
 to need to do some automatic, computationally intensive part and then stop
 to look at data, plots, etc
\begin_inset Foot
collapsed true

\layout Standard

This functionality was inspired by IDL's combination of the 
\family typewriter 
stop
\family default 
 keyword and the 
\family typewriter 
.continue
\family default 
 executive command, which I have found very useful in the past, and by a
 posting on comp.lang.python by cmkl <cmkleffner-AT-gmx.de> on Dec.
 06/01 concerning similar uses of pyrepl.
\end_inset 

.
 Opening an IPython instance will give you full access to your data and
 functions, and you can resume program execution once you are done with
 the interactive part (perhaps to stop again later, as many times as needed).
\layout Standard

The following code snippet is the bare minimum you need to include in your
 Python programs for this to work (detailed examples follow later):
\layout LyX-Code

from IPython.Shell import IPShellEmbed
\layout LyX-Code

ipshell = IPShellEmbed()
\layout LyX-Code

ipshell() # this call anywhere in your program will start IPython
\layout Standard

You can run embedded instances even in code which is itself being run at
 the IPython interactive prompt with '
\family typewriter 
%run\SpecialChar ~
<filename>
\family default 
'.
 Since it's easy to get lost as to where you are (in your top-level IPython
 or in your embedded one), it's a good idea in such cases to set the in/out
 prompts to something different for the embedded instances.
 The code examples below illustrate this.
\layout Standard

You can also have multiple IPython instances in your program and open them
 separately, for example with different options for data presentation.
 If you close and open the same instance multiple times, its prompt counters
 simply continue from each execution to the next.
\layout Standard

Please look at the docstrings in the 
\family typewriter 
Shell.py
\family default 
 module for more details on the use of this system.
\layout Standard

The following sample file illustrating how to use the embedding functionality
 is provided in the examples directory as 
\family typewriter 
example-embed.py
\family default 
.
 It should be fairly self-explanatory:
\layout Standard


\begin_inset ERT
status Open

\layout Standard

\backslash 
codelist{examples/example-embed.py}
\end_inset 


\layout Standard

Once you understand how the system functions, you can use the following
 code fragments in your programs which are ready for cut and paste:
\layout Standard


\begin_inset ERT
status Open

\layout Standard

\backslash 
codelist{examples/example-embed-short.py}
\end_inset 


\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:using-pdb}

\end_inset 

Using the Python debugger (
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
)
\layout Subsection

Running entire programs via 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
, the Python debugger, is a powerful interactive debugger which allows you
 to step through code, set breakpoints, watch variables, etc.
 IPython makes it very easy to start any script under the control of 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
, regardless of whether you have wrapped it into a 
\family typewriter 
`main()'
\family default 
 function or not.
 For this, simply type 
\family typewriter 
`%run -d myscript'
\family default 
 at an IPython prompt.
 See the 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 command's documentation (via 
\family typewriter 
`%run?'
\family default 
 or in Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:magic}

\end_inset 

) for more details, including how to control where 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 will stop execution first.
\layout Standard

For more information on the use of the 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 debugger, read the included 
\family typewriter 
pdb.doc
\family default 
 file (part of the standard Python distribution).
 On a stock Linux system it is located at 
\family typewriter 
/usr/lib/python2.3/pdb.doc
\family default 
, but the easiest way to read it is by using the 
\family typewriter 
help()
\family default 
 function of the 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 module as follows (in an IPython prompt):
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
In [1]: import pdb
\newline 
In [2]: pdb.help()
\layout Standard

This will load the 
\family typewriter 
pdb.doc
\family default 
 document in a file viewer for you automatically.
\layout Subsection

Automatic invocation of 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 on exceptions
\layout Standard

IPython, if started with the 
\family typewriter 
-pdb
\family default 
 option (or if the option is set in your rc file) can call the Python 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 debugger every time your code triggers an uncaught exception
\begin_inset Foot
collapsed true

\layout Standard

Many thanks to Christopher Hart for the request which prompted adding this
 feature to IPython.
\end_inset 

.
 This feature can also be toggled at any time with the 
\family typewriter 
%pdb
\family default 
 magic command.
 This can be extremely useful in order to find the origin of subtle bugs,
 because 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 opens up at the point in your code which triggered the exception, and while
 your program is at this point `dead', all the data is still available and
 you can walk up and down the stack frame and understand the origin of the
 problem.
\layout Standard

Furthermore, you can use these debugging facilities both with the embedded
 IPython mode and without IPython at all.
 For an embedded shell (see sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:embed}

\end_inset 

), simply call the constructor with 
\family typewriter 
`-pdb'
\family default 
 in the argument string and automatically 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
 will be called if an uncaught exception is triggered by your code.
 
\layout Standard

For stand-alone use of the feature in your programs which do not use IPython
 at all, put the following lines toward the top of your `main' routine:
\layout Standard
\align left 

\family typewriter 
import sys,IPython.ultraTB 
\newline 
sys.excepthook = IPython.ultraTB.FormattedTB(mode=`Verbose', color_scheme=`Linux',
 call_pdb=1)
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
mode
\family default 
 keyword can be either 
\family typewriter 
`Verbose'
\family default 
 or 
\family typewriter 
`Plain'
\family default 
, giving either very detailed or normal tracebacks respectively.
 The 
\family typewriter 
color_scheme
\family default 
 keyword can be one of 
\family typewriter 
`NoColor'
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
`Linux'
\family default 
 (default) or 
\family typewriter 
`LightBG'
\family default 
.
 These are the same options which can be set in IPython with 
\family typewriter 
-colors
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
-xmode
\family default 
.
\layout Standard

This will give any of your programs detailed, colored tracebacks with automatic
 invocation of 
\family typewriter 
pdb
\family default 
.
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:syntax-extensions}

\end_inset 

Extensions for syntax processing
\layout Standard

This isn't for the faint of heart, because the potential for breaking things
 is quite high.
 But it can be a very powerful and useful feature.
 In a nutshell, you can redefine the way IPython processes the user input
 line to accept new, special extensions to the syntax without needing to
 change any of IPython's own code.
\layout Standard

In the 
\family typewriter 
IPython/Extensions
\family default 
 directory you will find some examples supplied, which we will briefly describe
 now.
 These can be used `as is' (and both provide very useful functionality),
 or you can use them as a starting point for writing your own extensions.
\layout Subsection

Pasting of code starting with 
\family typewriter 
`>>> 
\family default 
' or 
\family typewriter 
`...
 
