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1 | 1 | ============= |
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2 | 2 | 0.13 Series |
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3 | 3 | ============= |
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4 | 4 | |
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5 | 5 | Release 0.13 |
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6 | 6 | ============ |
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7 | 7 | |
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8 | 8 | IPython 0.13 contains several major new features, as well as a large amount of |
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9 | 9 | bug and regression fixes. The previous version (0.12) was released on December |
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10 | 10 | 19 2011, and in this development cycle we had: |
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11 | 11 | |
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12 | 12 | - ~6 months of work. |
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13 | 13 | - 373 pull requests merged. |
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14 | 14 | - 742 issues closed (non-pull requests). |
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15 | 15 | - contributions from 62 authors. |
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16 | 16 | - 1760 commits. |
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17 | 17 | - a diff of 114226 lines. |
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18 | 18 | |
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19 | 19 | The amount of work included in this release is so large, that we can only cover |
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20 | 20 | here the main highlights; please see our :ref:`detailed release statistics |
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21 | 21 | <issues_list_013>` for links to every issue and pull request closed on GitHub |
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22 | 22 | as well as a full list of individual contributors. |
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23 | 23 | |
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24 | 24 | |
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25 | 25 | Major Notebook improvements: new user interface and more |
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26 | 26 | -------------------------------------------------------- |
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27 | 27 | |
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28 | 28 | The IPython Notebook, which has proven since its release to be wildly popular, |
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29 | 29 | has seen a massive amount of work in this release cycle, leading to a |
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30 | 30 | significantly improved user experience as well as many new features. |
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31 | 31 | |
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32 | 32 | The first user-visible change is a reorganization of the user interface; the |
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33 | 33 | left panel has been removed and was replaced by a real menu system and a |
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34 | 34 | toolbar with icons. Both the toolbar and the header above the menu can be |
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35 | 35 | collapsed to leave an unobstructed working area: |
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36 | 36 | |
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37 | 37 | .. image:: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_spectrogram.png |
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38 | 38 | :width: 460px |
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39 | 39 | :alt: New user interface for Notebook |
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40 | 40 | :align: center |
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41 | 41 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_spectrogram.png |
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42 | 42 | |
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43 | 43 | The notebook handles very long outputs much better than before (this was a |
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44 | 44 | serious usability issue when running processes that generated massive amounts |
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45 | 45 | of output). Now, in the presence of outputs longer than ~100 lines, the |
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46 | 46 | notebook will automatically collapse to a scrollable area and the entire left |
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47 | 47 | part of this area controls the display: one click in this area will expand the |
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48 | 48 | output region completely, and a double-click will hide it completely. This |
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49 | 49 | figure shows both the scrolled and hidden modes: |
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50 | 50 | |
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51 | 51 | .. image:: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_long_out.png |
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52 | 52 | :width: 460px |
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53 | 53 | :alt: Scrolling and hiding of long output in the notebook. |
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54 | 54 | :align: center |
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55 | 55 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_long_out.png |
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56 | 56 | |
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57 | 57 | .. note:: |
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58 | 58 | |
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59 | 59 | The auto-folding of long outputs is disabled in Firefox due to bugs in its |
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60 | 60 | scrolling behavior. See :ghpull:`2047` for details. |
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61 | 61 | |
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62 | 62 | Uploading notebooks to the dashboard is now easier: in addition to drag and |
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63 | 63 | drop (which can be finicky sometimes), you can now click on the upload text and |
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64 | 64 | use a regular file dialog box to select notebooks to upload. Furthermore, the |
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65 | 65 | notebook dashboard now auto-refreshes its contents and offers buttons to shut |
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66 | 66 | down any running kernels (:ghpull:`1739`): |
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67 | 67 | |
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68 | 68 | .. image:: ../_images/ipy_013_dashboard.png |
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69 | 69 | :width: 460px |
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70 | 70 | :alt: Improved dashboard |
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71 | 71 | :align: center |
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72 | 72 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_dashboard.png |
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73 | 73 | |
