##// END OF EJS Templates
Update notes about GUI event loop support.
Fernando Perez -
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@@ -1,42 +1,39 b''
1 1 #!/usr/bin/env python
2 2 """Simple GTK example to manually test event loop integration.
3 3
4 4 This is meant to run tests manually in ipython as:
5 5
6 6 In [5]: %gui gtk
7 7
8 8 In [6]: %run gui-gtk.py
9 9 """
10 10
11
12 11 import pygtk
13 12 pygtk.require('2.0')
14 13 import gtk
15 14
16 15
17 16 def hello_world(wigdet, data=None):
18 17 print "Hello World"
19 18
20 19 def delete_event(widget, event, data=None):
21 20 return False
22 21
23 22 def destroy(widget, data=None):
24 23 gtk.main_quit()
25 24
26 25 window = gtk.Window(gtk.WINDOW_TOPLEVEL)
27 26 window.connect("delete_event", delete_event)
28 27 window.connect("destroy", destroy)
29 28 button = gtk.Button("Hello World")
30 29 button.connect("clicked", hello_world, None)
31 30
32 31 window.add(button)
33 32 button.show()
34 33 window.show()
35 34
36 35 try:
37 36 from IPython.lib.inputhook import enable_gtk
38 37 enable_gtk()
39 38 except ImportError:
40 39 gtk.main()
41
42 #gtk.main()
@@ -1,111 +1,121 b''
1 1 #!/usr/bin/env python
2 """A Simple wx example to test IPython's event loop integration.
2 """
3 WARNING: This example is currently broken, see
4 https://github.com/ipython/ipython/issues/645 for details on our progress on
5 this issue.
6
7 A Simple wx example to test IPython's event loop integration.
3 8
4 9 To run this do:
5 10
6 11 In [5]: %gui wx
7 12
8 13 In [6]: %run gui-wx.py
9 14
10 15 Ref: Modified from wxPython source code wxPython/samples/simple/simple.py
11 16
12 17 This example can only be run once in a given IPython session because when
13 18 the frame is closed, wx goes through its shutdown sequence, killing further
14 19 attempts. I am sure someone who knows wx can fix this issue.
15 20
16 21 Furthermore, once this example is run, the Wx event loop is mostly dead, so
17 22 even other new uses of Wx may not work correctly. If you know how to better
18 23 handle this, please contact the ipython developers and let us know.
19 24
20 25 Note however that we will work with the Matplotlib and Enthought developers so
21 26 that the main interactive uses of Wx we are aware of, namely these tools, will
22 27 continue to work well with IPython interactively.
23 28 """
24 29
25 30 import wx
26 31
27 32
28 33 class MyFrame(wx.Frame):
29 34 """
30 35 This is MyFrame. It just shows a few controls on a wxPanel,
31 36 and has a simple menu.
32 37 """
33 38 def __init__(self, parent, title):
34 39 wx.Frame.__init__(self, parent, -1, title,
35 40 pos=(150, 150), size=(350, 200))
36 41
37 42 # Create the menubar
38 43 menuBar = wx.MenuBar()
39 44
40 45 # and a menu
41 46 menu = wx.Menu()
42 47
43 48 # add an item to the menu, using \tKeyName automatically
44 49 # creates an accelerator, the third param is some help text
45 50 # that will show up in the statusbar
46 51 menu.Append(wx.ID_EXIT, "E&xit\tAlt-X", "Exit this simple sample")
47 52
48 53 # bind the menu event to an event handler
49 54 self.Bind(wx.EVT_MENU, self.OnTimeToClose, id=wx.ID_EXIT)
50 55
51 56 # and put the menu on the menubar
52 57 menuBar.Append(menu, "&File")
53 58 self.SetMenuBar(menuBar)
54 59
55 60 self.CreateStatusBar()
56 61
57 62 # Now create the Panel to put the other controls on.
58 63 panel = wx.Panel(self)
59 64
60 65 # and a few controls
61 66 text = wx.StaticText(panel, -1, "Hello World!")
62 67 text.SetFont(wx.Font(14, wx.SWISS, wx.NORMAL, wx.BOLD))
63 68 text.SetSize(text.GetBestSize())
64 69 btn = wx.Button(panel, -1, "Close")
65 70 funbtn = wx.Button(panel, -1, "Just for fun...")
66 71
67 72 # bind the button events to handlers
68 73 self.Bind(wx.EVT_BUTTON, self.OnTimeToClose, btn)
69 74 self.Bind(wx.EVT_BUTTON, self.OnFunButton, funbtn)
70 75
71 76 # Use a sizer to layout the controls, stacked vertically and with
72 77 # a 10 pixel border around each
73 78 sizer = wx.BoxSizer(wx.VERTICAL)
74 79 sizer.Add(text, 0, wx.ALL, 10)
75 80 sizer.Add(btn, 0, wx.ALL, 10)
76 81 sizer.Add(funbtn, 0, wx.ALL, 10)
77 82 panel.SetSizer(sizer)
78 83 panel.Layout()
79 84
80 85
81 86 def OnTimeToClose(self, evt):
82 87 """Event handler for the button click."""
83 88 print "See ya later!"
84 89 self.Close()
85 90
86 91 def OnFunButton(self, evt):
87 92 """Event handler for the button click."""
88 93 print "Having fun yet?"
89 94
90 95
91 96 class MyApp(wx.App):
92 97 def OnInit(self):
93 98 frame = MyFrame(None, "Simple wxPython App")
94 99 self.SetTopWindow(frame)
95 100
96 101 print "Print statements go to this stdout window by default."
97 102
98 103 frame.Show(True)
99 104 return True
100 105
106
101 107 if __name__ == '__main__':
108 raise NotImplementedError(
109 'Standalone WX GUI support is currently broken. '
110 'See https://github.com/ipython/ipython/issues/645 for details')
111
102 112 app = wx.GetApp()
103 113 if app is None:
104 114 app = MyApp(redirect=False, clearSigInt=False)
105 115
106 116 try:
107 117 from IPython.lib.inputhook import enable_wx
108 118 enable_wx(app)
109 119 except ImportError:
110 120 app.MainLoop()
111 121
@@ -1,1297 +1,1310 b''
1 1 =================
2 2 IPython reference
3 3 =================
4 4
5 5 .. _command_line_options:
6 6
7 7 Command-line usage
8 8 ==================
9 9
10 10 You start IPython with the command::
11 11
12 12 $ ipython [options] files
13 13
14 14 If invoked with no options, it executes all the files listed in sequence
15 15 and drops you into the interpreter while still acknowledging any options
16 16 you may have set in your ipython_config.py. This behavior is different from
17 17 standard Python, which when called as python -i will only execute one
18 18 file and ignore your configuration setup.
