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1 1 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
2 2 """Usage information for the main IPython applications.
3 3 """
4 4 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 5 # Copyright (C) 2008-2011 The IPython Development Team
6 6 # Copyright (C) 2001-2007 Fernando Perez. <fperez@colorado.edu>
7 7 #
8 8 # Distributed under the terms of the BSD License. The full license is in
9 9 # the file COPYING, distributed as part of this software.
10 10 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 11
12 12 import sys
13 13 from IPython.core import release
14 14
15 15 cl_usage = """\
16 16 =========
17 17 IPython
18 18 =========
19 19
20 20 Tools for Interactive Computing in Python
21 21 =========================================
22 22
23 23 A Python shell with automatic history (input and output), dynamic object
24 24 introspection, easier configuration, command completion, access to the
25 25 system shell and more. IPython can also be embedded in running programs.
26 26
27 27
28 28 Usage
29 29
30 30 ipython [subcommand] [options] [-c cmd | -m mod | file] [--] [arg] ...
31 31
32 32 If invoked with no options, it executes the file and exits, passing the
33 33 remaining arguments to the script, just as if you had specified the same
34 34 command with python. You may need to specify `--` before args to be passed
35 35 to the script, to prevent IPython from attempting to parse them. If you
36 36 specify the option `-i` before the filename, it will enter an interactive
37 37 IPython session after running the script, rather than exiting. Files ending
38 38 in .py will be treated as normal Python, but files ending in .ipy can
39 39 contain special IPython syntax (magic commands, shell expansions, etc.).
40 40
41 41 Almost all configuration in IPython is available via the command-line. Do
42 42 `ipython --help-all` to see all available options. For persistent
43 43 configuration, look into your `ipython_config.py` configuration file for
44 44 details.
45 45
46 46 This file is typically installed in the `IPYTHONDIR` directory, and there
47 47 is a separate configuration directory for each profile. The default profile
48 48 directory will be located in $IPYTHONDIR/profile_default. IPYTHONDIR
49 49 defaults to to `$HOME/.ipython`. For Windows users, $HOME resolves to
50 50 C:\\Documents and Settings\\YourUserName in most instances.
51 51
52 52 To initialize a profile with the default configuration file, do::
53 53
54 54 $> ipython profile create
55 55
56 56 and start editing `IPYTHONDIR/profile_default/ipython_config.py`
57 57
58 58 In IPython's documentation, we will refer to this directory as
59 59 `IPYTHONDIR`, you can change its default location by creating an
60 60 environment variable with this name and setting it to the desired path.
61 61
62 62 For more information, see the manual available in HTML and PDF in your
63 63 installation, or online at http://ipython.org/documentation.html.
64 64 """
65 65
66 66 interactive_usage = """
67 67 IPython -- An enhanced Interactive Python
68 68 =========================================
69 69
70 70 IPython offers a combination of convenient shell features, special commands
71 71 and a history mechanism for both input (command history) and output (results
72 72 caching, similar to Mathematica). It is intended to be a fully compatible
73 73 replacement for the standard Python interpreter, while offering vastly
74 74 improved functionality and flexibility.
75 75
76 76 At your system command line, type 'ipython -h' to see the command line
77 77 options available. This document only describes interactive features.
78 78
79 79 MAIN FEATURES
80 80 -------------
81 81
82 82 * Access to the standard Python help. As of Python 2.1, a help system is
83 83 available with access to object docstrings and the Python manuals. Simply
84 84 type 'help' (no quotes) to access it.
85 85
86 86 * Magic commands: type %magic for information on the magic subsystem.
87 87
88 88 * System command aliases, via the %alias command or the configuration file(s).
89 89
90 90 * Dynamic object information:
91 91
92 92 Typing ?word or word? prints detailed information about an object. If
93 93 certain strings in the object are too long (docstrings, code, etc.) they get
94 94 snipped in the center for brevity.
95 95
96 96 Typing ??word or word?? gives access to the full information without
97 97 snipping long strings. Long strings are sent to the screen through the less
98 98 pager if longer than the screen, printed otherwise.
99 99
100 100 The ?/?? system gives access to the full source code for any object (if
101 101 available), shows function prototypes and other useful information.