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74 | 74 | |
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75 | 75 | Cluster management |
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76 | 76 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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77 | 77 | |
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78 |
The notebook dashboard can now also start and stop clusters, than |
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78 | The notebook dashboard can now also start and stop clusters, thanks to a new | |
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79 | 79 | tab in the dashboard user interface: |
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80 | 80 | |
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81 | 81 | .. image:: ../_images/ipy_013_dashboard_cluster.png |
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82 | 82 | :width: 460px |
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83 | 83 | :alt: Cluster management from the notebook dashboard |
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84 | 84 | :align: center |
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85 | 85 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_dashboard_cluster.png |
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86 | 86 | |
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87 | 87 | This interface allows, for each profile you have configured, to start and stop |
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88 | 88 | a cluster (and optionally override the default number of engines corresponding |
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89 | 89 | to that configuration). While this hides all error reporting, once you have a |
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90 | 90 | configuration that you know works smoothly, it is a very convenient interface |
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91 | 91 | for controlling your parallel resources. |
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92 | 92 | |
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93 | 93 | |
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94 | 94 | New notebook format |
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95 | 95 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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96 | 96 | |
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97 | 97 | The notebooks saved now use version 3 of our format, which supports heading |
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98 | 98 | levels as well as the concept of 'raw' text cells that are not rendered as |
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99 | 99 | Markdown. These will be useful with converters_ we are developing, to pass raw |
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100 | 100 | markup (say LaTeX). That conversion code is still under heavy development and |
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101 | 101 | not quite ready for prime time, but we welcome help on this front so that we |
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102 | 102 | can merge it for full production use as soon as possible. |
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103 | 103 | |
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104 | 104 | .. _converters: https://github.com/ipython/nbconvert |
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105 | 105 | |
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106 | 106 | .. note:: |
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107 | 107 | |
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108 | 108 | v3 notebooks can *not* be read by older versions of IPython, but we provide |
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109 | 109 | a `simple script`_ that you can use in case you need to export a v3 |
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110 | 110 | notebook to share with a v2 user. |
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111 | 111 | |
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112 | 112 | .. _simple script: https://gist.github.com/1935808 |
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113 | 113 | |
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114 | 114 | |
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115 | 115 | JavaScript refactoring |
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116 | 116 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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117 | 117 | |
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118 | 118 | All the client-side JavaScript has been decoupled to ease reuse of parts of the |
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119 | 119 | machinery without having to build a full-blown notebook. This will make it much |
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120 | 120 | easier to communicate with an IPython kernel from existing web pages and to |
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121 | 121 | integrate single cells into other sites, without loading the full notebook |
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122 | 122 | document-like UI. :ghpull:`1711`. |
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123 | 123 | |
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124 | 124 | This refactoring also enables the possibility of writing dynamic javascript |
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125 | 125 | widgets that are returned from Python code and that present an interactive view |
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126 | 126 | to the user, with callbacks in Javascript executing calls to the Kernel. This |
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127 | 127 | will enable many interactive elements to be added by users in notebooks. |
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128 | 128 | |
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129 | 129 | An example of this capability has been provided as a proof of concept in |
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130 | 130 | :file:`docs/examples/widgets` that lets you directly communicate with one or more |
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131 | 131 | parallel engines, acting as a mini-console for parallel debugging and |
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132 | 132 | introspection. |
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133 | 133 | |
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134 | 134 | |
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135 | 135 | Improved tooltips |
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136 | 136 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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137 | 137 | |
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138 | 138 | The object tooltips have gained some new functionality. By pressing tab several |
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139 | 139 | times, you can expand them to see more of a docstring, keep them visible as you |
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140 | 140 | fill in a function's parameters, or transfer the information to the pager at the |
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141 | 141 | bottom of the screen. For the details, look at the example notebook |
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142 | 142 | :file:`01_notebook_introduction.ipynb`. |
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143 | 143 | |
