update config docs with recent changes

* various classes have changed, profiles are dirs not files, etc.
* also add documentation of new command-line format

docs/source/config/extensions.txt

@@ -1,61 +1,61 b''
 .. _extensions_overview:
 
 ==================
 IPython extensions
 ==================
 
 Configuration files are just the first level of customization that IPython
 supports. The next level is that of extensions. An IPython extension is an
 importable Python module that has a a few special function. By defining these
 functions, users can customize IPython by accessing the actual runtime objects
 of IPython.  Here is a sample extension::
 
     # myextension.py
 
     def load_ipython_extension(ipython):
         # The ``ipython`` argument is the currently active 
         # :class:`InteractiveShell` instance that can be used in any way.
         # This allows you do to things like register new magics, plugins or
         # aliases.
 
     def unload_ipython_extension(ipython):
         # If you want your extension to be unloadable, put that logic here.
 
 This :func:`load_ipython_extension` function is called after your extension is
 imported and the currently active :class:`InteractiveShell` instance is passed
 as the only argument. You can do anything you want with IPython at that point.
 
 The :func:`load_ipython_extension` will be called again is you load or reload
 the extension again. It is up to the extension author to add code to manage
 that.
 
 You can put your extension modules anywhere you want, as long as they can be
 imported by Python's standard import mechanism. However, to make it easy to
 write extensions, you can also put your extensions in
 ``os.path.join(self.ipython_dir, 'extensions')``. This directory is added to
 ``sys.path`` automatically.
 
 Using extensions
 ================
 
 There are two ways you can tell IPython to use your extension:
 
 1. Listing it in a configuration file.
 2. Using the ``%load_ext`` magic function.
 
 To load an extension called :file:`myextension.py` add the following logic
 to your configuration file::
 
-    c.Global.extensions = [
+    c.InteractiveShellApp.extensions = [
         'myextension'
     ]
 
 To load that same extension at runtime, use the ``%load_ext`` magic::
 
 .. sourcecode:: ipython
 
     In [1]: %load_ext myextension
 
 To summarize, in conjunction with configuration files and profiles, IPython
 extensions give you complete and flexible control over your IPython
 setup.

docs/source/config/ipython.txt

@@ -1,136 +1,147 b''
 .. _configuring_ipython:
 
 ===========================================================
 Configuring the :command:`ipython` command line application
 ===========================================================
 
 This section contains information about how to configure the
 :command:`ipython` command line application. See the :ref:`configuration
 overview <config_overview>` for a more general description of the
 configuration system and configuration file format.
 
 The default configuration file for the :command:`ipython` command line application
 is :file:`ipython_config.py`.  By setting the attributes in this file, you
 can configure the application.   A sample is provided in
 :mod:`IPython.config.default.ipython_config`.  Simply copy this file to your
 :ref:`IPython directory <ipython_dir>` to start using it.
 
-Most configuration attributes that this file accepts are associated with
-classes that are subclasses of :class:`~IPython.core.component.Component`.
+Most configuration attributes that this file accepts are associated with classes
+that are subclasses of :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable`.  
 
-A few configuration attributes are not associated with a particular 
-:class:`~IPython.core.component.Component` subclass.  These are application
-wide configuration attributes and are stored in the ``Global`` 
-sub-configuration section.  We begin with a description of these 
-attributes.
+Applications themselves are Configurable as well, so we will start with some
+application-level config.
 
-Global configuration
-====================
+Application-level configuration
+===============================
 
 Assuming that your configuration file has the following at the top::
 
     c = get_config()
 
-the following attributes can be set in the ``Global`` section.
+the following attributes are set application-wide:
 
-:attr:`c.IPythonApp.display_banner`
+terminal IPython-only flags:
+
+:attr:`c.TerminalIPythonApp.display_banner`
     A boolean that determined if the banner is printer when :command:`ipython`
     is started.
 
-:attr:`c.IPythonApp.classic`
+:attr:`c.TerminalIPythonApp.classic`
     A boolean that determines if IPython starts in "classic" mode.  In this
     mode, the prompts and everything mimic that of the normal :command:`python`
     shell
 
-:attr:`c.IPythonApp.nosep`
+:attr:`c.TerminalIPythonApp.nosep`
     A boolean that determines if there should be no blank lines between
     prompts.
 