19 19
20 20 Please note that some of the configuration options are not available at
21 21 the command line, simply because they are not practical here. Look into
22 22 your ipythonrc configuration file for details on those. This file is typically
23 23 installed in the IPYTHON_DIR directory. For Linux
24 24 users, this will be $HOME/.config/ipython, and for other users it will be
25 25 $HOME/.ipython. For Windows users, $HOME resolves to C:\\Documents and
26 26 Settings\\YourUserName in most instances.
27 27
28 28
29 29 Eventloop integration
30 30 ---------------------
31 31
32 32 Previously IPython had command line options for controlling GUI event loop
33 33 integration (-gthread, -qthread, -q4thread, -wthread, -pylab). As of IPython
34 34 version 0.11, these have been removed. Please see the new ``%gui``
35 35 magic command or :ref:`this section <gui_support>` for details on the new
36 36 interface, or specify the gui at the commandline::
37 37
38 38 $ ipython --gui=qt
39 39
40 40
41 41 Regular Options
42 42 ---------------
43 43
44 44 After the above threading options have been given, regular options can
45 45 follow in any order. All options can be abbreviated to their shortest
46 46 non-ambiguous form and are case-sensitive. One or two dashes can be
47 47 used. Some options have an alternate short form, indicated after a ``|``.
48 48
49 49 Most options can also be set from your ipythonrc configuration file. See
50 50 the provided example for more details on what the options do. Options
51 51 given at the command line override the values set in the ipythonrc file.
52 52
53 53 All options with a [no] prepended can be specified in negated form
54 54 (--no-option instead of --option) to turn the feature off.
55 55
56 56 ``-h, --help`` print a help message and exit.
57 57
58 58 ``--pylab, pylab=<name>``
59 59 See :ref:`Matplotlib support <matplotlib_support>`
60 60 for more details.
61 61
62 62 ``--autocall=<val>``
63 63 Make IPython automatically call any callable object even if you
64 64 didn't type explicit parentheses. For example, 'str 43' becomes
65 65 'str(43)' automatically. The value can be '0' to disable the feature,
66 66 '1' for smart autocall, where it is not applied if there are no more
67 67 arguments on the line, and '2' for full autocall, where all callable
68 68 objects are automatically called (even if no arguments are
69 69 present). The default is '1'.
70 70
71 71 ``--[no-]autoindent``
72 72 Turn automatic indentation on/off.
73 73
74 74 ``--[no-]automagic``
75 75 make magic commands automatic (without needing their first character
76 76 to be %). Type %magic at the IPython prompt for more information.
77 77
78 78 ``--[no-]autoedit_syntax``
79 79 When a syntax error occurs after editing a file, automatically
80 80 open the file to the trouble causing line for convenient
81 81 fixing.
82 82
83 83 ``--[no-]banner``
84 84 Print the initial information banner (default on).
85 85
86 86 ``--c=<command>``
87 87 execute the given command string. This is similar to the -c
88 88 option in the normal Python interpreter.
89 89
90 90 ``--cache-size=<n>``
91 91 size of the output cache (maximum number of entries to hold in
92 92 memory). The default is 1000, you can change it permanently in your
93 93 config file. Setting it to 0 completely disables the caching system,
94 94 and the minimum value accepted is 20 (if you provide a value less than
95 95 20, it is reset to 0 and a warning is issued) This limit is defined
96 96 because otherwise you'll spend more time re-flushing a too small cache
97 97 than working.
98 98
99 99 ``--classic``
100 100 Gives IPython a similar feel to the classic Python
101 101 prompt.
102 102
103 103 ``--colors=<scheme>``
104 104 Color scheme for prompts and exception reporting. Currently
105 105 implemented: NoColor, Linux and LightBG.
106 106
107 107 ``--[no-]color_info``
108 108 IPython can display information about objects via a set of functions,
109 109 and optionally can use colors for this, syntax highlighting source
110 110 code and various other elements. However, because this information is
111 111 passed through a pager (like 'less') and many pagers get confused with
112 112 color codes, this option is off by default. You can test it and turn
113 113 it on permanently in your ipythonrc file if it works for you. As a
114 114 reference, the 'less' pager supplied with Mandrake 8.2 works ok, but
115 115 that in RedHat 7.2 doesn't.
116 116
117 117 Test it and turn it on permanently if it works with your
118 118 system. The magic function %color_info allows you to toggle this
119 119 interactively for testing.
120 120
121 121 ``--[no-]debug``
122 122 Show information about the loading process. Very useful to pin down
123 123 problems with your configuration files or to get details about
124 124 session restores.
125 125
126 126 ``--[no-]deep_reload``
127 127 IPython can use the deep_reload module which reloads changes in
128 128 modules recursively (it replaces the reload() function, so you don't
129 129 need to change anything to use it). deep_reload() forces a full
130 130 reload of modules whose code may have changed, which the default
131 131 reload() function does not.
132 132
133 133 When deep_reload is off, IPython will use the normal reload(),
134 134 but deep_reload will still be available as dreload(). This
135 135 feature is off by default [which means that you have both
136 136 normal reload() and dreload()].
137 137
138 138 ``--editor=<name>``
139 139 Which editor to use with the %edit command. By default,
140 140 IPython will honor your EDITOR environment variable (if not
141 141 set, vi is the Unix default and notepad the Windows one).
142 142 Since this editor is invoked on the fly by IPython and is
143 143 meant for editing small code snippets, you may want to use a
144 144 small, lightweight editor here (in case your default EDITOR is
145 145 something like Emacs).
146 146
147 147 ``--ipython_dir=<name>``
148 148 name of your IPython configuration directory IPYTHON_DIR. This
149 149 can also be specified through the environment variable
150 150 IPYTHON_DIR.
151 151
152 152 ``--logfile=<name>``
153 153 specify the name of your logfile.