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144 | 144 | .. figure:: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_tooltip.png |
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145 | 145 | :width: 460px |
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146 | 146 | :alt: Improved tooltips in the notebook. |
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147 | 147 | :align: center |
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148 | 148 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_tooltip.png |
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149 | 149 | |
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150 | 150 | The new notebook tooltips. |
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151 | 151 | |
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152 | 152 | Other improvements to the Notebook |
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153 | 153 | ---------------------------------- |
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154 | 154 | |
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155 | 155 | These are some other notable small improvements to the notebook, in addition to |
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156 | 156 | many bug fixes and minor changes to add polish and robustness throughout: |
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157 | 157 | |
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158 | 158 | * The notebook pager (the area at the bottom) is now resizeable by dragging its |
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159 | 159 | divider handle, a feature that had been requested many times by just about |
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160 | 160 | anyone who had used the notebook system. :ghpull:`1705`. |
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161 | 161 | |
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162 | 162 | * It is now possible to open notebooks directly from the command line; for |
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163 | 163 | example: ``ipython notebook path/`` will automatically set ``path/`` as the |
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164 | 164 | notebook directory, and ``ipython notebook path/foo.ipynb`` will further |
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165 | 165 | start with the ``foo.ipynb`` notebook opened. :ghpull:`1686`. |
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166 | 166 | |
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167 | 167 | * If a notebook directory is specified with ``--notebook-dir`` (or with the |
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168 | 168 | corresponding configuration flag ``NotebookManager.notebook_dir``), all |
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169 | 169 | kernels start in this directory. |
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170 | 170 | |
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171 | 171 | * Fix codemirror clearing of cells with ``Ctrl-Z``; :ghpull:`1965`. |
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172 | 172 | |
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173 | 173 | * Text (markdown) cells now line wrap correctly in the notebook, making them |
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174 | 174 | much easier to edit :ghpull:`1330`. |
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175 | 175 | |
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176 | 176 | * PNG and JPEG figures returned from plots can be interactively resized in the |
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177 | 177 | notebook, by dragging them from their lower left corner. :ghpull:`1832`. |
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178 | 178 | |
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179 | 179 | * Clear ``In []`` prompt numbers on "Clear All Output". For more |
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180 | 180 | version-control-friendly ``.ipynb`` files, we now strip all prompt numbers |
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181 | 181 | when doing a "Clear all output". This reduces the amount of noise in |
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182 | 182 | commit-to-commit diffs that would otherwise show the (highly variable) prompt |
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183 | 183 | number changes. :ghpull:`1621`. |
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184 | 184 | |
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185 | 185 | * The notebook server now requires *two* consecutive ``Ctrl-C`` within 5 |
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186 | 186 | seconds (or an interactive confirmation) to terminate operation. This makes |
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187 | 187 | it less likely that you will accidentally kill a long-running server by |
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188 | 188 | typing ``Ctrl-C`` in the wrong terminal. :ghpull:`1609`. |
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189 | 189 | |
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190 | 190 | * Using ``Ctrl-S`` (or ``Cmd-S`` on a Mac) actually saves the notebook rather |
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191 | 191 | than providing the fairly useless browser html save dialog. :ghpull:`1334`. |
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192 | 192 | |
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193 | 193 | * Allow accessing local files from the notebook (in urls), by serving any local |
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194 | 194 | file as the url ``files/<relativepath>``. This makes it possible to, for |
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195 | 195 | example, embed local images in a notebook. :ghpull:`1211`. |
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196 | 196 | |
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197 | 197 | |
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198 | 198 | Cell magics |
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199 | 199 | ----------- |
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200 | 200 | |
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201 | 201 | We have completely refactored the magic system, finally moving the magic |
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202 | 202 | objects to standalone, independent objects instead of being the mixin class |
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203 | 203 | we'd had since the beginning of IPython (:ghpull:`1732`). Now, a separate base |
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204 | 204 | class is provided in :class:`IPython.core.magic.Magics` that users can subclass |
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205 | 205 | to create their own magics. Decorators are also provided to create magics from |
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206 | 206 | simple functions without the need for object orientation. Please see the |
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207 | 207 | :ref:`magic` docs for further details. |
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208 | 208 | |
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209 | 209 | All builtin magics now exist in a few subclasses that group together related |
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210 | 210 | functionality, and the new :mod:`IPython.core.magics` package has been created |
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211 | 211 | to organize this into smaller files. |