\family default 
'
\layout Standard

In the python tutorial it is common to find code examples which have been
 taken from real python sessions.
 The problem with those is that all the lines begin with either 
\family typewriter 
`>>> 
\family default 
' or 
\family typewriter 
`...
 
\family default 
', which makes it impossible to paste them all at once.
 One must instead do a line by line manual copying, carefully removing the
 leading extraneous characters.
\layout Standard

This extension identifies those starting characters and removes them from
 the input automatically, so that one can paste multi-line examples directly
 into IPython, saving a lot of time.
 Please look at the file 
\family typewriter 
InterpreterPasteInput.py
\family default 
 in the 
\family typewriter 
IPython/Extensions
\family default 
 directory for details on how this is done.
\layout Standard

IPython comes with a special profile enabling this feature, called 
\family typewriter 
tutorial
\family default 
\emph on 
.

\emph default 
 Simply start IPython via 
\family typewriter 
`ipython\SpecialChar ~
-p\SpecialChar ~
tutorial'
\family default 
 and the feature will be available.
 In a normal IPython session you can activate the feature by importing the
 corresponding module with:
\newline 

\family typewriter 
In [1]: import IPython.Extensions.InterpreterPasteInput
\layout Standard

The following is a 'screenshot' of how things work when this extension is
 on, copying an example from the standard tutorial:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
IPython profile: tutorial
\newline 
\SpecialChar ~

\newline 
*** Pasting of code with ">>>" or "..." has been enabled.
\newline 
\SpecialChar ~

\newline 
In [1]: >>> def fib2(n): # return Fibonacci series up to n
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 ...: ...\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 """Return a list containing the Fibonacci series up to n."""
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 ...: ...\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 result = []
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 ...: ...\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 a, b = 0, 1
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 ...: ...\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 while b < n:
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 ...: ...\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 result.append(b)\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 # see below
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 ...: ...\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 a, b = b, a+b
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 ...: ...\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 return result
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
 ...:
\newline 
\SpecialChar ~

\newline 
In [2]: fib2(10)
\newline 
Out[2]: [1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8]
\layout Standard

Note that as currently written, this extension does 
\emph on 
not 
\emph default 
recognize IPython's prompts for pasting.
 Those are more complicated, since the user can change them very easily,
 they involve numbers and can vary in length.
 One could however extract all the relevant information from the IPython
 instance and build an appropriate regular expression.
 This is left as an exercise for the reader.
\layout Subsection

Input of physical quantities with units
\layout Standard

The module 
\family typewriter 
PhysicalQInput
\family default 
 allows a simplified form of input for physical quantities with units.
 This file is meant to be used in conjunction with the 
\family typewriter 
PhysicalQInteractive
\family default 
 module (in the same directory) and 
\family typewriter 
Physics.PhysicalQuantities
\family default 
 from Konrad Hinsen's ScientificPython (
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://dirac.cnrs-orleans.fr/ScientificPython/}

\end_inset 

).
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
Physics.PhysicalQuantities
\family default 
 module defines 
\family typewriter 
PhysicalQuantity
\family default 
 objects, but these must be declared as instances of a class.
 For example, to define 
\family typewriter 
v
\family default 
 as a velocity of 3\SpecialChar ~
m/s, normally you would write:
\family typewriter 

\newline 
In [1]: v = PhysicalQuantity(3,'m/s')
\layout Standard

Using the 
\family typewriter 
PhysicalQ_Input
\family default 
 extension this can be input instead as:
\family typewriter 

\newline 
In [1]: v = 3 m/s
\family default 

\newline 
which is much more convenient for interactive use (even though it is blatantly
 invalid Python syntax).
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
physics
\family default 
 profile supplied with IPython (enabled via 
\family typewriter 
'ipython -p physics'
\family default 
) uses these extensions, which you can also activate with:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
from math import * # math MUST be imported BEFORE PhysicalQInteractive
\newline 
from IPython.Extensions.PhysicalQInteractive import *
\newline 
import IPython.Extensions.PhysicalQInput
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:IPython-as-shell}

\end_inset 

IPython as a system shell
\layout Standard

IPython ships with a special profile called 
\family typewriter 
pysh
\family default 
, which you can activate at the command line as 
\family typewriter 
`ipython -p pysh'
\family default 
.
 This loads 
\family typewriter 
InterpreterExec
\family default 
, along with some additional facilities and a prompt customized for filesystem
 navigation.
\layout Standard

Note that this does 
\emph on 
not
\emph default 
 make IPython a full-fledged system shell.
 In particular, it has no job control, so if you type Ctrl-Z (under Unix),
 you'll suspend pysh itself, not the process you just started.
 
\layout Standard

What the shell profile allows you to do is to use the convenient and powerful
 syntax of Python to do quick scripting at the command line.
 Below we describe some of its features.
\layout Subsection

Aliases
\layout Standard

All of your 
\family typewriter 
$PATH
\family default 
 has been loaded as IPython aliases, so you should be able to type any normal
 system command and have it executed.
 See 
\family typewriter 
%alias?
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
%unalias?
\family default 
 for details on the alias facilities.
 See also 
\family typewriter 
%rehash?
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
%rehashx? 
\family default 
for details on the mechanism used to load 
\family typewriter 
$PATH
\family default 
.
\layout Subsection

Special syntax
\layout Standard

Any lines which begin with 
\family typewriter 
`~'
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
`/'
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
`.'
\family default 
 will be executed as shell commands instead of as Python code.
 The special escapes below are also recognized.
 
\family typewriter 
!cmd
\family default 
 is valid in single or multi-line input, all others are only valid in single-lin
e input:
\layout Description


\family typewriter 
!cmd
\family default 
 pass `cmd' directly to the shell 
\layout Description


\family typewriter 
!!cmd
\family default 
 execute `cmd' and return output as a list (split on `
\backslash 
n') 
\layout Description


\family typewriter 
$var=cmd
\family default 
 capture output of cmd into var, as a string 
\layout Description


\family typewriter 
$$var=cmd
\family default 
 capture output of cmd into var, as a list (split on `
\backslash 
n')
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
/
\family typewriter 
$$
\family default 
 syntaxes make Python variables from system output, which you can later
 use for further scripting.
 The converse is also possible: when executing an alias or calling to the
 system via 
\family typewriter 
!
\family default 
/
\family typewriter 
!!
\family default 
, you can expand any python variable or expression by prepending it with
 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
.
 Full details of the allowed syntax can be found in Python's PEP 215.
\layout Standard