154 154
155 155 This implies ``%logstart`` at the beginning of your session
156 156
157 157 generate a log file of all input. The file is named
158 158 ipython_log.py in your current directory (which prevents logs
159 159 from multiple IPython sessions from trampling each other). You
160 160 can use this to later restore a session by loading your
161 161 logfile with ``ipython --i ipython_log.py``
162 162
163 163 ``--logplay=<name>``
164 164
165 165 NOT AVAILABLE in 0.11
166 166
167 167 you can replay a previous log. For restoring a session as close as
168 168 possible to the state you left it in, use this option (don't just run
169 169 the logfile). With -logplay, IPython will try to reconstruct the
170 170 previous working environment in full, not just execute the commands in
171 171 the logfile.
172 172
173 173 When a session is restored, logging is automatically turned on
174 174 again with the name of the logfile it was invoked with (it is
175 175 read from the log header). So once you've turned logging on for
176 176 a session, you can quit IPython and reload it as many times as
177 177 you want and it will continue to log its history and restore
178 178 from the beginning every time.
179 179
180 180 Caveats: there are limitations in this option. The history
181 181 variables _i*,_* and _dh don't get restored properly. In the
182 182 future we will try to implement full session saving by writing
183 183 and retrieving a 'snapshot' of the memory state of IPython. But
184 184 our first attempts failed because of inherent limitations of
185 185 Python's Pickle module, so this may have to wait.
186 186
187 187 ``--[no-]messages``
188 188 Print messages which IPython collects about its startup
189 189 process (default on).
190 190
191 191 ``--[no-]pdb``
192 192 Automatically call the pdb debugger after every uncaught
193 193 exception. If you are used to debugging using pdb, this puts
194 194 you automatically inside of it after any call (either in
195 195 IPython or in code called by it) which triggers an exception
196 196 which goes uncaught.
197 197
198 198 ``--[no-]pprint``
199 199 ipython can optionally use the pprint (pretty printer) module
200 200 for displaying results. pprint tends to give a nicer display
201 201 of nested data structures. If you like it, you can turn it on
202 202 permanently in your config file (default off).
203 203
204 204 ``--profile=<name>``
205 205
206 206 Select the IPython profile by name.
207 207
208 208 This is a quick way to keep and load multiple
209 209 config files for different tasks, especially if you use the
210 210 include option of config files. You can keep a basic
211 211 :file:`IPYTHON_DIR/profile_default/ipython_config.py` file
212 212 and then have other 'profiles' which
213 213 include this one and load extra things for particular
214 214 tasks. For example:
215 215
216 216 1. $IPYTHON_DIR/profile_default : load basic things you always want.
217 217 2. $IPYTHON_DIR/profile_math : load (1) and basic math-related modules.
218 218 3. $IPYTHON_DIR/profile_numeric : load (1) and Numeric and plotting modules.
219 219
220 220 Since it is possible to create an endless loop by having
221 221 circular file inclusions, IPython will stop if it reaches 15
222 222 recursive inclusions.
223 223
224 224 ``InteractiveShell.prompt_in1=<string>``
225 225
226 226 Specify the string used for input prompts. Note that if you are using
227 227 numbered prompts, the number is represented with a '\#' in the
228 228 string. Don't forget to quote strings with spaces embedded in
229 229 them. Default: 'In [\#]:'. The :ref:`prompts section <prompts>`
230 230 discusses in detail all the available escapes to customize your
231 231 prompts.
232 232
233 233 ``InteractiveShell.prompt_in2=<string>``
234 234 Similar to the previous option, but used for the continuation
235 235 prompts. The special sequence '\D' is similar to '\#', but
236 236 with all digits replaced dots (so you can have your
237 237 continuation prompt aligned with your input prompt). Default:
238 238 ' .\D.:' (note three spaces at the start for alignment with
239 239 'In [\#]').
240 240
241 241 ``InteractiveShell.prompt_out=<string>``
242 242 String used for output prompts, also uses numbers like
243 243 prompt_in1. Default: 'Out[\#]:'
244 244
245 245 ``--quick``
246 246 start in bare bones mode (no config file loaded).
247 247
248 248 ``config_file=<name>``
249 249 name of your IPython resource configuration file. Normally
250 250 IPython loads ipython_config.py (from current directory) or
251 251 IPYTHON_DIR/profile_default.
252 252
253 253 If the loading of your config file fails, IPython starts with
254 254 a bare bones configuration (no modules loaded at all).
255 255
256 256 ``--[no-]readline``
257 257 use the readline library, which is needed to support name
258 258 completion and command history, among other things. It is
259 259 enabled by default, but may cause problems for users of
260 260 X/Emacs in Python comint or shell buffers.
261 261
262 262 Note that X/Emacs 'eterm' buffers (opened with M-x term) support
263 263 IPython's readline and syntax coloring fine, only 'emacs' (M-x
264 264 shell and C-c !) buffers do not.
265 265
266 266 ``--TerminalInteractiveShell.screen_length=<n>``
267 267 number of lines of your screen. This is used to control
268 268 printing of very long strings. Strings longer than this number
269 269 of lines will be sent through a pager instead of directly
270 270 printed.
271 271
272 272 The default value for this is 0, which means IPython will
273 273 auto-detect your screen size every time it needs to print certain
274 274 potentially long strings (this doesn't change the behavior of the
275 275 'print' keyword, it's only triggered internally). If for some
276 276 reason this isn't working well (it needs curses support), specify
277 277 it yourself. Otherwise don't change the default.
278 278
279 279 ``--TerminalInteractiveShell.separate_in=<string>``
280 280
281 281 separator before input prompts.
282 282 Default: '\n'
283 283
284 284 ``--TerminalInteractiveShell.separate_out=<string>``
285 285 separator before output prompts.
286 286 Default: nothing.
287 287
288 288 ``--TerminalInteractiveShell.separate_out2=<string>``
289 289 separator after output prompts.
290 290 Default: nothing.
291 291 For these three options, use the value 0 to specify no separator.
292 292
293 293 ``--nosep``
294 294 shorthand for setting the above separators to empty strings.
295 295
296 296 Simply removes all input/output separators.
297 297
298 298 ``--init``
299 299 allows you to initialize a profile dir for configuration when you
300 300 install a new version of IPython or want to use a new profile.
301 301 Since new versions may include new command line options or example
302 302 files, this copies updated config files. Note that you should probably
303 303 use %upgrade instead,it's a safer alternative.
304 304
305 305 ``--version`` print version information and exit.