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212 | 212 | |
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213 | 213 | This cleanup was the last major piece of deep refactoring needed from the |
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214 | 214 | original 2001 codebase. |
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215 | 215 | |
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216 | 216 | We have also introduced a new type of magic function, prefixed with `%%` |
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217 | 217 | instead of `%`, which operates at the whole-cell level. A cell magic receives |
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218 | 218 | two arguments: the line it is called on (like a line magic) and the body of the |
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219 | 219 | cell below it. |
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220 | 220 | |
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221 | 221 | Cell magics are most natural in the notebook, but they also work in the |
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222 | 222 | terminal and qt console, with the usual approach of using a blank line to |
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223 | 223 | signal cell termination. |
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224 | 224 | |
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225 | 225 | For example, to time the execution of several statements:: |
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226 | 226 | |
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227 | 227 | %%timeit x = 0 # setup |
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228 | 228 | for i in range(100000): |
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229 | 229 | x += i**2 |
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230 | 230 | |
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231 | 231 | This is particularly useful to integrate code in another language, and cell |
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232 | 232 | magics already exist for shell scripts, Cython, R and Octave. Using ``%%script |
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233 | 233 | /usr/bin/foo``, you can run a cell in any interpreter that accepts code via |
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234 | 234 | stdin. |
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235 | 235 | |
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236 | 236 | Another handy cell magic makes it easy to write short text files: ``%%file |
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237 | 237 | ~/save/to/here.txt``. |
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238 | 238 | |
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239 | 239 | The following cell magics are now included by default; all those that use |
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240 | 240 | special interpreters (Perl, Ruby, bash, etc.) assume you have the requisite |
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241 | 241 | interpreter installed: |
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242 | 242 | |
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243 | 243 | * ``%%!``: run cell body with the underlying OS shell; this is similar to |
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244 | 244 | prefixing every line in the cell with ``!``. |
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245 | 245 | |
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246 | 246 | * ``%%bash``: run cell body under bash. |
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247 | 247 | |
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248 | 248 | * ``%%capture``: capture the output of the code in the cell (and stderr as |
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249 | 249 | well). Useful to run codes that produce too much output that you don't even |
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250 | 250 | want scrolled. |
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251 | 251 | |
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252 | 252 | * ``%%file``: save cell body as a file. |
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253 | 253 | |
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254 | 254 | * ``%%perl``: run cell body using Perl. |
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255 | 255 | |
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256 | 256 | * ``%%prun``: run cell body with profiler (cell extension of ``%prun``). |
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257 | 257 | |
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258 | 258 | * ``%%python3``: run cell body using Python 3. |
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259 | 259 | |
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260 | 260 | * ``%%ruby``: run cell body using Ruby. |
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261 | 261 | |
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262 | 262 | * ``%%script``: run cell body with the script specified in the first line. |
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263 | 263 | |
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264 | 264 | * ``%%sh``: run cell body using sh. |
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265 | 265 | |
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266 | 266 | * ``%%sx``: run cell with system shell and capture process output (cell |
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267 | 267 | extension of ``%sx``). |
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268 | 268 | |
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269 | 269 | * ``%%system``: run cell with system shell (``%%!`` is an alias to this). |
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270 | 270 | |
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271 | 271 | * ``%%timeit``: time the execution of the cell (extension of ``%timeit``). |
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272 | 272 | |
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273 | 273 | This is what some of the script-related magics look like in action: |
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274 | 274 | |
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275 | 275 | .. image:: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_script_cells.png |
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276 | 276 | :width: 460px |
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277 | 277 | :alt: Cluster management from the notebook dashboard |
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278 | 278 | :align: center |
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279 | 279 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_script_cells.png |
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280 | 280 | |
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281 | 281 | In addition, we have also a number of :ref:`extensions <extensions_overview>` |
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282 | 282 | that provide specialized magics. These typically require additional software |
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283 | 283 | to run and must be manually loaded via ``%load_ext <extension name>``, but are |
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284 | 284 | extremely useful. The following extensions are provided: |
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285 | 285 | |
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286 | 286 | **Cython magics** (extension :ref:`cythonmagic <extensions_cythonmagic>`) |