-:attr:`c.IPythonApp.log_level`
+:attr:`c.Application.log_level`
     An integer that sets the detail of the logging level during the startup
     of :command:`ipython`.  The default is 30 and the possible values are
     (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50).  Higher is quieter and lower is more verbose.
+    This can also be set by the name of the logging level, e.g. INFO=20,
+    WARN=30.
+
+Some options, such as extensions and startup code, can be set for any
+application that starts an
+:class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell`. These apps are
+subclasses of :class:`~IPython.core.shellapp.InteractiveShellApp`. Since
+subclasses inherit configuration, setting a trait of
+:attr:`c.InteractiveShellApp` will affect all IPython applications, but if you
+want terminal IPython and the QtConsole to have different values, you can set
+them via :attr:`c.TerminalIPythonApp` and :attr:`c.IPKernelApp` respectively.
+
 
-:attr:`c.IPythonApp.extensions`
+:attr:`c.InteractiveShellApp.extensions`
     A list of strings, each of which is an importable IPython extension. An
     IPython extension is a regular Python module or package that has a
     :func:`load_ipython_extension(ip)` method. This method gets called when
     the extension is loaded with the currently running
-    :class:`~IPython.core.iplib.InteractiveShell` as its only argument. You
-    can put your extensions anywhere they can be imported but we add the
-    :file:`extensions` subdirectory of the ipython directory to ``sys.path``
-    during extension loading, so you can put them there as well. Extensions
-    are not executed in the user's interactive namespace and they must be pure
-    Python code. Extensions are the recommended way of customizing
+    :class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell` as its only
+    argument. You can put your extensions anywhere they can be imported but we
+    add the :file:`extensions` subdirectory of the ipython directory to
+    ``sys.path`` during extension loading, so you can put them there as well.
+    Extensions are not executed in the user's interactive namespace and they
+    must be pure Python code. Extensions are the recommended way of customizing
     :command:`ipython`. Extensions can provide an
     :func:`unload_ipython_extension` that will be called when the extension is
     unloaded.
 
-:attr:`c.IPythonApp.exec_lines`
+:attr:`c.InteractiveShellApp.exec_lines`
     A list of strings, each of which is Python code that is run in the user's
     namespace after IPython start. These lines can contain full IPython syntax
     with magics, etc.
 
-:attr:`c.IPythonApp.exec_files`
+:attr:`c.InteractiveShellApp.exec_files`
     A list of strings, each of which is the full pathname of a ``.py`` or
     ``.ipy`` file that will be executed as IPython starts. These files are run
     in IPython in the user's namespace. Files with a ``.py`` extension need to
     be pure Python. Files with a ``.ipy`` extension can have custom IPython
     syntax (magics, etc.). These files need to be in the cwd, the ipythondir
     or be absolute paths.
 
 Classes that can be configured
 ==============================
 
 The following classes can also be configured in the configuration file for
 :command:`ipython`:
 
-* :class:`~IPython.core.iplib.InteractiveShell`
+* :class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell`
 
 * :class:`~IPython.core.prefilter.PrefilterManager`
 
 * :class:`~IPython.core.alias.AliasManager`
 
 To see which attributes of these classes are configurable, please see the
 source code for these classes, the class docstrings or the sample
 configuration file :mod:`IPython.config.default.ipython_config`.
 