A few brief examples will illustrate these (note that the indentation below
 may be incorrectly displayed):
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
fperez[~/test]|3> !ls *s.py 
\newline 
scopes.py strings.py
\layout Standard

ls is an internal alias, so there's no need to use 
\family typewriter 
!
\family default 
: 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
fperez[~/test]|4> ls *s.py 
\newline 
scopes.py* strings.py
\layout Standard

!!ls will return the output into a Python variable: 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
fperez[~/test]|5> !!ls *s.py 
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
<5> ['scopes.py', 'strings.py'] 
\newline 
fperez[~/test]|6> print _5 
\newline 
['scopes.py', 'strings.py']
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
$$
\family default 
 allow direct capture to named variables: 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
fperez[~/test]|7> $astr = ls *s.py 
\newline 
fperez[~/test]|8> astr 
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
<8> 'scopes.py
\backslash 
nstrings.py'
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
fperez[~/test]|9> $$alist = ls *s.py 
\newline 
fperez[~/test]|10> alist 
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
<10> ['scopes.py', 'strings.py']
\layout Standard

alist is now a normal python list you can loop over.
 Using 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
 will expand back the python values when alias calls are made:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
fperez[~/test]|11> for f in alist: 
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
|..> \SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
print 'file',f, 
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
|..> \SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
wc -l $f 
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
|..> 
\newline 
file scopes.py 13 scopes.py 
\newline 
file strings.py 4 strings.py
\layout Standard

Note that you may need to protect your variables with braces if you want
 to append strings to their names.
 To copy all files in alist to 
\family typewriter 
.bak
\family default 
 extensions, you must use: 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
fperez[~/test]|12> for f in alist: 
\newline 

\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
hspace*{0mm}
\end_inset 

\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
|..> \SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
cp $f ${f}.bak
\layout Standard

If you try using 
\family typewriter 
$f.bak
\family default 
, you'll get an AttributeError exception saying that your string object
 doesn't have a 
\family typewriter 
.bak
\family default 
 attribute.
 This is because the 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
 expansion mechanism allows you to expand full Python expressions: 
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
fperez[~/test]|13> echo "sys.platform is: $sys.platform" 
\newline 
sys.platform is: linux2
\layout Standard

IPython's input history handling is still active, which allows you to rerun
 a single block of multi-line input by simply using exec: 
\newline 

\family typewriter 
fperez[~/test]|14> $$alist = ls *.eps 
\newline 
fperez[~/test]|15> exec _i11 
\newline 
file image2.eps 921 image2.eps 
\newline 
file image.eps 921 image.eps
\layout Standard

While these are new special-case syntaxes, they are designed to allow very
 efficient use of the shell with minimal typing.
 At an interactive shell prompt, conciseness of expression wins over readability.
\layout Subsection

Useful functions and modules
\layout Standard

The os, sys and shutil modules from the Python standard library are automaticall
y loaded.
 Some additional functions, useful for shell usage, are listed below.
 You can request more help about them with `
\family typewriter 
?
\family default 
'.
\layout Description


\family typewriter 
shell
\family default 
 - execute a command in the underlying system shell 
\layout Description


\family typewriter 
system
\family default 
 - like 
\family typewriter 
shell()
\family default 
, but return the exit status of the command
\layout Description


\family typewriter 
sout
\family default 
 - capture the output of a command as a string
\layout Description


\family typewriter 
lout
\family default 
 - capture the output of a command as a list (split on `
\backslash 
n')
\layout Description


\family typewriter 
getoutputerror
\family default 
 - capture (output,error) of a shell commandss
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
sout
\family default 
/
\family typewriter 
lout
\family default 
 are the functional equivalents of 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
/
\family typewriter 
$$
\family default 
.
 They are provided to allow you to capture system output in the middle of
 true python code, function definitions, etc (where 
\family typewriter 
$
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
$$
\family default 
 are invalid).
\layout Subsection

Directory management
\layout Standard

Since each command passed by pysh to the underlying system is executed in
 a subshell which exits immediately, you can NOT use !cd to navigate the
 filesystem.
\layout Standard

Pysh provides its own builtin 
\family typewriter 
`%cd
\family default 
' magic command to move in the filesystem (the 
\family typewriter 
%
\family default 
 is not required with automagic on).
 It also maintains a list of visited directories (use 
\family typewriter 
%dhist
\family default 
 to see it) and allows direct switching to any of them.
 Type 
\family typewriter 
`cd?
\family default 
' for more details.
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
%pushd
\family default 
, 
\family typewriter 
%popd
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
%dirs
\family default 
 are provided for directory stack handling.
\layout Subsection

Prompt customization
\layout Standard

The supplied 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc-pysh
\family default 
 profile comes with an example of a very colored and detailed prompt, mainly
 to serve as an illustration.
 The valid escape sequences, besides color names, are:
\layout Description


\backslash 
# - Prompt number.
\layout Description


\backslash 
D - Dots, as many as there are digits in 
\backslash 
# (so they align).
\layout Description


\backslash 
w - Current working directory (cwd).
\layout Description


\backslash 
W - Basename of current working directory.
\layout Description


\backslash 
X
\emph on 
N
\emph default 
 - Where 
\emph on 
N
\emph default 
=0..5.
 N terms of the cwd, with $HOME written as ~.
\layout Description


\backslash 
Y
\emph on 
N
\emph default 
 - Where 
\emph on 
N
\emph default 
=0..5.
 Like X
\emph on 
N
\emph default 
, but if ~ is term 
\emph on 
N
\emph default 
+1 it's also shown.
\layout Description


\backslash 
u - Username.
\layout Description


\backslash 
H - Full hostname.
\layout Description


\backslash 
h - Hostname up to first '.'
\layout Description


\backslash 
$ - Root symbol ($ or #).
 
\layout Description


\backslash 
t - Current time, in H:M:S format.
\layout Description


\backslash 
v - IPython release version.
 
\layout Description


\backslash 
n - Newline.
 
\layout Description


\backslash 
r - Carriage return.
 