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287 | 287 | This extension provides magics to automatically build and compile Python |
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288 | 288 | extension modules using the Cython_ language. You must install Cython |
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289 | 289 | separately, as well as a C compiler, for this to work. The examples |
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290 | 290 | directory in the source distribution ships with a full notebook |
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291 | 291 | demonstrating these capabilities: |
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292 | 292 | |
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293 | 293 | .. image:: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_cythonmagic.png |
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294 | 294 | :width: 460px |
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295 | 295 | :alt: Cython magic |
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296 | 296 | :align: center |
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297 | 297 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_cythonmagic.png |
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298 | 298 | |
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299 | 299 | .. _cython: http://cython.org |
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300 | 300 | |
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301 | 301 | **Octave magics** (extension :ref:`octavemagic <extensions_octavemagic>`) |
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302 | 302 | This extension provides several magics that support calling code written in |
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303 | 303 | the Octave_ language for numerical computing. You can execute single-lines |
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304 | 304 | or whole blocks of Octave code, capture both output and figures inline |
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305 | 305 | (just like matplotlib plots), and have variables automatically converted |
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306 | 306 | between the two languages. To use this extension, you must have Octave |
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307 | 307 | installed as well as the oct2py_ package. The examples |
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308 | 308 | directory in the source distribution ships with a full notebook |
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309 | 309 | demonstrating these capabilities: |
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310 | 310 | |
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311 | 311 | .. image:: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_octavemagic.png |
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312 | 312 | :width: 460px |
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313 | 313 | :alt: Octave magic |
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314 | 314 | :align: center |
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315 | 315 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_octavemagic.png |
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316 | 316 | |
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317 | 317 | .. _octave: http://www.gnu.org/software/octave |
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318 | 318 | .. _oct2py: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/oct2py |
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319 | 319 | |
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320 | 320 | **R magics** (extension :ref:`rmagic <extensions_rmagic>`) |
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321 | 321 | This extension provides several magics that support calling code written in |
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322 | 322 | the R_ language for statistical data analysis. You can execute |
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323 | 323 | single-lines or whole blocks of R code, capture both output and figures |
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324 | 324 | inline (just like matplotlib plots), and have variables automatically |
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325 | 325 | converted between the two languages. To use this extension, you must have |
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326 | 326 | R installed as well as the rpy2_ package that bridges Python and R. The |
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327 | 327 | examples directory in the source distribution ships with a full notebook |
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328 | 328 | demonstrating these capabilities: |
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329 | 329 | |
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330 | 330 | .. image:: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_rmagic.png |
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331 | 331 | :width: 460px |
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332 | 332 | :alt: R magic |
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333 | 333 | :align: center |
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334 | 334 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_notebook_rmagic.png |
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335 | 335 | |
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336 | 336 | .. _R: http://www.r-project.org |
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337 | 337 | .. _rpy2: http://rpy.sourceforge.net/rpy2.html |
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338 | 338 | |
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339 | 339 | |
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340 | 340 | Tab completer improvements |
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341 | 341 | -------------------------- |
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342 | 342 | |
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343 | 343 | Useful tab-completion based on live inspection of objects is one of the most |
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344 | 344 | popular features of IPython. To make this process even more user-friendly, the |
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345 | 345 | completers of both the Qt console and the Notebook have been reworked. |
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346 | 346 | |
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347 | 347 | The Qt console comes with a new ncurses-like tab completer, activated by |
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348 | 348 | default, which lets you cycle through the available completions by pressing tab, |
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349 | 349 | or select a completion with the arrow keys (:ghpull:`1851`). |
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350 | 350 | |
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351 | 351 | .. figure:: ../_images/ipy_013_qtconsole_completer.png |
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352 | 352 | :width: 460px |
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353 | 353 | :alt: ncurses-like completer, with highlighted selection. |
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354 | 354 | :align: center |
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355 | 355 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_qtconsole_completer.png |