 Example
 =======
 
 For those who want to get a quick start, here is a sample
 :file:`ipython_config.py` that sets some of the common configuration
 attributes::
 
     # sample ipython_config.py
     c = get_config()
 
-    c.IPythonApp.display_banner = True
-    c.IPythonApp.log_level = 20
-    c.IPythonApp.extensions = [
+    c.IPythonTerminalApp.display_banner = True
+    c.InteractiveShellApp.log_level = 20
+    c.InteractiveShellApp.extensions = [
         'myextension'
     ]
-    c.IPythonApp.exec_lines = [
+    c.InteractiveShellApp.exec_lines = [
         'import numpy',
         'import scipy'
     ]
-    c.IPythonApp.exec_files = [
+    c.InteractiveShellApp.exec_files = [
         'mycode.py',
         'fancy.ipy'
     ]
     c.InteractiveShell.autoindent = True
     c.InteractiveShell.colors = 'LightBG'
     c.InteractiveShell.confirm_exit = False
     c.InteractiveShell.deep_reload = True
     c.InteractiveShell.editor = 'nano'
     c.InteractiveShell.prompt_in1 = 'In [\#]: '
     c.InteractiveShell.prompt_in2 = '   .\D.: '
     c.InteractiveShell.prompt_out = 'Out[\#]: '
     c.InteractiveShell.prompts_pad_left = True
     c.InteractiveShell.xmode = 'Context'
 
     c.PrefilterManager.multi_line_specials = True
 
     c.AliasManager.user_aliases = [
      ('la', 'ls -al')
     ]

docs/source/config/overview.txt

@@ -1,342 +1,479 b''
 .. _config_overview:
 
 ============================================
 Overview of the IPython configuration system
 ============================================
 
 This section describes the IPython configuration system. Starting with version
 0.11, IPython has a completely new configuration system that is quite
 different from the older :file:`ipythonrc` or :file:`ipy_user_conf.py`
 approaches. The new configuration system was designed from scratch to address
 the particular configuration needs of IPython. While there are many
 other excellent configuration systems out there, we found that none of them
 met our requirements.
 
 .. warning::
 
     If you are upgrading to version 0.11 of IPython, you will need to migrate
     your old :file:`ipythonrc` or :file:`ipy_user_conf.py` configuration files
     to the new system.  Read on for information on how to do this.
 
-The discussion that follows is focused on teaching user's how to configure
-IPython to their liking.  Developer's who want to know more about how they
+The discussion that follows is focused on teaching users how to configure
+IPython to their liking.  Developers who want to know more about how they
 can enable their objects to take advantage of the configuration system
 should consult our :ref:`developer guide <developer_guide>`
 
 The main concepts
 =================
 
 There are a number of abstractions that the IPython configuration system uses.
 Each of these abstractions is represented by a Python class.
 
 Configuration object: :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config`
     A configuration object is a simple dictionary-like class that holds
     configuration attributes and sub-configuration objects. These classes
     support dotted attribute style access (``Foo.bar``) in addition to the
     regular dictionary style access (``Foo['bar']``). Configuration objects
     are smart. They know how to merge themselves with other configuration
     objects and they automatically create sub-configuration objects.
 
-Application: :class:`~IPython.core.application.Application`
+Application: :class:`~IPython.config.application.Application`
     An application is a process that does a specific job. The most obvious
     application is the :command:`ipython` command line program. Each
-    application reads a *single* configuration file and command line options
+    application reads *one or more* configuration files and a single set of
+    command line options
     and then produces a master configuration object for the application. This
     configuration object is then passed to the configurable objects that the
     application creates. These configurable objects implement the actual logic
     of the application and know how to configure themselves given the
     configuration object.
 
+    Applications always have a `log` attribute that is a configured Logger.
+    This allows centralized logging configuration per-application.
+
 Component: :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable`
     A configurable is a regular Python class that serves as a base class for
     all main classes in an application. The
     :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable` base class is
     lightweight and only does one things.
 
     This :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable` is a subclass
     of :class:`~IPython.utils.traitlets.HasTraits` that knows how to configure
     itself. Class level traits with the metadata ``config=True`` become
     values that can be configured from the command line and configuration
     files.
     
     Developers create :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable`
     subclasses that implement all of the logic in the application. Each of
     these subclasses has its own configuration information that controls how
     instances are created.
 