\layout Description


\backslash 

\backslash 
 - An explicitly escaped '
\backslash 
'.
\layout Standard

You can configure your prompt colors using any ANSI color escape.
 Each color escape sets the color for any subsequent text, until another
 escape comes in and changes things.
 The valid color escapes are:
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_Black
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_Blue
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_Brown
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_Cyan
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_DarkGray
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_Green
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_LightBlue
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_LightCyan
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_LightGray
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_LightGreen
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_LightPurple
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_LightRed
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_Purple
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_Red
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_White
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_Yellow
\layout Description


\backslash 
C_Normal Stop coloring, defaults to your terminal settings.
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:Threading-support}

\end_inset 

Threading support
\layout Standard


\series bold 
WARNING: 
\series default 
The threading support is still somewhat experimental, and it has only seen
 reasonable testing under Linux.
 Threaded code is particularly tricky to debug, and it tends to show extremely
 platform-dependent behavior.
 Since I only have access to Linux machines, I will have to rely on user's
 experiences and assistance for this area of IPython to improve under other
 platforms.
\layout Standard

IPython, via the 
\family typewriter 
-gthread
\family default 
 , 
\family typewriter 
-qthread
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
-wthread
\family default 
 options (described in Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:threading-opts}

\end_inset 

), can run in multithreaded mode to support pyGTK, Qt and WXPython applications
 respectively.
 These GUI toolkits need to control the python main loop of execution, so
 under a normal Python interpreter, starting a pyGTK, Qt or WXPython application
 will immediately freeze the shell.
 
\layout Standard

IPython, with one of these options (you can only use one at a time), separates
 the graphical loop and IPython's code execution run into different threads.
 This allows you to test interactively (with 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
, for example) your GUI code without blocking.
\layout Standard

A nice mini-tutorial on using IPython along with the Qt Designer application
 is available at the SciPy wiki: 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://www.scipy.org/Cookbook/Matplotlib/Qt_with_IPython_and_Designer}

\end_inset 

.
\layout Subsection

Tk issues
\layout Standard

As indicated in Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:threading-opts}

\end_inset 

, a special 
\family typewriter 
-tk
\family default 
 option is provided to try and allow Tk graphical applications to coexist
 interactively with WX, Qt or GTK ones.
 Whether this works at all, however, is very platform and configuration
 dependent.
 Please experiment with simple test cases before committing to using this
 combination of Tk and GTK/Qt/WX threading in a production environment.
\layout Subsection

Signals and Threads
\layout Standard

When any of the thread systems (GTK, Qt or WX) are active, either directly
 or via 
\family typewriter 
-pylab
\family default 
 with a threaded backend, it is impossible to interrupt long-running Python
 code via 
\family typewriter 
Ctrl-C
\family default 
.
 IPython can not pass the KeyboardInterrupt exception (or the underlying
 
\family typewriter 
SIGINT
\family default 
) across threads, so any long-running process started from IPython will
 run to completion, or will have to be killed via an external (OS-based)
 mechanism.
\layout Standard

To the best of my knowledge, this limitation is imposed by the Python interprete
r itself, and it comes from the difficulty of writing portable signal/threaded
 code.
 If any user is an expert on this topic and can suggest a better solution,
 I would love to hear about it.
 In the IPython sources, look at the 
\family typewriter 
Shell.py
\family default 
 module, and in particular at the 
\family typewriter 
runcode()
\family default 
 method.
 
\layout Subsection

I/O pitfalls
\layout Standard

Be mindful that the Python interpreter switches between threads every 
\begin_inset Formula $N$
\end_inset 

 bytecodes, where the default value as of Python\SpecialChar ~
2.3 is 
\begin_inset Formula $N=100.$
\end_inset 

 This value can be read by using the 
\family typewriter 
sys.getcheckinterval()
\family default 
 function, and it can be reset via 
\family typewriter 
sys.setcheckinterval(
\emph on 
N
\emph default 
)
\family default 
.
 This switching of threads can cause subtly confusing effects if one of
 your threads is doing file I/O.
 In text mode, most systems only flush file buffers when they encounter
 a 
\family typewriter 
`
\backslash 
n'
\family default 
.
 An instruction as simple as
\family typewriter 

\newline 
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
print >> filehandle, 
\begin_inset Quotes eld
\end_inset 

hello world
\begin_inset Quotes erd
\end_inset 


\family default 

\newline 
actually consists of several bytecodes, so it is possible that the newline
 does not reach your file before the next thread switch.
 Similarly, if you are writing to a file in binary mode, the file won't
 be flushed until the buffer fills, and your other thread may see apparently
 truncated files.
 
\layout Standard

For this reason, if you are using IPython's thread support and have (for
 example) a GUI application which will read data generated by files written
 to from the IPython thread, the safest approach is to open all of your
 files in unbuffered mode (the third argument to the 
\family typewriter 
file/open
\family default 
 function is the buffering value):
\newline 

\family typewriter 
\SpecialChar ~
\SpecialChar ~
filehandle = open(filename,mode,0)
\layout Standard

This is obviously a brute force way of avoiding race conditions with the
 file buffering.
 If you want to do it cleanly, and you have a resource which is being shared
 by the interactive IPython loop and your GUI thread, you should really
 handle it with thread locking and syncrhonization properties.
 The Python documentation discusses these.
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:interactive-demos}

\end_inset 

Interactive demos with IPython
\layout Standard

IPython ships with a basic system for running scripts interactively in sections,
 useful when presenting code to audiences.
 A few tags embedded in comments (so that the script remains valid Python
 code) divide a file into separate blocks, and the demo can be run one block
 at a time, with IPython printing (with syntax highlighting) the block before
 executing it, and returning to the interactive prompt after each block.
 The interactive namespace is updated after each block is run with the contents
 of the demo's namespace.
\layout Standard

This allows you to show a piece of code, run it and then execute interactively
 commands based on the variables just created.
 Once you want to continue, you simply execute the next block of the demo.
 The following listing shows the markup necessary for dividing a script
 into sections for execution as a demo.
\layout Standard


\begin_inset ERT
status Open

\layout Standard

\backslash 
codelist{examples/example-demo.py}
\end_inset 


\layout Standard

In order to run a file as a demo, you must first make a 
\family typewriter 
Demo
\family default 
 object out of it.
 If the file is named 
\family typewriter 
myscript.py
\family default 
, the following code will make a demo:
\layout LyX-Code

from IPython.demo import Demo
\layout LyX-Code

mydemo = Demo('myscript.py')
\layout Standard

This creates the 
\family typewriter 
mydemo
\family default 
 object, whose blocks you run one at a time by simply calling the object
 with no arguments.
 If you have autocall active in IPython (the default), all you need to do
 is type
\layout LyX-Code

mydemo
\layout Standard

and IPython will call it, executing each block.
 Demo objects can be restarted, you can move forward or back skipping blocks,
 re-execute the last block, etc.
 Simply use the Tab key on a demo object to see its methods, and call 
\family typewriter 
`?'
\family default 
 on them to see their docstrings for more usage details.
 In addition, the 
\family typewriter 
demo
\family default 
 module itself contains a comprehensive docstring, which you can access
 via
\layout LyX-Code

from IPython import demo
\layout LyX-Code

demo?
\layout Standard


\series bold 
Limitations:
\series default 
 It is important to note that these demos are limited to fairly simple uses.
 In particular, you can 
\emph on 
not
\emph default 
 put division marks in indented code (loops, if statements, function definitions
, etc.) Supporting something like this would basically require tracking the
 internal execution state of the Python interpreter, so only top-level divisions
 are allowed.
 If you want to be able to open an IPython instance at an arbitrary point
 in a program, you can use IPython's embedding facilities, described in
 detail in Sec\SpecialChar \@.
\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:embed}