306 306
307 307 ``--xmode=<modename>``
308 308
309 309 Mode for exception reporting.
310 310
311 311 Valid modes: Plain, Context and Verbose.
312 312
313 313 * Plain: similar to python's normal traceback printing.
314 314 * Context: prints 5 lines of context source code around each
315 315 line in the traceback.
316 316 * Verbose: similar to Context, but additionally prints the
317 317 variables currently visible where the exception happened
318 318 (shortening their strings if too long). This can potentially be
319 319 very slow, if you happen to have a huge data structure whose
320 320 string representation is complex to compute. Your computer may
321 321 appear to freeze for a while with cpu usage at 100%. If this
322 322 occurs, you can cancel the traceback with Ctrl-C (maybe hitting it
323 323 more than once).
324 324
325 325 Interactive use
326 326 ===============
327 327
328 328 IPython is meant to work as a drop-in replacement for the standard interactive
329 329 interpreter. As such, any code which is valid python should execute normally
330 330 under IPython (cases where this is not true should be reported as bugs). It
331 331 does, however, offer many features which are not available at a standard python
332 332 prompt. What follows is a list of these.
333 333
334 334
335 335 Caution for Windows users
336 336 -------------------------
337 337
338 338 Windows, unfortunately, uses the '\\' character as a path separator. This is a
339 339 terrible choice, because '\\' also represents the escape character in most
340 340 modern programming languages, including Python. For this reason, using '/'
341 341 character is recommended if you have problems with ``\``. However, in Windows
342 342 commands '/' flags options, so you can not use it for the root directory. This
343 343 means that paths beginning at the root must be typed in a contrived manner
344 344 like: ``%copy \opt/foo/bar.txt \tmp``
345 345
346 346 .. _magic:
347 347
348 348 Magic command system
349 349 --------------------
350 350
351 351 IPython will treat any line whose first character is a % as a special
352 352 call to a 'magic' function. These allow you to control the behavior of
353 353 IPython itself, plus a lot of system-type features. They are all
354 354 prefixed with a % character, but parameters are given without
355 355 parentheses or quotes.
356 356
357 357 Example: typing ``%cd mydir`` changes your working directory to 'mydir', if it
358 358 exists.
359 359
360 360 If you have 'automagic' enabled (as it by default), you don't need
361 361 to type in the % explicitly. IPython will scan its internal list of
362 362 magic functions and call one if it exists. With automagic on you can
363 363 then just type ``cd mydir`` to go to directory 'mydir'. The automagic
364 364 system has the lowest possible precedence in name searches, so defining
365 365 an identifier with the same name as an existing magic function will
366 366 shadow it for automagic use. You can still access the shadowed magic
367 367 function by explicitly using the % character at the beginning of the line.
368 368
369 369 An example (with automagic on) should clarify all this:
370 370
371 371 .. sourcecode:: ipython
372 372
373 373 In [1]: cd ipython # %cd is called by automagic
374 374
375 375 /home/fperez/ipython
376 376
377 377 In [2]: cd=1 # now cd is just a variable
378 378
379 379 In [3]: cd .. # and doesn't work as a function anymore
380 380
381 381 ------------------------------
382 382
383 383 File "<console>", line 1
384 384
385 385 cd ..
386 386
387 387 ^
388 388
389 389 SyntaxError: invalid syntax
390 390
391 391 In [4]: %cd .. # but %cd always works
392 392
393 393 /home/fperez
394 394
395 395 In [5]: del cd # if you remove the cd variable
396 396
397 397 In [6]: cd ipython # automagic can work again
398 398
399 399 /home/fperez/ipython
400 400
401 401 You can define your own magic functions to extend the system. The
402 402 following example defines a new magic command, %impall:
403 403
404 404 .. sourcecode:: python
405 405
406 406 ip = get_ipython()
407 407
408 408 def doimp(self, arg):
409 409
410 410 ip = self.api
411 411
412 412 ip.ex("import %s; reload(%s); from %s import *" % (
413 413
414 414 arg,arg,arg)
415 415
416 416 )
417 417
418 418 ip.expose_magic('impall', doimp)
419 419
420 420 Type `%magic` for more information, including a list of all available magic
421 421 functions at any time and their docstrings. You can also type
422 422 %magic_function_name? (see :ref:`below <dynamic_object_info` for information on
423 423 the '?' system) to get information about any particular magic function you are
424 424 interested in.
425 425
426 426 The API documentation for the :mod:`IPython.core.magic` module contains the full
427 427 docstrings of all currently available magic commands.
428 428
429 429
430 430 Access to the standard Python help
431 431 ----------------------------------
432 432
433 433 As of Python 2.1, a help system is available with access to object docstrings
434 434 and the Python manuals. Simply type 'help' (no quotes) to access it. You can
435 435 also type help(object) to obtain information about a given object, and
436 436 help('keyword') for information on a keyword. As noted :ref:`here
437 437 <accessing_help>`, you need to properly configure your environment variable
438 438 PYTHONDOCS for this feature to work correctly.
439 439
440 440 .. _dynamic_object_info:
441 441
442 442 Dynamic object information
443 443 --------------------------
444 444
445 445 Typing ``?word`` or ``word?`` prints detailed information about an object. If
446 446 certain strings in the object are too long (docstrings, code, etc.) they get
447 447 snipped in the center for brevity. This system gives access variable types and
448 448 values, full source code for any object (if available), function prototypes and
449 449 other useful information.
450 450
451 451 Typing ``??word`` or ``word??`` gives access to the full information without
452 452 snipping long strings. Long strings are sent to the screen through the
453 453 less pager if longer than the screen and printed otherwise. On systems
454 454 lacking the less command, IPython uses a very basic internal pager.
455 455
456 456 The following magic functions are particularly useful for gathering
457 457 information about your working environment. You can get more details by
458 458 typing ``%magic`` or querying them individually (use %function_name? with or
459 459 without the %), this is just a summary:
460 460
461 461 * **%pdoc <object>**: Print (or run through a pager if too long) the
462 462 docstring for an object. If the given object is a class, it will
463 463 print both the class and the constructor docstrings.
464 464 * **%pdef <object>**: Print the definition header for any callable
465 465 object. If the object is a class, print the constructor information.
466 466 * **%psource <object>**: Print (or run through a pager if too long)
467 467 the source code for an object.
468 468 * **%pfile <object>**: Show the entire source file where an object was
469 469 defined via a pager, opening it at the line where the object
470 470 definition begins.