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356 | 356 | |
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357 | 357 | The new improved Qt console's ncurses-like completer allows to easily |
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358 | 358 | navigate thought long list of completions. |
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359 | 359 | |
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360 | 360 | In the notebook, completions are now sourced both from object introspection and |
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361 | 361 | analysis of surrounding code, so limited completions can be offered for |
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362 | 362 | variables defined in the current cell, or while the kernel is busy |
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363 | 363 | (:ghpull:`1711`). |
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364 | 364 | |
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365 | 365 | |
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366 | 366 | We have implemented a new configurable flag to control tab completion on |
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367 | 367 | modules that provide the ``__all__`` attribute:: |
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368 | 368 | |
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369 | 369 | IPCompleter.limit_to__all__= Boolean |
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370 | 370 | |
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371 | 371 | This instructs the completer to honor ``__all__`` for the completion. |
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372 | 372 | Specifically, when completing on ``object.<tab>``, if True: only those names |
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373 | 373 | in ``obj.__all__`` will be included. When False [default]: the ``__all__`` |
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374 | 374 | attribute is ignored. :ghpull:`1529`. |
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375 | 375 | |
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376 | 376 | |
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377 | 377 | Improvements to the Qt console |
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378 | 378 | ------------------------------ |
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379 | 379 | |
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380 | 380 | The Qt console continues to receive improvements and refinements, despite the |
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381 | 381 | fact that it is by now a fairly mature and robust component. Lots of small |
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382 | 382 | polish has gone into it, here are a few highlights: |
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383 | 383 | |
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384 | 384 | * A number of changes were made to the underlying code for easier integration |
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385 | 385 | into other projects such as Spyder_ (:ghpull:`2007`, :ghpull:`2024`). |
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386 | 386 | |
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387 | 387 | * Improved menus with a new Magic menu that is organized by magic groups (this |
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388 | 388 | was made possible by the reorganization of the magic system |
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389 | 389 | internals). :ghpull:`1782`. |
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390 | 390 | |
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391 | 391 | * Allow for restarting kernels without clearing the qtconsole, while leaving a |
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392 | 392 | visible indication that the kernel has restarted. :ghpull:`1681`. |
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393 | 393 | |
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394 | 394 | * Allow the native display of jpeg images in the qtconsole. :ghpull:`1643`. |
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395 | 395 | |
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396 | 396 | .. _spyder: https://code.google.com/p/spyderlib |
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397 | 397 | |
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398 | 398 | |
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399 | 399 | |
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400 | 400 | Parallel |
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401 | 401 | -------- |
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402 | 402 | |
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403 | 403 | The parallel tools have been improved and fine-tuned on multiple fronts. Now, |
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404 | 404 | the creation of an :class:`IPython.parallel.Client` object automatically |
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405 | 405 | activates a line and cell magic function ``px`` that sends its code to all the |
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406 | 406 | engines. Further magics can be easily created with the :meth:`.Client.activate` |
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407 | 407 | method, to conveniently execute code on any subset of engines. :ghpull:`1893`. |
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408 | 408 | |
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409 | 409 | The ``%%px`` cell magic can also be given an optional targets argument, as well |
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410 | 410 | as a ``--out`` argument for storing its output. |
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411 | 411 | |
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412 | 412 | A new magic has also been added, ``%pxconfig``, that lets you configure various |
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413 | 413 | defaults of the parallel magics. As usual, type ``%pxconfig?`` for details. |
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414 | 414 | |
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415 | 415 | The exception reporting in parallel contexts has been improved to be easier to |
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416 | 416 | read. Now, IPython directly reports the remote exceptions without showing any |
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417 | 417 | of the internal execution parts: |
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418 | 418 | |
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419 | 419 | .. image:: ../_images/ipy_013_par_tb.png |
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420 | 420 | :width: 460px |
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421 | 421 | :alt: Improved parallel exceptions. |
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422 | 422 | :align: center |
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423 | 423 | :target: ../_images/ipy_013_par_tb.png |
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424 | 424 | |
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425 | 425 | The parallel tools now default to using ``NoDB`` as the storage backend for |
|
426 | 426 | intermediate results. This means that the default usage case will have a |
|
427 | 427 | significantly reduced memory footprint, though certain advanced features are |
|
428 | 428 | not available with this backend. For more details, see :ref:`parallel_db`. |