\end_inset 

.
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:matplotlib-support}

\end_inset 

Plotting with 
\family typewriter 
matplotlib
\family default 
 
\layout Standard

The matplotlib library (
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl[http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net]{http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net}

\end_inset 

) provides high quality 2D plotting for Python.
 Matplotlib can produce plots on screen using a variety of GUI toolkits,
 including Tk, GTK and WXPython.
 It also provides a number of commands useful for scientific computing,
 all with a syntax compatible with that of the popular Matlab program.
\layout Standard

IPython accepts the special option 
\family typewriter 
-pylab
\family default 
 (Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:cmd-line-opts}

\end_inset 

).
 This configures it to support matplotlib, honoring the settings in the
 
\family typewriter 
.matplotlibrc
\family default 
 file.
 IPython will detect the user's choice of matplotlib GUI backend, and automatica
lly select the proper threading model to prevent blocking.
 It also sets matplotlib in interactive mode and modifies 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 slightly, so that any matplotlib-based script can be executed using 
\family typewriter 
%run
\family default 
 and the final 
\family typewriter 
show()
\family default 
 command does not block the interactive shell.
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
-pylab
\family default 
 option must be given first in order for IPython to configure its threading
 mode.
 However, you can still issue other options afterwards.
 This allows you to have a matplotlib-based environment customized with
 additional modules using the standard IPython profile mechanism (Sec.\SpecialChar ~

\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:profiles}

\end_inset 

): ``
\family typewriter 
ipython -pylab -p myprofile
\family default 
'' will load the profile defined in 
\family typewriter 
ipythonrc-myprofile
\family default 
 after configuring matplotlib.
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:Gnuplot}

\end_inset 

Plotting with 
\family typewriter 
Gnuplot
\layout Standard

Through the magic extension system described in sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:magic}

\end_inset 

, IPython incorporates a mechanism for conveniently interfacing with the
 Gnuplot system (
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://www.gnuplot.info}

\end_inset 

).
 Gnuplot is a very complete 2D and 3D plotting package available for many
 operating systems and commonly included in modern Linux distributions.
 
\layout Standard

Besides having Gnuplot installed, this functionality requires the 
\family typewriter 
Gnuplot.py
\family default 
 module for interfacing python with Gnuplot.
 It can be downloaded from: 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://gnuplot-py.sourceforge.net}

\end_inset 

.
\layout Subsection

Proper Gnuplot configuration
\layout Standard

As of version 4.0, Gnuplot has excellent mouse and interactive keyboard support.
 However, as of 
\family typewriter 
Gnuplot.py
\family default 
 version 1.7, a new option was added to communicate between Python and Gnuplot
 via FIFOs (pipes).
 This mechanism, while fast, also breaks the mouse system.
 You must therefore set the variable 
\family typewriter 
prefer_fifo_data
\family default 
 to 
\family typewriter 
0
\family default 
 in file 
\family typewriter 
gp_unix.py
\family default 
 if you wish to keep the interactive mouse and keyboard features working
 properly (
\family typewriter 
prefer_inline_data
\family default 
 also must be 
\family typewriter 
0
\family default 
, but this is the default so unless you've changed it manually you should
 be fine).
\layout Standard

'Out of the box', Gnuplot is configured with a rather poor set of size,
 color and linewidth choices which make the graphs fairly hard to read on
 modern high-resolution displays (although they work fine on old 640x480
 ones).
 Below is a section of my 
\family typewriter 
.Xdefaults
\family default 
 file which I use for having a more convenient Gnuplot setup.
 Remember to load it by running 
\family typewriter 
`xrdb .Xdefaults`
\family default 
:
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
!******************************************************************
\newline 
! gnuplot options
\newline 
! modify this for a convenient window size
\newline 
gnuplot*geometry: 780x580
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
! on-screen font (not for PostScript)
\newline 
gnuplot*font: -misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--15-120-100-100-c-90-iso8859-1
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
! color options
\newline 
gnuplot*background: black
\newline 
gnuplot*textColor: white
\newline 
gnuplot*borderColor: white
\newline 
gnuplot*axisColor: white
\newline 
gnuplot*line1Color: red
\newline 
gnuplot*line2Color: green
\newline 
gnuplot*line3Color: blue
\newline 
gnuplot*line4Color: magenta
\newline 
gnuplot*line5Color: cyan
\newline 
gnuplot*line6Color: sienna
\newline 
gnuplot*line7Color: orange
\newline 
gnuplot*line8Color: coral
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
! multiplicative factor for point styles
\newline 
gnuplot*pointsize: 2
\layout Standard


\family typewriter 
! line width options (in pixels)
\newline 
gnuplot*borderWidth: 2
\newline 
gnuplot*axisWidth: 2
\newline 
gnuplot*line1Width: 2
\newline 
gnuplot*line2Width: 2
\newline 
gnuplot*line3Width: 2
\newline 
gnuplot*line4Width: 2
\newline 
gnuplot*line5Width: 2
\newline 
gnuplot*line6Width: 2
\newline 
gnuplot*line7Width: 2
\newline 
gnuplot*line8Width: 2
\layout Subsection

The 
\family typewriter 
IPython.GnuplotRuntime
\family default 
 module
\layout Standard

IPython includes a module called 
\family typewriter 
Gnuplot2.py
\family default 
 which extends and improves the default 
\family typewriter 
Gnuplot
\family default 
.
\family typewriter 
py
\family default 
 (which it still relies upon).
 For example, the new 
\family typewriter 
plot
\family default 
 function adds several improvements to the original making it more convenient
 for interactive use, and 
\family typewriter 
hardcopy
\family default 
 fixes a bug in the original which under some circumstances blocks the creation
 of PostScript output.
\layout Standard