102 102
103 103 If you just want to see an object's docstring, type '%pdoc object' (without
104 104 quotes, and without % if you have automagic on).
105 105
106 106 Both %pdoc and ?/?? give you access to documentation even on things which are
107 107 not explicitely defined. Try for example typing {}.get? or after import os,
108 108 type os.path.abspath??. The magic functions %pdef, %source and %file operate
109 109 similarly.
110 110
111 111 * Completion in the local namespace, by typing TAB at the prompt.
112 112
113 113 At any time, hitting tab will complete any available python commands or
114 114 variable names, and show you a list of the possible completions if there's
115 115 no unambiguous one. It will also complete filenames in the current directory.
116 116
117 117 This feature requires the readline and rlcomplete modules, so it won't work
118 118 if your Python lacks readline support (such as under Windows).
119 119
120 120 * Search previous command history in two ways (also requires readline):
121 121
122 122 - Start typing, and then use Ctrl-p (previous,up) and Ctrl-n (next,down) to
123 123 search through only the history items that match what you've typed so
124 124 far. If you use Ctrl-p/Ctrl-n at a blank prompt, they just behave like
125 125 normal arrow keys.
126 126
127 127 - Hit Ctrl-r: opens a search prompt. Begin typing and the system searches
128 128 your history for lines that match what you've typed so far, completing as
129 129 much as it can.
130 130
131 131 - %hist: search history by index (this does *not* require readline).
132 132
133 133 * Persistent command history across sessions.
134 134
135 135 * Logging of input with the ability to save and restore a working session.
136 136
137 137 * System escape with !. Typing !ls will run 'ls' in the current directory.
138 138
139 139 * The reload command does a 'deep' reload of a module: changes made to the
140 140 module since you imported will actually be available without having to exit.
141 141
142 142 * Verbose and colored exception traceback printouts. See the magic xmode and
143 143 xcolor functions for details (just type %magic).
144 144
145 145 * Input caching system:
146 146
147 147 IPython offers numbered prompts (In/Out) with input and output caching. All
148 148 input is saved and can be retrieved as variables (besides the usual arrow
149 149 key recall).
150 150
151 151 The following GLOBAL variables always exist (so don't overwrite them!):
152 152 _i: stores previous input.
153 153 _ii: next previous.
154 154 _iii: next-next previous.
155 155 _ih : a list of all input _ih[n] is the input from line n.
156 156
157 157 Additionally, global variables named _i<n> are dynamically created (<n>
158 158 being the prompt counter), such that _i<n> == _ih[<n>]
159 159
160 160 For example, what you typed at prompt 14 is available as _i14 and _ih[14].
161 161
162 162 You can create macros which contain multiple input lines from this history,
163 163 for later re-execution, with the %macro function.
164 164
165 165 The history function %hist allows you to see any part of your input history
166 166 by printing a range of the _i variables. Note that inputs which contain
167 167 magic functions (%) appear in the history with a prepended comment. This is
168 168 because they aren't really valid Python code, so you can't exec them.
169 169
170 170 * Output caching system:
171 171
172 172 For output that is returned from actions, a system similar to the input
173 173 cache exists but using _ instead of _i. Only actions that produce a result
174 174 (NOT assignments, for example) are cached. If you are familiar with
175 175 Mathematica, IPython's _ variables behave exactly like Mathematica's %
176 176 variables.
177 177
178 178 The following GLOBAL variables always exist (so don't overwrite them!):
179 179 _ (one underscore): previous output.
180 180 __ (two underscores): next previous.
181 181 ___ (three underscores): next-next previous.
182 182
183 183 Global variables named _<n> are dynamically created (<n> being the prompt
184 184 counter), such that the result of output <n> is always available as _<n>.
185 185
186 186 Finally, a global dictionary named _oh exists with entries for all lines
187 187 which generated output.
188 188
189 189 * Directory history:
190 190
191 191 Your history of visited directories is kept in the global list _dh, and the
192 192 magic %cd command can be used to go to any entry in that list.