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429 | 429 | |
|
430 | 430 | The parallel magics now display all output, so you can do parallel plotting or |
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431 | 431 | other actions with complex display. The ``px`` magic has now both line and cell |
|
432 | 432 | modes, and in cell mode finer control has been added about how to collate |
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433 | 433 | output from multiple engines. :ghpull:`1768`. |
|
434 | 434 | |
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435 | 435 | There have also been incremental improvements to the SSH launchers: |
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436 | 436 | |
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437 | 437 | * add to_send/fetch steps for moving connection files around. |
|
438 | 438 | |
|
439 | 439 | * add SSHProxyEngineSetLauncher, for invoking to `ipcluster engines` on a |
|
440 | 440 | remote host. This can be used to start a set of engines via PBS/SGE/MPI |
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441 | 441 | *remotely*. |
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442 | 442 | |
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443 | 443 | This makes the SSHLauncher usable on machines without shared filesystems. |
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444 | 444 | |
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445 | 445 | A number of 'sugar' methods/properties were added to AsyncResult that are |
|
446 | 446 | quite useful (:ghpull:`1548`) for everday work: |
|
447 | 447 | |
|
448 | 448 | * ``ar.wall_time`` = received - submitted |
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449 | 449 | * ``ar.serial_time`` = sum of serial computation time |
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450 | 450 | * ``ar.elapsed`` = time since submission (wall_time if done) |
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451 | 451 | * ``ar.progress`` = (int) number of sub-tasks that have completed |
|
452 | 452 | * ``len(ar)`` = # of tasks |
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453 | 453 | * ``ar.wait_interactive()``: prints progress |
|
454 | 454 | |
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455 | 455 | Added :meth:`.Client.spin_thread` / :meth:`~.Client.stop_spin_thread` for |
|
456 | 456 | running spin in a background thread, to keep zmq queue clear. This can be used |
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457 | 457 | to ensure that timing information is as accurate as possible (at the cost of |
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458 | 458 | having a background thread active). |
|
459 | 459 | |
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460 | 460 | Set TaskScheduler.hwm default to 1 instead of 0. 1 has more |
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461 | 461 | predictable/intuitive behavior, if often slower, and thus a more logical |
|
462 | 462 | default. Users whose workloads require maximum throughput and are largely |
|
463 | 463 | homogeneous in time per task can make the optimization themselves, but now the |
|
464 | 464 | behavior will be less surprising to new users. :ghpull:`1294`. |
|
465 | 465 | |
|
466 | 466 | |
|
467 | 467 | Kernel/Engine unification |
|
468 | 468 | ------------------------- |
|
469 | 469 | |
|
470 | 470 | This is mostly work 'under the hood', but it is actually a *major* achievement |
|
471 | 471 | for the project that has deep implications in the long term: at last, we have |
|
472 | 472 | unified the main object that executes as the user's interactive shell (which we |
|
473 | 473 | refer to as the *IPython kernel*) with the objects that run in all the worker |
|
474 | 474 | nodes of the parallel computing facilities (the *IPython engines*). Ever since |
|
475 | 475 | the first implementation of IPython's parallel code back in 2006, we had wanted |
|
476 | 476 | to have these two roles be played by the same machinery, but a number of |
|
477 | 477 | technical reasons had prevented that from being true. |
|
478 | 478 | |
|
479 | 479 | In this release we have now merged them, and this has a number of important |
|
480 | 480 | consequences: |
|
481 | 481 | |
|
482 | 482 | * It is now possible to connect any of our clients (qtconsole or terminal |
|
483 | 483 | console) to any individual parallel engine, with the *exact* behavior of |
|
484 | 484 | working at a 'regular' IPython console/qtconsole. This makes debugging, |
|
485 | 485 | plotting, etc. in parallel scenarios vastly easier. |
|
486 | 486 | |
|
487 | 487 | * Parallel engines can always execute arbitrary 'IPython code', that is, code |
|
488 | 488 | that has magics, shell extensions, etc. In combination with the ``%%px`` |
|
489 | 489 | magics, it is thus extremely natural for example to send to all engines a |
|
490 | 490 | block of Cython or R code to be executed via the new Cython and R magics. For |
|
491 | 491 | example, this snippet would send the R block to all active engines in a |
|
492 | 492 | cluster:: |
|
493 | 493 | |
|
494 | 494 | %%px |
|
495 | 495 | %%R |
|
496 | 496 | ... R code goes here |
|
497 | 497 | |
|
498 | 498 | * It is possible to embed not only an interactive shell with the |
|
499 | 499 | :func:`IPython.embed` call as always, but now you can also embed a *kernel* |
|
500 | 500 | with :func:`IPython.embed_kernel()`. Embedding an IPython kernel in an |
|
501 | 501 | application is useful when you want to use :func:`IPython.embed` but don't |
|
502 | 502 | have a terminal attached on stdin and stdout. |
|
503 | 503 | |
|
504 | 504 | * The new :func:`IPython.parallel.bind_kernel` allows you to promote Engines to |
|
505 | 505 | listening Kernels, and connect QtConsoles to an Engine and debug it |
|
506 | 506 | directly. |
|
507 | 507 | |
|
508 | 508 | In addition, having a single core object through our entire architecture also |
|
509 | 509 | makes the project conceptually cleaner, easier to maintain and more robust. |
|
510 | 510 | This took a lot of work to get in place, but we are thrilled to have this major |
|
511 | 511 | piece of architecture finally where we'd always wanted it to be. |
|
512 | 512 | |
|
513 | 513 | |
|
514 | 514 | Official Public API |
|
515 | 515 | ------------------- |
|
516 | 516 | |
|
517 | 517 | We have begun organizing our API for easier public use, with an eye towards an |
|
518 | 518 | official IPython 1.0 release which will firmly maintain this API compatible for |
|
519 | 519 | its entire lifecycle. There is now an :mod:`IPython.display` module that |
|
520 | 520 | aggregates all display routines, and the :mod:`IPython.config` namespace has |
|
521 | 521 | all public configuration tools. We will continue improving our public API |
|
522 | 522 | layout so that users only need to import names one level deeper than the main |
|
523 | 523 | ``IPython`` package to access all public namespaces. |
|
524 | 524 | |
|
525 | 525 | |
|
526 | 526 | IPython notebook file icons |
|
527 | 527 | --------------------------- |
|
528 | 528 | |
|
529 | 529 | The directory ``docs/resources`` in the source distribution contains SVG and |
|
530 | 530 | PNG versions of our file icons, as well as an ``Info.plist.example`` file with |
|
531 | 531 | instructions to install them on Mac OSX. This is a first draft of our icons, |
|
532 | 532 | and we encourage contributions from users with graphic talent to improve them |
|
533 | 533 | in the future: |
|
534 | 534 | |
|
535 | 535 | .. image:: ../../resources/ipynb_icon_128x128.png |
|
536 | 536 | :alt: IPython notebook file icon. |
|
537 | 537 | |
|
538 | 538 | |