+Singletons: :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.SingletonConfigurable`
+    Any object for which there is a single canonical instance. These are
+    just like Configurables, except they have a class method 
+    :meth:`~IPython.config.configurable.SingletonConfigurable.instance`,
+    that returns the current active instance (or creates one if it
+    does not exist).  Examples of singletons include
+    :class:`~IPython.config.application.Application`s and
+    :class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell`.  This lets
+    objects easily connect to the current running Application without passing
+    objects around everywhere.  For instance, to get the current running 
+    Application instance, simply do: ``app = Application.instance()``.
+
+
+.. note::
+
+    Singletons are not strictly enforced - you can have many instances
+    of a given singleton class, but the :meth:`instance` method will always
+    return the same one.
+
 Having described these main concepts, we can now state the main idea in our
 configuration system: *"configuration" allows the default values of class
 attributes to be controlled on a class by class basis*. Thus all instances of
 a given class are configured in the same way. Furthermore, if two instances
 need to be configured differently, they need to be instances of two different
 classes. While this model may seem a bit restrictive, we have found that it
 expresses most things that need to be configured extremely well. However, it
 is possible to create two instances of the same class that have different
 trait values. This is done by overriding the configuration.
 
 Now, we show what our configuration objects and files look like.
 
 Configuration objects and files
 ===============================
 
 A configuration file is simply a pure Python file that sets the attributes
 of a global, pre-created configuration object.  This configuration object is a 
 :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config` instance.  While in a configuration
 file, to get a reference to this object, simply call the :func:`get_config`
 function.  We inject this function into the global namespace that the 
 configuration file is executed in.
 
 Here is an example of a super simple configuration file that does nothing::
 
     c = get_config()
 
 Once you get a reference to the configuration object, you simply set
 attributes on it.  All you have to know is:
 
 * The name of each attribute.
 * The type of each attribute.
 
 The answers to these two questions are provided by the various
 :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable` subclasses that an
 application uses. Let's look at how this would work for a simple component
 subclass::
 
     # Sample component that can be configured.
     from IPython.config.configurable import Configurable
     from IPython.utils.traitlets import Int, Float, Str, Bool
     
     class MyClass(Configurable):
-        name = Str('defaultname', config=True)
+        name = Unicode(u'defaultname', config=True)
         ranking = Int(0, config=True)
         value = Float(99.0)
         # The rest of the class implementation would go here..
 
 In this example, we see that :class:`MyClass` has three attributes, two
 of whom (``name``, ``ranking``) can be configured.  All of the attributes
 are given types and default values.  If a :class:`MyClass` is instantiated,
 but not configured, these default values will be used.  But let's see how
 to configure this class in a configuration file::
 
     # Sample config file
     c = get_config()
     
     c.MyClass.name = 'coolname'
     c.MyClass.ranking = 10
 
 After this configuration file is loaded, the values set in it will override
 the class defaults anytime a :class:`MyClass` is created.  Furthermore,
 these attributes will be type checked and validated anytime they are set.
 This type checking is handled by the :mod:`IPython.utils.traitlets` module,
 which provides the :class:`Str`, :class:`Int` and :class:`Float` types.  In 
 addition to these traitlets, the :mod:`IPython.utils.traitlets` provides
 traitlets for a number of other types.
 
 .. note::
 
     Underneath the hood, the :class:`Configurable` base class is a subclass of
     :class:`IPython.utils.traitlets.HasTraits`. The
     :mod:`IPython.utils.traitlets` module is a lightweight version of
     :mod:`enthought.traits`. Our implementation is a pure Python subset
     (mostly API compatible) of :mod:`enthought.traits` that does not have any
     of the automatic GUI generation capabilities. Our plan is to achieve 100%
     API compatibility to enable the actual :mod:`enthought.traits` to
     eventually be used instead. Currently, we cannot use
     :mod:`enthought.traits` as we are committed to the core of IPython being
     pure Python.
 
 It should be very clear at this point what the naming convention is for 
 configuration attributes::
 
     c.ClassName.attribute_name = attribute_value
 
 Here, ``ClassName`` is the name of the class whose configuration attribute you
 want to set, ``attribute_name`` is the name of the attribute you want to set
 and ``attribute_value`` the the value you want it to have. The ``ClassName``
 attribute of ``c`` is not the actual class, but instead is another
 :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config` instance.
 