For scripting use, 
\family typewriter 
GnuplotRuntime.py
\family default 
 is provided, which wraps 
\family typewriter 
Gnuplot2.py
\family default 
 and creates a series of global aliases.
 These make it easy to control Gnuplot plotting jobs through the Python
 language.
\layout Standard

Below is some example code which illustrates how to configure Gnuplot inside
 your own programs but have it available for further interactive use through
 an embedded IPython instance.
 Simply run this file at a system prompt.
 This file is provided as 
\family typewriter 
example-gnuplot.py
\family default 
 in the examples directory:
\layout Standard


\begin_inset ERT
status Open

\layout Standard

\backslash 
codelist{examples/example-gnuplot.py}
\end_inset 


\layout Subsection

The 
\family typewriter 
numeric
\family default 
 profile: a scientific computing environment
\layout Standard

The 
\family typewriter 
numeric
\family default 
 IPython profile, which you can activate with 
\family typewriter 
`ipython -p numeric
\family default 
' will automatically load the IPython Gnuplot extensions (plus Numeric and
 other useful things for numerical computing), contained in the 
\family typewriter 
IPython.GnuplotInteractive
\family default 
 module.
 This will create the globals 
\family typewriter 
Gnuplot 
\family default 
(an alias to the improved Gnuplot2 module), 
\family typewriter 
gp
\family default 
 (a Gnuplot active instance), the new magic commands 
\family typewriter 
%gpc
\family default 
 and 
\family typewriter 
%gp_set_instance
\family default 
 and several other convenient globals.
 Type 
\family typewriter 
gphelp()
\family default 
 for further details.
\layout Standard

This should turn IPython into a convenient environment for numerical computing,
 with all the functions in the NumPy library and the Gnuplot facilities
 for plotting.
 Further improvements can be obtained by loading the SciPy libraries for
 scientific computing, available at 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://scipy.org}

\end_inset 

.
\layout Standard

If you are in the middle of a working session with numerical objects and
 need to plot them but you didn't start the 
\family typewriter 
numeric
\family default 
 profile, you can load these extensions at any time by typing
\newline 

\family typewriter 
from IPython.GnuplotInteractive import *
\newline 

\family default 
at the IPython prompt.
 This will allow you to keep your objects intact and start using Gnuplot
 to view them.
\layout Section

Reporting bugs
\layout Subsection*

Automatic crash reports
\layout Standard

Ideally, IPython itself shouldn't crash.
 It will catch exceptions produced by you, but bugs in its internals will
 still crash it.
\layout Standard

In such a situation, IPython will leave a file named 
\family typewriter 
IPython_crash_report.txt
\family default 
 in your IPYTHONDIR directory (that way if crashes happen several times
 it won't litter many directories, the post-mortem file is always located
 in the same place and new occurrences just overwrite the previous one).
 If you can mail this file to the developers (see sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{sec:credits}

\end_inset 

 for names and addresses), it will help us 
\emph on 
a lot
\emph default 
 in understanding the cause of the problem and fixing it sooner.
\layout Subsection*

The bug tracker
\layout Standard

IPython also has an online bug-tracker, located at 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://projects.scipy.org/ipython/ipython/report/1}

\end_inset 

.
 In addition to mailing the developers, it would be a good idea to file
 a bug report here.
 This will ensure that the issue is properly followed to conclusion.
 To report new bugs you will have to register first.
\layout Standard

You can also use this bug tracker to file feature requests.
\layout Section

Brief history
\layout Subsection

Origins
\layout Standard

The current IPython system grew out of the following three projects:
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

ipython by Fernando P
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
'{e}
\end_inset 

rez.
 I was working on adding Mathematica-type prompts and a flexible configuration
 system (something better than 
\family typewriter 
$PYTHONSTARTUP
\family default 
) to the standard Python interactive interpreter.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

IPP by Janko Hauser.
 Very well organized, great usability.
 Had an old help system.
 IPP was used as the `container' code into which I added the functionality
 from ipython and LazyPython.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

LazyPython by Nathan Gray.
 Simple but 
\emph on 
very
\emph default 
 powerful.
 The quick syntax (auto parens, auto quotes) and verbose/colored tracebacks
 were all taken from here.
\layout Standard

When I found out (see sec.
 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \ref{figgins}

\end_inset 

) about IPP and LazyPython I tried to join all three into a unified system.
 I thought this could provide a very nice working environment, both for
 regular programming and scientific computing: shell-like features, IDL/Matlab
 numerics, Mathematica-type prompt history and great object introspection
 and help facilities.
 I think it worked reasonably well, though it was a lot more work than I
 had initially planned.
\layout Subsection

Current status
\layout Standard

The above listed features work, and quite well for the most part.
 But until a major internal restructuring is done (see below), only bug
 fixing will be done, no other features will be added (unless very minor
 and well localized in the cleaner parts of the code).
\layout Standard

IPython consists of some 18000 lines of pure python code, of which roughly
 two thirds is reasonably clean.
 The rest is, messy code which needs a massive restructuring before any
 further major work is done.
 Even the messy code is fairly well documented though, and most of the problems
 in the (non-existent) class design are well pointed to by a PyChecker run.
 So the rewriting work isn't that bad, it will just be time-consuming.
\layout Subsection

Future
\layout Standard

See the separate 
\family typewriter 
new_design
\family default 
 document for details.
 Ultimately, I would like to see IPython become part of the standard Python
 distribution as a `big brother with batteries' to the standard Python interacti
ve interpreter.
 But that will never happen with the current state of the code, so all contribut
ions are welcome.
\layout Section

License
\layout Standard

IPython is released under the terms of the BSD license, whose general form
 can be found at: 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php}

\end_inset 

.
 The full text of the IPython license is reproduced below:
\layout Quote


\family typewriter 
\size small 
IPython is released under a BSD-type license.
\layout Quote


\family typewriter 
\size small 
Copyright (c) 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Fernando Perez <[e-mail]>.
\layout Quote


\family typewriter 
\size small 
Copyright (c) 2001 Janko Hauser <[e-mail]> and 
\newline 
Nathaniel Gray <[e-mail]>.
\layout Quote


\family typewriter 
\size small 
All rights reserved.
\layout Quote


\family typewriter 
\size small 
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
 are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
\layout Quote


\family typewriter 
\size small 
a.
 Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
 this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
\layout Quote


\family typewriter 
\size small 
b.
 Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
 this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
 and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
\layout Quote