193 193
194 194 * Auto-parentheses and auto-quotes (adapted from Nathan Gray's LazyPython)
195 195
196 196 1. Auto-parentheses
197 197
198 198 Callable objects (i.e. functions, methods, etc) can be invoked like
199 199 this (notice the commas between the arguments)::
200 200
201 201 In [1]: callable_ob arg1, arg2, arg3
202 202
203 203 and the input will be translated to this::
204 204
205 205 callable_ob(arg1, arg2, arg3)
206 206
207 207 This feature is off by default (in rare cases it can produce
208 208 undesirable side-effects), but you can activate it at the command-line
209 209 by starting IPython with `--autocall 1`, set it permanently in your
210 210 configuration file, or turn on at runtime with `%autocall 1`.
211 211
212 212 You can force auto-parentheses by using '/' as the first character
213 213 of a line. For example::
214 214
215 215 In [1]: /globals # becomes 'globals()'
216 216
217 217 Note that the '/' MUST be the first character on the line! This
218 218 won't work::
219 219
220 220 In [2]: print /globals # syntax error
221 221
222 222 In most cases the automatic algorithm should work, so you should
223 223 rarely need to explicitly invoke /. One notable exception is if you
224 224 are trying to call a function with a list of tuples as arguments (the
225 225 parenthesis will confuse IPython)::
226 226
227 227 In [1]: zip (1,2,3),(4,5,6) # won't work
228 228
229 229 but this will work::
230 230
231 231 In [2]: /zip (1,2,3),(4,5,6)
232 232 ------> zip ((1,2,3),(4,5,6))
233 233 Out[2]= [(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)]
234 234
235 235 IPython tells you that it has altered your command line by
236 236 displaying the new command line preceded by -->. e.g.::
237 237
238 238 In [18]: callable list
239 239 -------> callable (list)
240 240
241 241 2. Auto-Quoting
242 242
243 243 You can force auto-quoting of a function's arguments by using ',' as
244 244 the first character of a line. For example::
245 245
246 246 In [1]: ,my_function /home/me # becomes my_function("/home/me")
247 247
248 248 If you use ';' instead, the whole argument is quoted as a single
249 249 string (while ',' splits on whitespace)::
250 250
251 251 In [2]: ,my_function a b c # becomes my_function("a","b","c")
252 252 In [3]: ;my_function a b c # becomes my_function("a b c")
253 253
254 254 Note that the ',' MUST be the first character on the line! This
255 255 won't work::
256 256
257 257 In [4]: x = ,my_function /home/me # syntax error
258 258 """
259 259
260 260 interactive_usage_min = """\
261 261 An enhanced console for Python.
262 262 Some of its features are:
263 263 - Readline support if the readline library is present.
264 264 - Tab completion in the local namespace.
265 265 - Logging of input, see command-line options.
266 266 - System shell escape via ! , eg !ls.
267 267 - Magic commands, starting with a % (like %ls, %pwd, %cd, etc.)
268 268 - Keeps track of locally defined variables via %who, %whos.
269 269 - Show object information with a ? eg ?x or x? (use ?? for more info).
270 270 """
271 271
272 272 quick_reference = r"""
273 273 IPython -- An enhanced Interactive Python - Quick Reference Card
274 274 ================================================================
275 275
276 276 obj?, obj?? : Get help, or more help for object (also works as
277 277 ?obj, ??obj).
278 278 ?foo.*abc* : List names in 'foo' containing 'abc' in them.
279 279 %magic : Information about IPython's 'magic' % functions.
280 280
281 281 Magic functions are prefixed by % or %%, and typically take their arguments
282 282 without parentheses, quotes or even commas for convenience. Line magics take a
283 283 single % and cell magics are prefixed with two %%.
284 284
285 285 Example magic function calls:
286 286
287 287 %alias d ls -F : 'd' is now an alias for 'ls -F'
288 288 alias d ls -F : Works if 'alias' not a python name
289 289 alist = %alias : Get list of aliases to 'alist'
290 290 cd /usr/share : Obvious. cd -<tab> to choose from visited dirs.
291 291 %cd?? : See help AND source for magic %cd
292 292 %timeit x=10 : time the 'x=10' statement with high precision.
293 293 %%timeit x=2**100
294 x**100 : time 'x*100' with a setup of 'x=2**100'; setup code is not
294 x**100 : time 'x**100' with a setup of 'x=2**100'; setup code is not
295 295 counted. This is an example of a cell magic.