 .. note::
 
     The careful reader may wonder how the ``ClassName`` (``MyClass`` in
     the above example) attribute of the configuration object ``c`` gets
     created. These attributes are created on the fly by the
     :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config` instance, using a simple naming
     convention. Any attribute of a :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config`
     instance whose name begins with an uppercase character is assumed to be a
     sub-configuration and a new empty :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config`
     instance is dynamically created for that attribute. This allows deeply
     hierarchical information created easily (``c.Foo.Bar.value``) on the fly.
 
 Configuration files inheritance
 ===============================
 
 Let's say you want to have different configuration files for various purposes.
 Our configuration system makes it easy for one configuration file to inherit
 the information in another configuration file. The :func:`load_subconfig`
 command can be used in a configuration file for this purpose. Here is a simple
 example that loads all of the values from the file :file:`base_config.py`::
 
     # base_config.py
     c = get_config()
     c.MyClass.name = 'coolname'
     c.MyClass.ranking = 100
 
 into the configuration file :file:`main_config.py`::
 
     # main_config.py
     c = get_config()
     
     # Load everything from base_config.py
     load_subconfig('base_config.py')
     
     # Now override one of the values
     c.MyClass.name = 'bettername'
 
 In a situation like this the :func:`load_subconfig` makes sure that the
 search path for sub-configuration files is inherited from that of the parent.
 Thus, you can typically put the two in the same directory and everything will
 just work.
 
+You can also load configuration files by profile, for instance:
+
+.. sourcecode:: python
+
+    load_subconfig('ipython_config.py', profile='default')
+
+to inherit your default configuration as a starting point.
+
+
 Class based configuration inheritance
 =====================================
 
 There is another aspect of configuration where inheritance comes into play.
 Sometimes, your classes will have an inheritance hierarchy that you want
 to be reflected in the configuration system.  Here is a simple example::
 
     from IPython.config.configurable import Configurable
     from IPython.utils.traitlets import Int, Float, Str, Bool
     
     class Foo(Configurable):
         name = Str('fooname', config=True)
         value = Float(100.0, config=True)
     
     class Bar(Foo):
         name = Str('barname', config=True)
         othervalue = Int(0, config=True)
 
 Now, we can create a configuration file to configure instances of :class:`Foo`
 and :class:`Bar`::
 
     # config file
     c = get_config()
     
     c.Foo.name = 'bestname'
     c.Bar.othervalue = 10
 
 This class hierarchy and configuration file accomplishes the following:
 
 * The default value for :attr:`Foo.name` and :attr:`Bar.name` will be
   'bestname'.  Because :class:`Bar` is a :class:`Foo` subclass it also
   picks up the configuration information for :class:`Foo`.
 * The default value for :attr:`Foo.value` and :attr:`Bar.value` will be
   ``100.0``, which is the value specified as the class default.
 * The default value for :attr:`Bar.othervalue` will be 10 as set in the
   configuration file.  Because :class:`Foo` is the parent of :class:`Bar`
   it doesn't know anything about the :attr:`othervalue` attribute.
 
 
 .. _ipython_dir:
 
 Configuration file location
 ===========================
 
-So where should you put your configuration files?  By default, all IPython
-applications look in the so called "IPython directory".  The location of
-this directory is determined by the following algorithm:
+So where should you put your configuration files? IPython uses "profiles" for
+configuration, and by default, all profiles will be stored in the so called
+"IPython directory". The location of this directory is determined by the
+following algorithm:
 
 * If the ``ipython_dir`` command line flag is given, its value is used.
 
 * If not, the value returned by :func:`IPython.utils.path.get_ipython_dir`
   is used. This function will first look at the :envvar:`IPYTHON_DIR`
   environment variable and then default to a platform-specific default.
 
 On posix systems (Linux, Unix, etc.), IPython respects the ``$XDG_CONFIG_HOME``
 part of the `XDG Base Directory`_ specification. If ``$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`` is
 defined and exists ( ``XDG_CONFIG_HOME`` has a default interpretation of
 :file:`$HOME/.config`), then IPython's config directory will be located in
 :file:`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ipython`.  If users still have an IPython directory
 in :file:`$HOME/.ipython`, then that will be used. in preference to the 
 system default.
 