|
539 | 539 | New top-level `locate` command |
|
540 | 540 | ------------------------------ |
|
541 | 541 | |
|
542 | 542 | Add `locate` entry points; these would be useful for quickly locating IPython |
|
543 | 543 | directories and profiles from other (non-Python) applications. :ghpull:`1762`. |
|
544 | 544 | |
|
545 | 545 | Examples:: |
|
546 | 546 | |
|
547 | 547 | $> ipython locate |
|
548 | 548 | /Users/me/.ipython |
|
549 | 549 | |
|
550 | 550 | $> ipython locate profile foo |
|
551 | 551 | /Users/me/.ipython/profile_foo |
|
552 | 552 | |
|
553 | 553 | $> ipython locate profile |
|
554 | 554 | /Users/me/.ipython/profile_default |
|
555 | 555 | |
|
556 | 556 | $> ipython locate profile dne |
|
557 | 557 | [ProfileLocate] Profile u'dne' not found. |
|
558 | 558 | |
|
559 | 559 | |
|
560 | 560 | Other new features and improvements |
|
561 | 561 | ----------------------------------- |
|
562 | 562 | |
|
563 | 563 | * **%install_ext**: A new magic function to install an IPython extension from |
|
564 | 564 | a URL. E.g. ``%install_ext |
|
565 | 565 | https://bitbucket.org/birkenfeld/ipython-physics/raw/default/physics.py``. |
|
566 | 566 | |
|
567 | 567 | * The ``%loadpy`` magic is no longer restricted to Python files, and has been |
|
568 | 568 | renamed ``%load``. The old name remains as an alias. |
|
569 | 569 | |
|
570 | 570 | * New command line arguments will help external programs find IPython folders: |
|
571 | 571 | ``ipython locate`` finds the user's IPython directory, and ``ipython locate |
|
572 | 572 | profile foo`` finds the folder for the 'foo' profile (if it exists). |
|
573 | 573 | |
|
574 | 574 | * The :envvar:`IPYTHON_DIR` environment variable, introduced in the Great |
|
575 | 575 | Reorganization of 0.11 and existing only in versions 0.11-0.13, has been |
|
576 | 576 | deprecated. As described in :ghpull:`1167`, the complexity and confusion of |
|
577 | 577 | migrating to this variable is not worth the aesthetic improvement. Please use |
|
578 | 578 | the historical :envvar:`IPYTHONDIR` environment variable instead. |
|
579 | 579 | |
|
580 | 580 | * The default value of *interactivity* passed from |
|
581 | 581 | :meth:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell.run_cell` to |
|
582 | 582 | :meth:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell.run_ast_nodes` |
|
583 | 583 | is now configurable. |
|
584 | 584 | |
|
585 | 585 | * New ``%alias_magic`` function to conveniently create aliases of existing |
|
586 | 586 | magics, if you prefer to have shorter names for personal use. |
|
587 | 587 | |
|
588 | 588 | * We ship unminified versions of the JavaScript libraries we use, to better |
|
589 | 589 | comply with Debian's packaging policies. |
|
590 | 590 | |
|
591 | 591 | * Simplify the information presented by ``obj?/obj??`` to eliminate a few |
|
592 | 592 | redundant fields when possible. :ghpull:`2038`. |
|
593 | 593 | |
|
594 | 594 | * Improved continuous integration for IPython. We now have automated test runs |
|
595 | 595 | on `Shining Panda <https://jenkins.shiningpanda.com/ipython>`_ and `Travis-CI |
|
596 | 596 | <http://travis-ci.org/#!/ipython/ipython>`_, as well as `Tox support |
|
597 | 597 | <http://tox.testrun.org>`_. |
|
598 | 598 | |
|
599 | 599 | * The `vim-ipython`_ functionality (externally developed) has been updated to |
|
600 | 600 | the latest version. |
|
601 | 601 | |
|
602 | 602 | .. _vim-ipython: https://github.com/ivanov/vim-ipython |
|
603 | 603 | |
|
604 | 604 | * The ``%save`` magic now has a ``-f`` flag to force overwriting, which makes |
|
605 | 605 | it much more usable in the notebook where it is not possible to reply to |
|
606 | 606 | interactive questions from the kernel. :ghpull:`1937`. |
|
607 | 607 | |
|
608 | 608 | * Use dvipng to format sympy.Matrix, enabling display of matrices in the Qt |
|
609 | 609 | console with the sympy printing extension. :ghpull:`1861`. |
|
610 | 610 | |
|
611 | 611 | * Our messaging protocol now has a reasonable test suite, helping ensure that |
|
612 | 612 | we don't accidentally deviate from the spec and possibly break third-party |
|
613 | 613 | applications that may have been using it. We encourage users to contribute |
|
614 | 614 | more stringent tests to this part of the test suite. :ghpull:`1627`. |
|
615 | 615 | |
|
616 | 616 | * Use LaTeX to display, on output, various built-in types with the SymPy |
|
617 | 617 | printing extension. :ghpull:`1399`. |
|
618 | 618 | |
|
619 | 619 | * Add Gtk3 event loop integration and example. :ghpull:`1588`. |
|
620 | 620 | |
|
621 | 621 | * ``clear_output`` improvements, which allow things like progress bars and other |
|
622 | 622 | simple animations to work well in the notebook (:ghpull:`1563`): |
|
623 | 623 | |
|
624 | 624 | * `clear_output()` clears the line, even in terminal IPython, the QtConsole |
|
625 | 625 | and plain Python as well, by printing `\r` to streams. |
|
626 | 626 | |
|
627 | 627 | * `clear_output()` avoids the flicker in the notebook by adding a delay, |
|
628 | 628 | and firing immediately upon the next actual display message. |
|
629 | 629 | |
|
630 | 630 | * `display_javascript` hides its `output_area` element, so using display to |
|
631 | 631 | run a bunch of javascript doesn't result in ever-growing vertical space. |
|
632 | 632 | |
|
633 | 633 | * Add simple support for running inside a virtualenv. While this doesn't |
|
634 | 634 | supplant proper installation (as users should do), it helps ad-hoc calling of |
|
635 | 635 | IPython from inside a virtualenv. :ghpull:`1388`. |
|
636 | 636 | |
|
637 | 637 | |
|
638 | 638 | Major Bugs fixed |
|
639 | 639 | ---------------- |
|
640 | 640 | |
|
641 | 641 | In this cycle, we have :ref:`closed over 740 issues <issues_list_013>`, but a |
|
642 | 642 | few major ones merit special mention: |
|
643 | 643 | |
|
644 | 644 | * The ``%pastebin`` magic has been updated to point to gist.github.com, since |
|
645 | 645 | unfortunately http://paste.pocoo.org has closed down. We also added a -d flag |
|
646 | 646 | for the user to provide a gist description string. :ghpull:`1670`. |
|
647 | 647 | |
|
648 | 648 | * Fix ``%paste`` that would reject certain valid inputs. :ghpull:`1258`. |
|
649 | 649 | |
|
650 | 650 | * Fix sending and receiving of Numpy structured arrays (those with composite |
|
651 | 651 | dtypes, often used as recarrays). :ghpull:`2034`. |
|
652 | 652 | |
|
653 | 653 | * Reconnect when the websocket connection closes unexpectedly. :ghpull:`1577`. |
|
654 | 654 | |
|
655 | 655 | * Fix truncated representation of objects in the debugger by showing at least |
|
656 | 656 | 80 characters' worth of information. :ghpull:`1793`. |
|
657 | 657 | |
|
658 | 658 | * Fix logger to be Unicode-aware: logging could crash ipython if there was |
|
659 | 659 | unicode in the input. :ghpull:`1792`. |
|
660 | 660 | |
|
661 | 661 | * Fix images missing from XML/SVG export in the Qt console. :ghpull:`1449`. |
|
662 | 662 | |
|
663 | 663 | * Fix deepreload on Python 3. :ghpull:`1625`, as well as having a much cleaner |
|
664 | 664 | and more robust implementation of deepreload in general. :ghpull:`1457`. |
|
665 | 665 | |
|
666 | 666 | |
|
667 | 667 | Backwards incompatible changes |
|
668 | 668 | ------------------------------ |
|
669 | 669 | |
|
670 | 670 | * The exception :exc:`IPython.core.error.TryNext` previously accepted |
|
671 | 671 | arguments and keyword arguments to be passed to the next implementation |
|
672 | 672 | of the hook. This feature was removed as it made error message propagation |
|
673 | 673 | difficult and violated the principle of loose coupling. |
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