471 471 * **%who/%whos**: These functions give information about identifiers
472 472 you have defined interactively (not things you loaded or defined
473 473 in your configuration files). %who just prints a list of
474 474 identifiers and %whos prints a table with some basic details about
475 475 each identifier.
476 476
477 477 Note that the dynamic object information functions (?/??, ``%pdoc``,
478 478 ``%pfile``, ``%pdef``, ``%psource``) give you access to documentation even on
479 479 things which are not really defined as separate identifiers. Try for example
480 480 typing {}.get? or after doing import os, type ``os.path.abspath??``.
481 481
482 482 .. _readline:
483 483
484 484 Readline-based features
485 485 -----------------------
486 486
487 487 These features require the GNU readline library, so they won't work if your
488 488 Python installation lacks readline support. We will first describe the default
489 489 behavior IPython uses, and then how to change it to suit your preferences.
490 490
491 491
492 492 Command line completion
493 493 +++++++++++++++++++++++
494 494
495 495 At any time, hitting TAB will complete any available python commands or
496 496 variable names, and show you a list of the possible completions if
497 497 there's no unambiguous one. It will also complete filenames in the
498 498 current directory if no python names match what you've typed so far.
499 499
500 500
501 501 Search command history
502 502 ++++++++++++++++++++++
503 503
504 504 IPython provides two ways for searching through previous input and thus
505 505 reduce the need for repetitive typing:
506 506
507 507 1. Start typing, and then use Ctrl-p (previous,up) and Ctrl-n
508 508 (next,down) to search through only the history items that match
509 509 what you've typed so far. If you use Ctrl-p/Ctrl-n at a blank
510 510 prompt, they just behave like normal arrow keys.
511 511 2. Hit Ctrl-r: opens a search prompt. Begin typing and the system
512 512 searches your history for lines that contain what you've typed so
513 513 far, completing as much as it can.
514 514
515 515
516 516 Persistent command history across sessions
517 517 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
518 518
519 519 IPython will save your input history when it leaves and reload it next
520 520 time you restart it. By default, the history file is named
521 521 $IPYTHON_DIR/profile_<name>/history.sqlite. This allows you to keep
522 522 separate histories related to various tasks: commands related to
523 523 numerical work will not be clobbered by a system shell history, for
524 524 example.
525 525
526 526
527 527 Autoindent
528 528 ++++++++++
529 529
530 530 IPython can recognize lines ending in ':' and indent the next line,
531 531 while also un-indenting automatically after 'raise' or 'return'.
532 532
533 533 This feature uses the readline library, so it will honor your
534 534 :file:`~/.inputrc` configuration (or whatever file your INPUTRC variable points
535 535 to). Adding the following lines to your :file:`.inputrc` file can make
536 536 indenting/unindenting more convenient (M-i indents, M-u unindents)::
537 537
538 538 $if Python
539 539 "\M-i": " "
540 540 "\M-u": "\d\d\d\d"
541 541 $endif
542 542
543 543 Note that there are 4 spaces between the quote marks after "M-i" above.
544 544
545 545 .. warning::
546 546
547 547 Setting the above indents will cause problems with unicode text entry in
548 548 the terminal.
549 549
550 550 .. warning::
551 551
552 552 Autoindent is ON by default, but it can cause problems with the pasting of
553 553 multi-line indented code (the pasted code gets re-indented on each line). A
554 554 magic function %autoindent allows you to toggle it on/off at runtime. You
555 555 can also disable it permanently on in your :file:`ipython_config.py` file
556 556 (set TerminalInteractiveShell.autoindent=False).
557 557
558 558 If you want to paste multiple lines, it is recommended that you use
559 559 ``%paste``.
560 560
561 561
562 562 Customizing readline behavior
563 563 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
564 564
565 565 All these features are based on the GNU readline library, which has an
566 566 extremely customizable interface. Normally, readline is configured via a
567 567 file which defines the behavior of the library; the details of the
568 568 syntax for this can be found in the readline documentation available
569 569 with your system or on the Internet. IPython doesn't read this file (if
570 570 it exists) directly, but it does support passing to readline valid
571 571 options via a simple interface. In brief, you can customize readline by
572 572 setting the following options in your ipythonrc configuration file (note
573 573 that these options can not be specified at the command line):
574 574
575 575 * **readline_parse_and_bind**: this option can appear as many times as
576 576 you want, each time defining a string to be executed via a
577 577 readline.parse_and_bind() command. The syntax for valid commands
578 578 of this kind can be found by reading the documentation for the GNU
579 579 readline library, as these commands are of the kind which readline
580 580 accepts in its configuration file.
581 581 * **readline_remove_delims**: a string of characters to be removed
582 582 from the default word-delimiters list used by readline, so that
583 583 completions may be performed on strings which contain them. Do not
584 584 change the default value unless you know what you're doing.
585 585 * **readline_omit__names**: when tab-completion is enabled, hitting
586 586 <tab> after a '.' in a name will complete all attributes of an
587 587 object, including all the special methods whose names include
588 588 double underscores (like __getitem__ or __class__). If you'd
589 589 rather not see these names by default, you can set this option to
590 590 1. Note that even when this option is set, you can still see those
591 591 names by explicitly typing a _ after the period and hitting <tab>:
592 592 'name._<tab>' will always complete attribute names starting with '_'.
593 593
594 594 This option is off by default so that new users see all
595 595 attributes of any objects they are dealing with.
596 596
597 597 You will find the default values along with a corresponding detailed
598 598 explanation in your ipythonrc file.
599 599
600 600
601 601 Session logging and restoring
602 602 -----------------------------
603 603
604 604 You can log all input from a session either by starting IPython with the
605 605 command line switch ``--logfile=foo.py`` (see :ref:`here <command_line_options>`)
606 606 or by activating the logging at any moment with the magic function %logstart.
607 607
608 608 Log files can later be reloaded by running them as scripts and IPython
609 609 will attempt to 'replay' the log by executing all the lines in it, thus
610 610 restoring the state of a previous session. This feature is not quite
611 611 perfect, but can still be useful in many cases.
612 612
613 613 The log files can also be used as a way to have a permanent record of
614 614 any code you wrote while experimenting. Log files are regular text files
615 615 which you can later open in your favorite text editor to extract code or
616 616 to 'clean them up' before using them to replay a session.