 For most users, the default value will simply be something like 
 :file:`$HOME/.config/ipython` on Linux, or :file:`$HOME/.ipython`
 elsewhere.
 
-Once the location of the IPython directory has been determined, you need to
-know what filename to use for the configuration file. The basic idea is that
-each application has its own default configuration filename. The default named
-used by the :command:`ipython` command line program is
-:file:`ipython_config.py`.  This value can be overriden by the ``config_file``
-command line flag.  A sample :file:`ipython_config.py` file can be found
-in :mod:`IPython.config.default.ipython_config.py`.  Simple copy it to your
-IPython directory to begin using it.
+Once the location of the IPython directory has been determined, you need to know
+which profile you are using. For users with a single configuration, this will
+simply be 'default', and will be located in 
+:file:`<IPYTHON_DIR>/profile_default`.
+
+The next thing you need to know is what to call your configuration file. The
+basic idea is that each application has its own default configuration filename.
+The default named used by the :command:`ipython` command line program is
+:file:`ipython_config.py`, and *all* IPython applications will use this file.
+Other applications, such as the parallel :command:`ipcluster` scripts or the
+QtConsole will load their own config files *after* :file:`ipython_config.py`. To
+load a particular configuration file instead of the default, the name can be
+overridden by the ``config_file`` command line flag.
+
+To generate the default configuration files, do::
+
+    $> ipython profile create
+
+and you will have a default :file:`ipython_config.py` in your IPython directory
+under :file:`profile_default`. If you want the default config files for the
+:mod:`IPython.parallel` applications, add ``--parallel`` to the end of the
+command-line args.
 
 .. _Profiles:
 
 Profiles
 ========
 
-A profile is simply a configuration file that follows a simple naming
-convention and can be loaded using a simplified syntax.  The idea is
-that users often want to maintain a set of configuration files for different
-purposes:  one for doing numerical computing with NumPy and SciPy and
-another for doing symbolic computing with SymPy.  Profiles make it easy
-to keep a separate configuration file for each of these purposes.
+A profile is a directory containing configuration and runtime files, such as
+logs, connection info for the parallel apps, and your IPython command history.
+
+The idea is that users often want to maintain a set of configuration files for
+different purposes: one for doing numerical computing with NumPy and SciPy and
+another for doing symbolic computing with SymPy. Profiles make it easy to keep a
+separate configuration files, logs, and histories for each of these purposes.
 
 Let's start by showing how a profile is used:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
     $ ipython profile=sympy
 
-This tells the :command:`ipython` command line program to get its
-configuration from the "sympy" profile. The search path for profiles is the
-same as that of regular configuration files. The only difference is that
-profiles are named in a special way. In the case above, the "sympy" profile
-would need to have the name :file:`ipython_config_sympy.py`.
+This tells the :command:`ipython` command line program to get its configuration
+from the "sympy" profile. The file names for various profiles do not change. The
+only difference is that profiles are named in a special way. In the case above,
+the "sympy" profile means looking for :file:`ipython_config.py` in :file:`<IPYTHON_DIR>/profile_sympy`.
+
+The general pattern is this: simply create a new profile with:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    ipython profile create <name>
+
+which adds a directory called ``profile_<name>`` to your IPython directory. Then
+you can load this profile by adding ``profile=<name>`` to your command line
+options. Profiles are supported by all IPython applications.
+
+IPython ships with some sample profiles in :file:`IPython/config/profile`. If
+you create profiles with the name of one of our shipped profiles, these config
+files will be copied over instead of starting with the automatically generated
+config files.
+
+.. _commandline:
+
+Command-line arguments
+======================
+
+IPython exposes *all* configurable options on the command-line. The command-line
+arguments are generated from the Configurable traits of the classes associated
+with a given Application.  Configuring IPython from the command-line may look
+very similar to an IPython config file
+
+IPython applications use a parser called
+:class:`~IPython.config.loader.KeyValueLoader` to load values into a Config
+object.  Values are assigned in much the same way as in a config file:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $> ipython InteractiveShell.use_readline=False BaseIPythonApplication.profile='myprofile'
+
+Is the same as adding:
+
+.. sourcecode:: python
+
+    c.InteractiveShell.use_readline=False
+    c.BaseIPythonApplication.profile='myprofile'
+
+to your config file. Key/Value arguments *always* take a value, separated by '='
+and no spaces.
+
+Aliases
+-------
+
+For convenience, applications have a mapping of commonly
+used traits, so you don't have to specify the whole class name. For these **aliases**, the class need not be specified:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $> ipython profile='myprofile'
+    # is equivalent to
+    $> ipython BaseIPythonApplication.profile='myprofile'
+
+Flags
+-----
+
+Applications can also be passed **flags**. Flags are options that take no
+arguments, and are always prefixed with ``--``. They are simply wrappers for
+setting one or more configurables with predefined values, often True/False.
+
+For instance:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $> ipcontroller --debug
+    # is equivalent to
+    $> ipcontroller Application.log_level=DEBUG
+    # and 
+    $> ipython --pylab
+    # is equivalent to
+    $> ipython pylab=auto
+
+Subcommands
+-----------
+
+
+Some IPython applications have **subcommands**. Subcommands are modeled after
+:command:`git`, and are called with the form :command:`command subcommand
+[...args]`.  Currently, the QtConsole is a subcommand of terminal IPython:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $> ipython qtconsole profile=myprofile
+
+and :command:`ipcluster` is simply a wrapper for its various subcommands (start,
+stop, engines).
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+    $> ipcluster start profile=myprofile n=4
+
 