296 296
297 297 System commands:
298 298
299 299 !cp a.txt b/ : System command escape, calls os.system()
300 300 cp a.txt b/ : after %rehashx, most system commands work without !
301 301 cp ${f}.txt $bar : Variable expansion in magics and system commands
302 302 files = !ls /usr : Capture sytem command output
303 303 files.s, files.l, files.n: "a b c", ['a','b','c'], 'a\nb\nc'
304 304
305 305 History:
306 306
307 307 _i, _ii, _iii : Previous, next previous, next next previous input
308 308 _i4, _ih[2:5] : Input history line 4, lines 2-4
309 309 exec _i81 : Execute input history line #81 again
310 310 %rep 81 : Edit input history line #81
311 311 _, __, ___ : previous, next previous, next next previous output
312 312 _dh : Directory history
313 313 _oh : Output history
314 314 %hist : Command history. '%hist -g foo' search history for 'foo'
315 315
316 316 Autocall:
317 317
318 318 f 1,2 : f(1,2) # Off by default, enable with %autocall magic.
319 319 /f 1,2 : f(1,2) (forced autoparen)
320 320 ,f 1 2 : f("1","2")
321 321 ;f 1 2 : f("1 2")
322 322
323 323 Remember: TAB completion works in many contexts, not just file names
324 324 or python names.
325 325
326 326 The following magic functions are currently available:
327 327
328 328 """
329 329
330 330 gui_reference = """\
331 331 ===============================
332 332 The graphical IPython console
333 333 ===============================
334 334
335 335 This console is designed to emulate the look, feel and workflow of a terminal
336 336 environment, while adding a number of enhancements that are simply not possible
337 337 in a real terminal, such as inline syntax highlighting, true multiline editing,
338 338 inline graphics and much more.
339 339
340 340 This quick reference document contains the basic information you'll need to
341 341 know to make the most efficient use of it. For the various command line
342 342 options available at startup, type ``ipython qtconsole --help`` at the command line.
343 343
344 344
345 345 Multiline editing
346 346 =================
347 347
348 348 The graphical console is capable of true multiline editing, but it also tries
349 349 to behave intuitively like a terminal when possible. If you are used to
350 350 IPython's old terminal behavior, you should find the transition painless, and
351 351 once you learn a few basic keybindings it will be a much more efficient
352 352 environment.
353 353
354 354 For single expressions or indented blocks, the console behaves almost like the
355 355 terminal IPython: single expressions are immediately evaluated, and indented
356 356 blocks are evaluated once a single blank line is entered::
357 357
358 358 In [1]: print "Hello IPython!" # Enter was pressed at the end of the line
359 359 Hello IPython!
360 360
361 361 In [2]: for i in range(10):
362 362 ...: print i,
363 363 ...:
364 364 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
365 365
366 366 If you want to enter more than one expression in a single input block
367 367 (something not possible in the terminal), you can use ``Control-Enter`` at the
368 368 end of your first line instead of ``Enter``. At that point the console goes
369 369 into 'cell mode' and even if your inputs are not indented, it will continue
370 370 accepting arbitrarily many lines until either you enter an extra blank line or
371 371 you hit ``Shift-Enter`` (the key binding that forces execution). When a
372 372 multiline cell is entered, IPython analyzes it and executes its code producing
373 373 an ``Out[n]`` prompt only for the last expression in it, while the rest of the
374 374 cell is executed as if it was a script. An example should clarify this::
375 375
376 376 In [3]: x=1 # Hit C-Enter here
377 377 ...: y=2 # from now on, regular Enter is sufficient
378 378 ...: z=3
379 379 ...: x**2 # This does *not* produce an Out[] value
380 380 ...: x+y+z # Only the last expression does
381 381 ...:
382 382 Out[3]: 6
383 383
384 384 The behavior where an extra blank line forces execution is only active if you
385 385 are actually typing at the keyboard each line, and is meant to make it mimic
386 386 the IPython terminal behavior. If you paste a long chunk of input (for example
387 387 a long script copied form an editor or web browser), it can contain arbitrarily
388 388 many intermediate blank lines and they won't cause any problems. As always,
389 389 you can then make it execute by appending a blank line *at the end* or hitting
390 390 ``Shift-Enter`` anywhere within the cell.