\family typewriter 
\size small 
c.
 Neither the name of the copyright holders nor the names of any contributors
 to this software may be used to endorse or promote products derived from
 this software without specific prior written permission.
\layout Quote


\family typewriter 
\size small 
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS
 IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
 THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
 PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED.
 IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT,
 INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING,
 BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF
 USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
 ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
 (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF
 THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
\layout Standard

Individual authors are the holders of the copyright for their code and are
 listed in each file.
\layout Standard

Some files (
\family typewriter 
DPyGetOpt.py
\family default 
, for example) may be licensed under different conditions.
 Ultimately each file indicates clearly the conditions under which its author/au
thors have decided to publish the code.
\layout Standard

Versions of IPython up to and including 0.6.3 were released under the GNU
 Lesser General Public License (LGPL), available at 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html}

\end_inset 

.
\layout Section


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{sec:credits}

\end_inset 

Credits
\layout Standard

IPython is mainly developed by Fernando P
\begin_inset ERT
status Collapsed

\layout Standard

\backslash 
'{e}
\end_inset 

rez 
\family typewriter 
<[e-mail]>
\family default 
, but the project was born from mixing in Fernando's code with the IPP project
 by Janko Hauser 
\family typewriter 
<jhauser-AT-zscout.de>
\family default 
 and LazyPython by Nathan Gray 
\family typewriter 
<n8gray-AT-caltech.edu>
\family default 
.
 For all IPython-related requests, please contact Fernando.
 
\layout Standard

As of early 2006, the following developers have joined the core team:
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Robert\SpecialChar ~
Kern 
\family typewriter 
<rkern-AT-enthought.com>
\family default 
: co-mentored the 2005 Google Summer of Code project to develop python interacti
ve notebooks (XML documents) and graphical interface.
 This project was awarded to the students Tzanko Matev 
\family typewriter 
<tsanko-AT-gmail.com>
\family default 
 and Toni Alatalo 
\family typewriter 
<antont-AT-an.org>
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Brian\SpecialChar ~
Granger 
\family typewriter 
<bgranger-AT-scu.edu>
\family default 
: extending IPython to allow support for interactive parallel computing.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Ville\SpecialChar ~
Vainio 
\family typewriter 
<vivainio-AT-gmail.com>
\family default 
: Ville is the new maintainer for the main trunk of IPython after version
 0.7.1.
\layout Standard

User or development help should be requested via the IPython mailing lists:
\layout Description

User\SpecialChar ~
list: 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://scipy.net/mailman/listinfo/ipython-user}

\end_inset 


\layout Description

Developer's\SpecialChar ~
list: 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://scipy.net/mailman/listinfo/ipython-dev}

\end_inset 


\layout Standard

The IPython project is also very grateful to
\begin_inset Foot
collapsed true

\layout Standard

I've mangled email addresses to reduce spam, since the IPython manuals can
 be accessed online.
\end_inset 

:
\layout Standard

Bill Bumgarner 
\family typewriter 
<bbum-AT-friday.com>
\family default 
: for providing the DPyGetOpt module which gives very powerful and convenient
 handling of command-line options (light years ahead of what Python 2.1.1's
 getopt module does).
\layout Standard

Ka-Ping Yee 
\family typewriter 
<ping-AT-lfw.org>
\family default 
: for providing the Itpl module for convenient and powerful string interpolation
 with a much nicer syntax than formatting through the '%' operator.
\layout Standard

Arnd Baecker 
\family typewriter 
<baecker-AT-physik.tu-dresden.de>
\family default 
: for his many very useful suggestions and comments, and lots of help with
 testing and documentation checking.
 Many of IPython's newer features are a result of discussions with him (bugs
 are still my fault, not his).
\layout Standard

Obviously Guido van\SpecialChar ~
Rossum and the whole Python development team, that goes
 without saying.
\layout Standard

IPython's website is generously hosted at 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://ipython.scipy.org}

\end_inset 

 by Enthought (
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://www.enthought.com}

\end_inset 

).
 I am very grateful to them and all of the SciPy team for their contribution.
\layout Standard


\begin_inset LatexCommand \label{figgins}

\end_inset 

Fernando would also like to thank Stephen Figgins 
\family typewriter 
<fig-AT-monitor.net>
\family default 
, an O'Reilly Python editor.
 His Oct/11/2001 article about IPP and LazyPython, was what got this project
 started.
 You can read it at: 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/python/2001/10/11/pythonnews.html}

\end_inset 

.
\layout Standard

And last but not least, all the kind IPython users who have emailed new
 code, bug reports, fixes, comments and ideas.
 A brief list follows, please let me know if I have ommitted your name by
 accident: 
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Jack\SpecialChar ~
Moffit 
\family typewriter 
<jack-AT-xiph.org>
\family default 
 Bug fixes, including the infamous color problem.
 This bug alone caused many lost hours and frustration, many thanks to him
 for the fix.
 I've always been a fan of Ogg & friends, now I have one more reason to
 like these folks.
\newline 
Jack is also contributing with Debian packaging and many other things.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Alexander\SpecialChar ~
Schmolck 
\family typewriter 
<a.schmolck-AT-gmx.net> 
\family default 
Emacs work, bug reports, bug fixes, ideas, lots more.
 The ipython.el mode for (X)Emacs is Alex's code, providing full support
 for IPython under (X)Emacs.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Andrea\SpecialChar ~
Riciputi 
\family typewriter 
<andrea.riciputi-AT-libero.it>
\family default 
 Mac OSX information, Fink package management.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Gary\SpecialChar ~
Bishop 
\family typewriter 
<gb-AT-cs.unc.edu>
\family default 
 Bug reports, and patches to work around the exception handling idiosyncracies
 of WxPython.
 Readline and color support for Windows.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Jeffrey\SpecialChar ~
Collins 
\family typewriter 
<Jeff.Collins-AT-vexcel.com>
\family default 
 Bug reports.
 Much improved readline support, including fixes for Python 2.3.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Dryice\SpecialChar ~
Liu 
\family typewriter 
<dryice-AT-liu.com.cn>
\family default 
 FreeBSD port.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Mike\SpecialChar ~
Heeter 
\family typewriter 
<korora-AT-SDF.LONESTAR.ORG>
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Christopher\SpecialChar ~
Hart 
\family typewriter 
<hart-AT-caltech.edu>
\family default 
 PDB integration.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Milan\SpecialChar ~
Zamazal 
\family typewriter 
<pdm-AT-zamazal.org>
\family default 
 Emacs info.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Philip\SpecialChar ~
Hisley 
\family typewriter 
<compsys-AT-starpower.net>
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Holger\SpecialChar ~
Krekel 
\family typewriter 
<pyth-AT-devel.trillke.net>
\family default 
 Tab completion, lots more.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Robin\SpecialChar ~
Siebler 
\family typewriter 
<robinsiebler-AT-starband.net>
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Ralf\SpecialChar ~
Ahlbrink
\family typewriter 
 <ralf_ahlbrink-AT-web.de>
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Thorsten\SpecialChar ~
Kampe 
\family typewriter 
<thorsten-AT-thorstenkampe.de>
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Fredrik\SpecialChar ~
Kant 
\family typewriter 
<fredrik.kant-AT-front.com>
\family default 
 Windows setup.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Syver\SpecialChar ~
Enstad 
\family typewriter 
<syver-en-AT-online.no>
\family default 
 Windows setup.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Richard 
\family typewriter 
<rxe-AT-renre-europe.com>
\family default 
 Global embedding.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Hayden\SpecialChar ~
Callow 
\family typewriter 
<h.callow-AT-elec.canterbury.ac.nz>
\family default 
 Gnuplot.py 1.6 compatibility.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Leonardo\SpecialChar ~
Santagada 
\family typewriter 
<retype-AT-terra.com.br>
\family default 
 Fixes for Windows installation.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Christopher\SpecialChar ~
Armstrong 
\family typewriter 
<radix-AT-twistedmatrix.com>
\family default 
 Bugfixes.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Francois\SpecialChar ~
Pinard 
\family typewriter 
<pinard-AT-iro.umontreal.ca>
\family default 
 Code and documentation fixes.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Cory\SpecialChar ~
Dodt 
\family typewriter 
<cdodt-AT-fcoe.k12.ca.us>
\family default 
 Bug reports and Windows ideas.
 Patches for Windows installer.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Olivier\SpecialChar ~
Aubert 
\family typewriter 
<oaubert-AT-bat710.univ-lyon1.fr>
\family default 
 New magics.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