617 617
618 618 The `%logstart` function for activating logging in mid-session is used as
619 619 follows::
620 620
621 621 %logstart [log_name [log_mode]]
622 622
623 623 If no name is given, it defaults to a file named 'ipython_log.py' in your
624 624 current working directory, in 'rotate' mode (see below).
625 625
626 626 '%logstart name' saves to file 'name' in 'backup' mode. It saves your
627 627 history up to that point and then continues logging.
628 628
629 629 %logstart takes a second optional parameter: logging mode. This can be
630 630 one of (note that the modes are given unquoted):
631 631
632 632 * [over:] overwrite existing log_name.
633 633 * [backup:] rename (if exists) to log_name~ and start log_name.
634 634 * [append:] well, that says it.
635 635 * [rotate:] create rotating logs log_name.1~, log_name.2~, etc.
636 636
637 637 The %logoff and %logon functions allow you to temporarily stop and
638 638 resume logging to a file which had previously been started with
639 639 %logstart. They will fail (with an explanation) if you try to use them
640 640 before logging has been started.
641 641
642 642 .. _system_shell_access:
643 643
644 644 System shell access
645 645 -------------------
646 646
647 647 Any input line beginning with a ! character is passed verbatim (minus
648 648 the !, of course) to the underlying operating system. For example,
649 649 typing ``!ls`` will run 'ls' in the current directory.
650 650
651 651 Manual capture of command output
652 652 --------------------------------
653 653
654 654 If the input line begins with two exclamation marks, !!, the command is
655 655 executed but its output is captured and returned as a python list, split
656 656 on newlines. Any output sent by the subprocess to standard error is
657 657 printed separately, so that the resulting list only captures standard
658 658 output. The !! syntax is a shorthand for the %sx magic command.
659 659
660 660 Finally, the %sc magic (short for 'shell capture') is similar to %sx,
661 661 but allowing more fine-grained control of the capture details, and
662 662 storing the result directly into a named variable. The direct use of
663 663 %sc is now deprecated, and you should ise the ``var = !cmd`` syntax
664 664 instead.
665 665
666 666 IPython also allows you to expand the value of python variables when
667 667 making system calls. Any python variable or expression which you prepend
668 668 with $ will get expanded before the system call is made::
669 669
670 670 In [1]: pyvar='Hello world'
671 671 In [2]: !echo "A python variable: $pyvar"
672 672 A python variable: Hello world
673 673
674 674 If you want the shell to actually see a literal $, you need to type it
675 675 twice::
676 676
677 677 In [3]: !echo "A system variable: $$HOME"
678 678 A system variable: /home/fperez
679 679
680 680 You can pass arbitrary expressions, though you'll need to delimit them
681 681 with {} if there is ambiguity as to the extent of the expression::
682 682
683 683 In [5]: x=10
684 684 In [6]: y=20
685 685 In [13]: !echo $x+y
686 686 10+y
687 687 In [7]: !echo ${x+y}
688 688 30
689 689
690 690 Even object attributes can be expanded::
691 691
692 692 In [12]: !echo $sys.argv
693 693 [/home/fperez/usr/bin/ipython]
694 694
695 695
696 696 System command aliases
697 697 ----------------------
698 698
699 699 The %alias magic function and the alias option in the ipythonrc
700 700 configuration file allow you to define magic functions which are in fact
701 701 system shell commands. These aliases can have parameters.
702 702
703 703 ``%alias alias_name cmd`` defines 'alias_name' as an alias for 'cmd'
704 704
705 705 Then, typing ``%alias_name params`` will execute the system command 'cmd
706 706 params' (from your underlying operating system).
707 707
708 708 You can also define aliases with parameters using %s specifiers (one per
709 709 parameter). The following example defines the %parts function as an
710 710 alias to the command 'echo first %s second %s' where each %s will be
711 711 replaced by a positional parameter to the call to %parts::
712 712
713 713 In [1]: alias parts echo first %s second %s
714 714 In [2]: %parts A B
715 715 first A second B
716 716 In [3]: %parts A
717 717 Incorrect number of arguments: 2 expected.
718 718 parts is an alias to: 'echo first %s second %s'
719 719
720 720 If called with no parameters, %alias prints the table of currently
721 721 defined aliases.
722 722
723 723 The %rehashx magic allows you to load your entire $PATH as
724 724 ipython aliases. See its docstring for further details.
725 725
726 726
727 727 .. _dreload:
728 728
729 729 Recursive reload
730 730 ----------------
731 731
732 732 The dreload function does a recursive reload of a module: changes made
733 733 to the module since you imported will actually be available without
734 734 having to exit.
735 735
736 736
737 737 Verbose and colored exception traceback printouts
738 738 -------------------------------------------------
739 739
740 740 IPython provides the option to see very detailed exception tracebacks,
741 741 which can be especially useful when debugging large programs. You can
742 742 run any Python file with the %run function to benefit from these
743 743 detailed tracebacks. Furthermore, both normal and verbose tracebacks can
744 744 be colored (if your terminal supports it) which makes them much easier
745 745 to parse visually.
746 746
747 747 See the magic xmode and colors functions for details (just type %magic).
748 748
749 749 These features are basically a terminal version of Ka-Ping Yee's cgitb
750 750 module, now part of the standard Python library.
751 751
752 752
753 753 .. _input_caching:
754 754
755 755 Input caching system
756 756 --------------------
757 757
758 758 IPython offers numbered prompts (In/Out) with input and output caching
759 759 (also referred to as 'input history'). All input is saved and can be
760 760 retrieved as variables (besides the usual arrow key recall), in
761 761 addition to the %rep magic command that brings a history entry
762 762 up for editing on the next command line.
763 763
764 764 The following GLOBAL variables always exist (so don't overwrite them!):
765 765
766 766 * _i, _ii, _iii: store previous, next previous and next-next previous inputs.
767 767 * In, _ih : a list of all inputs; _ih[n] is the input from line n. If you
768 768 overwrite In with a variable of your own, you can remake the assignment to the
769 769 internal list with a simple ``In=_ih``.
770 770
771 771 Additionally, global variables named _i<n> are dynamically created (<n>
772 772 being the prompt counter), so ``_i<n> == _ih[<n>] == In[<n>]``.
773 773
774 774 For example, what you typed at prompt 14 is available as _i14, _ih[14]
775 775 and In[14].