391 391
392 392 With the up arrow key, you can retrieve previous blocks of input that contain
393 393 multiple lines. You can move inside of a multiline cell like you would in any
394 394 text editor. When you want it executed, the simplest thing to do is to hit the
395 395 force execution key, ``Shift-Enter`` (though you can also navigate to the end
396 396 and append a blank line by using ``Enter`` twice).
397 397
398 398 If you've edited a multiline cell and accidentally navigate out of it with the
399 399 up or down arrow keys, IPython will clear the cell and replace it with the
400 400 contents of the one above or below that you navigated to. If this was an
401 401 accident and you want to retrieve the cell you were editing, use the Undo
402 402 keybinding, ``Control-z``.
403 403
404 404
405 405 Key bindings
406 406 ============
407 407
408 408 The IPython console supports most of the basic Emacs line-oriented keybindings,
409 409 in addition to some of its own.
410 410
411 411 The keybinding prefixes mean:
412 412
413 413 - ``C``: Control
414 414 - ``S``: Shift
415 415 - ``M``: Meta (typically the Alt key)
416 416
417 417 The keybindings themselves are:
418 418
419 419 - ``Enter``: insert new line (may cause execution, see above).
420 420 - ``C-Enter``: *force* new line, *never* causes execution.
421 421 - ``S-Enter``: *force* execution regardless of where cursor is, no newline added.
422 422 - ``Up``: step backwards through the history.
423 423 - ``Down``: step forwards through the history.
424 424 - ``S-Up``: search backwards through the history (like ``C-r`` in bash).
425 425 - ``S-Down``: search forwards through the history.
426 426 - ``C-c``: copy highlighted text to clipboard (prompts are automatically stripped).
427 427 - ``C-S-c``: copy highlighted text to clipboard (prompts are not stripped).
428 428 - ``C-v``: paste text from clipboard.
429 429 - ``C-z``: undo (retrieves lost text if you move out of a cell with the arrows).
430 430 - ``C-S-z``: redo.
431 431 - ``C-o``: move to 'other' area, between pager and terminal.
432 432 - ``C-l``: clear terminal.
433 433 - ``C-a``: go to beginning of line.
434 434 - ``C-e``: go to end of line.
435 435 - ``C-u``: kill from cursor to the begining of the line.
436 436 - ``C-k``: kill from cursor to the end of the line.
437 437 - ``C-y``: yank (paste)
438 438 - ``C-p``: previous line (like up arrow)
439 439 - ``C-n``: next line (like down arrow)
440 440 - ``C-f``: forward (like right arrow)
441 441 - ``C-b``: back (like left arrow)
442 442 - ``C-d``: delete next character, or exits if input is empty
443 443 - ``M-<``: move to the beginning of the input region.
444 444 - ``M->``: move to the end of the input region.
445 445 - ``M-d``: delete next word.
446 446 - ``M-Backspace``: delete previous word.
447 447 - ``C-.``: force a kernel restart (a confirmation dialog appears).
448 448 - ``C-+``: increase font size.
449 449 - ``C--``: decrease font size.
450 450 - ``C-M-Space``: toggle full screen. (Command-Control-Space on Mac OS X)
451 451
452 452 The IPython pager
453 453 =================
454 454
455 455 IPython will show long blocks of text from many sources using a builtin pager.
456 456 You can control where this pager appears with the ``--paging`` command-line
457 457 flag:
458 458
459 459 - ``inside`` [default]: the pager is overlaid on top of the main terminal. You
460 460 must quit the pager to get back to the terminal (similar to how a pager such
461 461 as ``less`` or ``more`` works).
462 462
463 463 - ``vsplit``: the console is made double-tall, and the pager appears on the
464 464 bottom area when needed. You can view its contents while using the terminal.
465 465
466 466 - ``hsplit``: the console is made double-wide, and the pager appears on the
467 467 right area when needed. You can view its contents while using the terminal.
468 468
469 469 - ``none``: the console never pages output.
470 470
471 471 If you use the vertical or horizontal paging modes, you can navigate between
472 472 terminal and pager as follows:
473 473
474 474 - Tab key: goes from pager to terminal (but not the other way around).