-The general pattern is this: simply add ``<profilename>`` to the end of the
-normal configuration file name. Then load the profile by adding 
-``profile=<profilename>`` to your command line options.
+To see a list of the available aliases, flags, and subcommands for an IPython application, simply pass ``-h`` or ``--help``.  And to see the full list of configurable options (*very* long), pass ``--help-all``.
 
-IPython ships with some sample profiles in :mod:`IPython.config.profile`.
-Simply copy these to your IPython directory to begin using them.
 
 Design requirements
 ===================
 
 Here are the main requirements we wanted our configuration system to have:
 
 * Support for hierarchical configuration information.
 
 * Full integration with command line option parsers.  Often, you want to read
   a configuration file, but then override some of the values with command line
   options.  Our configuration system automates this process and allows each
   command line option to be linked to a particular attribute in the 
   configuration hierarchy that it will override.
 
 * Configuration files that are themselves valid Python code. This accomplishes
   many things. First, it becomes possible to put logic in your configuration
   files that sets attributes based on your operating system, network setup,
   Python version, etc. Second, Python has a super simple syntax for accessing
   hierarchical data structures, namely regular attribute access
   (``Foo.Bar.Bam.name``). Third, using Python makes it easy for users to
   import configuration attributes from one configuration file to another.
   Forth, even though Python is dynamically typed, it does have types that can
   be checked at runtime. Thus, a ``1`` in a config file is the integer '1',
   while a ``'1'`` is a string.
 
 * A fully automated method for getting the configuration information to the
   classes that need it at runtime. Writing code that walks a configuration
   hierarchy to extract a particular attribute is painful. When you have
   complex configuration information with hundreds of attributes, this makes
   you want to cry.
 
 * Type checking and validation that doesn't require the entire configuration
   hierarchy to be specified statically before runtime. Python is a very
   dynamic language and you don't always know everything that needs to be
   configured when a program starts.
 
 
 .. _`XDG Base Directory`: http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html

docs/source/development/index.txt

@@ -1,26 +1,25 b''
 .. _developer_guide:
 
 =========================
 IPython developer's guide
 =========================
 
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1
 
    contributing.txt
    gitwash/index.txt
    coding_guide.txt
    doc_guide.txt
    testing.txt
    release.txt
    roadmap.txt
    reorg.txt
    messaging.txt
    parallel_messages.txt
    parallel_connections.txt
    magic_blueprint.txt
    notification_blueprint.txt
    ipgraph.txt
    ipython_qt.txt
    ipythonzmq.txt
-   parallelzmq.txt