776 776
777 777 This allows you to easily cut and paste multi line interactive prompts
778 778 by printing them out: they print like a clean string, without prompt
779 779 characters. You can also manipulate them like regular variables (they
780 780 are strings), modify or exec them (typing ``exec _i9`` will re-execute the
781 781 contents of input prompt 9.
782 782
783 783 You can also re-execute multiple lines of input easily by using the
784 784 magic %macro function (which automates the process and allows
785 785 re-execution without having to type 'exec' every time). The macro system
786 786 also allows you to re-execute previous lines which include magic
787 787 function calls (which require special processing). Type %macro? for more details
788 788 on the macro system.
789 789
790 790 A history function %hist allows you to see any part of your input
791 791 history by printing a range of the _i variables.
792 792
793 793 You can also search ('grep') through your history by typing
794 794 ``%hist -g somestring``. This is handy for searching for URLs, IP addresses,
795 795 etc. You can bring history entries listed by '%hist -g' up for editing
796 796 with the %recall command, or run them immediately with %rerun.
797 797
798 798 .. _output_caching:
799 799
800 800 Output caching system
801 801 ---------------------
802 802
803 803 For output that is returned from actions, a system similar to the input
804 804 cache exists but using _ instead of _i. Only actions that produce a
805 805 result (NOT assignments, for example) are cached. If you are familiar
806 806 with Mathematica, IPython's _ variables behave exactly like
807 807 Mathematica's % variables.
808 808
809 809 The following GLOBAL variables always exist (so don't overwrite them!):
810 810
811 811 * [_] (a single underscore) : stores previous output, like Python's
812 812 default interpreter.
813 813 * [__] (two underscores): next previous.
814 814 * [___] (three underscores): next-next previous.
815 815
816 816 Additionally, global variables named _<n> are dynamically created (<n>
817 817 being the prompt counter), such that the result of output <n> is always
818 818 available as _<n> (don't use the angle brackets, just the number, e.g.
819 819 _21).
820 820
821 821 These global variables are all stored in a global dictionary (not a
822 822 list, since it only has entries for lines which returned a result)
823 823 available under the names _oh and Out (similar to _ih and In). So the
824 824 output from line 12 can be obtained as _12, Out[12] or _oh[12]. If you
825 825 accidentally overwrite the Out variable you can recover it by typing
826 826 'Out=_oh' at the prompt.
827 827
828 828 This system obviously can potentially put heavy memory demands on your
829 829 system, since it prevents Python's garbage collector from removing any
830 830 previously computed results. You can control how many results are kept
831 831 in memory with the option (at the command line or in your ipythonrc
832 832 file) cache_size. If you set it to 0, the whole system is completely
833 833 disabled and the prompts revert to the classic '>>>' of normal Python.
834 834
835 835
836 836 Directory history
837 837 -----------------
838 838
839 839 Your history of visited directories is kept in the global list _dh, and
840 840 the magic %cd command can be used to go to any entry in that list. The
841 841 %dhist command allows you to view this history. Do ``cd -<TAB>`` to
842 842 conveniently view the directory history.
843 843
844 844
845 845 Automatic parentheses and quotes
846 846 --------------------------------
847 847
848 848 These features were adapted from Nathan Gray's LazyPython. They are
849 849 meant to allow less typing for common situations.
850 850
851 851
852 852 Automatic parentheses
853 853 ---------------------
854 854
855 855 Callable objects (i.e. functions, methods, etc) can be invoked like this
856 856 (notice the commas between the arguments)::
857 857
858 858 >>> callable_ob arg1, arg2, arg3
859 859
860 860 and the input will be translated to this::
861 861
862 862 -> callable_ob(arg1, arg2, arg3)
863 863
864 864 You can force automatic parentheses by using '/' as the first character
865 865 of a line. For example::
866 866
867 867 >>> /globals # becomes 'globals()'
868 868
869 869 Note that the '/' MUST be the first character on the line! This won't work::
870 870
871 871 >>> print /globals # syntax error
872 872
873 873 In most cases the automatic algorithm should work, so you should rarely
874 874 need to explicitly invoke /. One notable exception is if you are trying
875 875 to call a function with a list of tuples as arguments (the parenthesis
876 876 will confuse IPython)::
877 877
878 878 In [1]: zip (1,2,3),(4,5,6) # won't work
879 879
880 880 but this will work::
881 881
882 882 In [2]: /zip (1,2,3),(4,5,6)
883 883 ---> zip ((1,2,3),(4,5,6))
884 884 Out[2]= [(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)]
885 885
886 886 IPython tells you that it has altered your command line by displaying
887 887 the new command line preceded by ->. e.g.::
888 888
889 889 In [18]: callable list
890 890 ----> callable (list)
891 891
892 892
893 893 Automatic quoting
894 894 -----------------
895 895
896 896 You can force automatic quoting of a function's arguments by using ','
897 897 or ';' as the first character of a line. For example::
898 898
899 899 >>> ,my_function /home/me # becomes my_function("/home/me")
900 900
901 901 If you use ';' instead, the whole argument is quoted as a single string
902 902 (while ',' splits on whitespace)::
903 903
904 904 >>> ,my_function a b c # becomes my_function("a","b","c")
905 905
906 906 >>> ;my_function a b c # becomes my_function("a b c")
907 907
908 908 Note that the ',' or ';' MUST be the first character on the line! This
909 909 won't work::
910 910
911 911 >>> x = ,my_function /home/me # syntax error
912 912
913 913 IPython as your default Python environment
914 914 ==========================================
915 915
916 916 Python honors the environment variable PYTHONSTARTUP and will execute at
917 917 startup the file referenced by this variable. If you put at the end of
918 918 this file the following two lines of code::
919 919
920 920 from IPython.frontend.terminal.ipapp import launch_new_instance
921 921 launch_new_instance()
922 922 raise SystemExit
923 923
924 924 then IPython will be your working environment anytime you start Python.
925 925 The ``raise SystemExit`` is needed to exit Python when
926 926 it finishes, otherwise you'll be back at the normal Python '>>>'
927 927 prompt.
928 928
929 929 This is probably useful to developers who manage multiple Python
930 930 versions and don't want to have correspondingly multiple IPython
931 931 versions. Note that in this mode, there is no way to pass IPython any
932 932 command-line options, as those are trapped first by Python itself.