475 475 - Control-o: goes from one to another always.
476 476 - Mouse: click on either.
477 477
478 478 In all cases, the ``q`` or ``Escape`` keys quit the pager (when used with the
479 479 focus on the pager area).
480 480
481 481 Running subprocesses
482 482 ====================
483 483
484 484 The graphical IPython console uses the ``pexpect`` module to run subprocesses
485 485 when you type ``!command``. This has a number of advantages (true asynchronous
486 486 output from subprocesses as well as very robust termination of rogue
487 487 subprocesses with ``Control-C``), as well as some limitations. The main
488 488 limitation is that you can *not* interact back with the subprocess, so anything
489 489 that invokes a pager or expects you to type input into it will block and hang
490 490 (you can kill it with ``Control-C``).
491 491
492 492 We have provided as magics ``%less`` to page files (aliased to ``%more``),
493 493 ``%clear`` to clear the terminal, and ``%man`` on Linux/OSX. These cover the
494 494 most common commands you'd want to call in your subshell and that would cause
495 495 problems if invoked via ``!cmd``, but you need to be aware of this limitation.
496 496
497 497 Display
498 498 =======
499 499
500 500 The IPython console can now display objects in a variety of formats, including
501 501 HTML, PNG and SVG. This is accomplished using the display functions in
502 502 ``IPython.core.display``::
503 503
504 504 In [4]: from IPython.core.display import display, display_html
505 505
506 506 In [5]: from IPython.core.display import display_png, display_svg
507 507
508 508 Python objects can simply be passed to these functions and the appropriate
509 509 representations will be displayed in the console as long as the objects know
510 510 how to compute those representations. The easiest way of teaching objects how
511 511 to format themselves in various representations is to define special methods
512 512 such as: ``_repr_html_``, ``_repr_svg_`` and ``_repr_png_``. IPython's display formatters
513 513 can also be given custom formatter functions for various types::
514 514
515 515 In [6]: ip = get_ipython()
516 516
517 517 In [7]: html_formatter = ip.display_formatter.formatters['text/html']
518 518
519 519 In [8]: html_formatter.for_type(Foo, foo_to_html)
520 520
521 521 For further details, see ``IPython.core.formatters``.
522 522
523 523 Inline matplotlib graphics
524 524 ==========================
525 525
526 526 The IPython console is capable of displaying matplotlib figures inline, in SVG
527 527 or PNG format. If started with the ``matplotlib=inline``, then all figures are
528 528 rendered inline automatically (PNG by default). If started with ``--matplotlib``
529 529 or ``matplotlib=<your backend>``, then a GUI backend will be used, but IPython's
530 530 ``display()`` and ``getfigs()`` functions can be used to view plots inline::
531 531
532 532 In [9]: display(*getfigs()) # display all figures inline
533 533
534 534 In[10]: display(*getfigs(1,2)) # display figures 1 and 2 inline
535 535 """
536 536
537 537
538 538 quick_guide = """\
539 539 ? -> Introduction and overview of IPython's features.
540 540 %quickref -> Quick reference.
541 541 help -> Python's own help system.
542 542 object? -> Details about 'object', use 'object??' for extra details.
543 543 """
544 544
545 545 gui_note = """\
546 546 %guiref -> A brief reference about the graphical user interface.
547 547 """
548 548
549 549 default_banner_parts = [
550 550 'Python %s\n' % (sys.version.split('\n')[0],),
551 551 'Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.\n\n',
552 552 'IPython {version} -- An enhanced Interactive Python.\n'.format(
553 553 version=release.version,
554 554 ),
555 555 quick_guide
556 556 ]
557 557
558 558 default_gui_banner_parts = default_banner_parts + [gui_note]
559 559
560 560 default_banner = ''.join(default_banner_parts)
561 561
562 562 default_gui_banner = ''.join(default_gui_banner_parts)
563 563
564 564 # page GUI Reference, for use as a magic:
565 565
566 566 def page_guiref(arg_s=None):
567 567 """Show a basic reference about the GUI Console."""
568 568 from IPython.core import page
569 569 page.page(gui_reference)
570 570
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