King\SpecialChar ~
C.\SpecialChar ~
Shu 
\family typewriter 
<kingshu-AT-myrealbox.com>
\family default 
 Autoindent patch.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Chris\SpecialChar ~
Drexler 
\family typewriter 
<chris-AT-ac-drexler.de>
\family default 
 Readline packages for Win32/CygWin.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Gustavo\SpecialChar ~
Cordova\SpecialChar ~
Avila 
\family typewriter 
<gcordova-AT-sismex.com>
\family default 
 EvalDict code for nice, lightweight string interpolation.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Kasper\SpecialChar ~
Souren 
\family typewriter 
<Kasper.Souren-AT-ircam.fr>
\family default 
 Bug reports, ideas.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Gever\SpecialChar ~
Tulley 
\family typewriter 
<gever-AT-helium.com>
\family default 
 Code contributions.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Ralf\SpecialChar ~
Schmitt 
\family typewriter 
<ralf-AT-brainbot.com>
\family default 
 Bug reports & fixes.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Oliver\SpecialChar ~
Sander 
\family typewriter 
<osander-AT-gmx.de>
\family default 
 Bug reports.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Rod\SpecialChar ~
Holland 
\family typewriter 
<rhh-AT-structurelabs.com>
\family default 
 Bug reports and fixes to logging module.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Daniel\SpecialChar ~
'Dang'\SpecialChar ~
Griffith 
\family typewriter 
<pythondev-dang-AT-lazytwinacres.net>
\family default 
 Fixes, enhancement suggestions for system shell use.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Viktor\SpecialChar ~
Ransmayr 
\family typewriter 
<viktor.ransmayr-AT-t-online.de>
\family default 
 Tests and reports on Windows installation issues.
 Contributed a true Windows binary installer.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Mike\SpecialChar ~
Salib 
\family typewriter 
<msalib-AT-mit.edu>
\family default 
 Help fixing a subtle bug related to traceback printing.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

W.J.\SpecialChar ~
van\SpecialChar ~
der\SpecialChar ~
Laan 
\family typewriter 
<gnufnork-AT-hetdigitalegat.nl>
\family default 
 Bash-like prompt specials.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Antoon\SpecialChar ~
Pardon 
\family typewriter 
<Antoon.Pardon-AT-rece.vub.ac.be>
\family default 
 Critical fix for the multithreaded IPython.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

John\SpecialChar ~
Hunter 
\family typewriter 
<jdhunter-AT-nitace.bsd.uchicago.edu>
\family default 
 Matplotlib author, helped with all the development of support for matplotlib
 in IPyhton, including making necessary changes to matplotlib itself.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Matthew\SpecialChar ~
Arnison 
\family typewriter 
<maffew-AT-cat.org.au>
\family default 
 Bug reports, `
\family typewriter 
%run -d
\family default 
' idea.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Prabhu\SpecialChar ~
Ramachandran 
\family typewriter 
<prabhu_r-AT-users.sourceforge.net>
\family default 
 Help with (X)Emacs support, threading patches, ideas...
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Norbert\SpecialChar ~
Tretkowski 
\family typewriter 
<tretkowski-AT-inittab.de>
\family default 
 help with Debian packaging and distribution.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

George\SpecialChar ~
Sakkis <
\family typewriter 
gsakkis-AT-eden.rutgers.edu>
\family default 
 New matcher for tab-completing named arguments of user-defined functions.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

J�rgen\SpecialChar ~
Stenarson 
\family typewriter 
<jorgen.stenarson-AT-bostream.nu>
\family default 
 Wildcard support implementation for searching namespaces.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Vivian\SpecialChar ~
De\SpecialChar ~
Smedt 
\family typewriter 
<vivian-AT-vdesmedt.com>
\family default 
 Debugger enhancements, so that when pdb is activated from within IPython,
 coloring, tab completion and other features continue to work seamlessly.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Scott\SpecialChar ~
Tsai 
\family typewriter 
<scottt958-AT-yahoo.com.tw>
\family default 
 Support for automatic editor invocation on syntax errors (see 
\begin_inset LatexCommand \htmlurl{http://www.scipy.net/roundup/ipython/issue36}

\end_inset 

).
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Alexander\SpecialChar ~
Belchenko 
\family typewriter 
<bialix-AT-ukr.net>
\family default 
 Improvements for win32 paging system.
\layout List
\labelwidthstring 00.00.0000

Will\SpecialChar ~
Maier 
\family typewriter 
<willmaier-AT-ml1.net>
\family default 
 Official OpenBSD port.
\the_end