933 933
934 934 .. _Embedding:
935 935
936 936 Embedding IPython
937 937 =================
938 938
939 939 It is possible to start an IPython instance inside your own Python
940 940 programs. This allows you to evaluate dynamically the state of your
941 941 code, operate with your variables, analyze them, etc. Note however that
942 942 any changes you make to values while in the shell do not propagate back
943 943 to the running code, so it is safe to modify your values because you
944 944 won't break your code in bizarre ways by doing so.
945 945
946 946 This feature allows you to easily have a fully functional python
947 947 environment for doing object introspection anywhere in your code with a
948 948 simple function call. In some cases a simple print statement is enough,
949 949 but if you need to do more detailed analysis of a code fragment this
950 950 feature can be very valuable.
951 951
952 952 It can also be useful in scientific computing situations where it is
953 953 common to need to do some automatic, computationally intensive part and
954 954 then stop to look at data, plots, etc.
955 955 Opening an IPython instance will give you full access to your data and
956 956 functions, and you can resume program execution once you are done with
957 957 the interactive part (perhaps to stop again later, as many times as
958 958 needed).
959 959
960 960 The following code snippet is the bare minimum you need to include in
961 961 your Python programs for this to work (detailed examples follow later)::
962 962
963 963 from IPython import embed
964 964
965 965 embed() # this call anywhere in your program will start IPython
966 966
967 967 You can run embedded instances even in code which is itself being run at
968 968 the IPython interactive prompt with '%run <filename>'. Since it's easy
969 969 to get lost as to where you are (in your top-level IPython or in your
970 970 embedded one), it's a good idea in such cases to set the in/out prompts
971 971 to something different for the embedded instances. The code examples
972 972 below illustrate this.
973 973
974 974 You can also have multiple IPython instances in your program and open
975 975 them separately, for example with different options for data
976 976 presentation. If you close and open the same instance multiple times,
977 977 its prompt counters simply continue from each execution to the next.
978 978
979 979 Please look at the docstrings in the :mod:`~IPython.frontend.terminal.embed`
980 980 module for more details on the use of this system.
981 981
982 982 The following sample file illustrating how to use the embedding
983 983 functionality is provided in the examples directory as example-embed.py.
984 984 It should be fairly self-explanatory:
985 985
986 986 .. literalinclude:: ../../examples/core/example-embed.py
987 987 :language: python
988 988
989 989 Once you understand how the system functions, you can use the following
990 990 code fragments in your programs which are ready for cut and paste:
991 991
992 992 .. literalinclude:: ../../examples/core/example-embed-short.py
993 993 :language: python
994 994
995 995 Using the Python debugger (pdb)
996 996 ===============================
997 997
998 998 Running entire programs via pdb
999 999 -------------------------------
1000 1000
1001 1001 pdb, the Python debugger, is a powerful interactive debugger which
1002 1002 allows you to step through code, set breakpoints, watch variables,
1003 1003 etc. IPython makes it very easy to start any script under the control
1004 1004 of pdb, regardless of whether you have wrapped it into a 'main()'
1005 1005 function or not. For this, simply type '%run -d myscript' at an
1006 1006 IPython prompt. See the %run command's documentation (via '%run?' or
1007 1007 in Sec. magic_ for more details, including how to control where pdb
1008 1008 will stop execution first.
1009 1009
1010 1010 For more information on the use of the pdb debugger, read the included
1011 1011 pdb.doc file (part of the standard Python distribution). On a stock
1012 1012 Linux system it is located at /usr/lib/python2.3/pdb.doc, but the
1013 1013 easiest way to read it is by using the help() function of the pdb module
1014 1014 as follows (in an IPython prompt)::
1015 1015
1016 1016 In [1]: import pdb
1017 1017 In [2]: pdb.help()
1018 1018
1019 1019 This will load the pdb.doc document in a file viewer for you automatically.
1020 1020
1021 1021
1022 1022 Automatic invocation of pdb on exceptions
1023 1023 -----------------------------------------
1024 1024
1025 1025 IPython, if started with the -pdb option (or if the option is set in
1026 1026 your rc file) can call the Python pdb debugger every time your code
1027 1027 triggers an uncaught exception. This feature
1028 1028 can also be toggled at any time with the %pdb magic command. This can be
1029 1029 extremely useful in order to find the origin of subtle bugs, because pdb
1030 1030 opens up at the point in your code which triggered the exception, and
1031 1031 while your program is at this point 'dead', all the data is still
1032 1032 available and you can walk up and down the stack frame and understand
1033 1033 the origin of the problem.
1034 1034
1035 1035 Furthermore, you can use these debugging facilities both with the
1036 1036 embedded IPython mode and without IPython at all. For an embedded shell
1037 1037 (see sec. Embedding_), simply call the constructor with
1038 1038 '--pdb' in the argument string and automatically pdb will be called if an
1039 1039 uncaught exception is triggered by your code.
1040 1040
1041 1041 For stand-alone use of the feature in your programs which do not use
1042 1042 IPython at all, put the following lines toward the top of your 'main'
1043 1043 routine::
1044 1044
1045 1045 import sys
1046 1046 from IPython.core import ultratb
1047 1047 sys.excepthook = ultratb.FormattedTB(mode='Verbose',
1048 1048 color_scheme='Linux', call_pdb=1)
1049 1049
1050 1050 The mode keyword can be either 'Verbose' or 'Plain', giving either very
1051 1051 detailed or normal tracebacks respectively. The color_scheme keyword can
1052 1052 be one of 'NoColor', 'Linux' (default) or 'LightBG'. These are the same
1053 1053 options which can be set in IPython with -colors and -xmode.
1054 1054
1055 1055 This will give any of your programs detailed, colored tracebacks with
1056 1056 automatic invocation of pdb.
1057 1057
1058 1058
1059 1059 Extensions for syntax processing
1060 1060 ================================
1061 1061
1062 1062 This isn't for the faint of heart, because the potential for breaking
1063 1063 things is quite high. But it can be a very powerful and useful feature.
1064 1064 In a nutshell, you can redefine the way IPython processes the user input
1065 1065 line to accept new, special extensions to the syntax without needing to
1066 1066 change any of IPython's own code.
1067 1067
1068 1068 In the IPython/extensions directory you will find some examples
1069 1069 supplied, which we will briefly describe now. These can be used 'as is'
1070 1070 (and both provide very useful functionality), or you can use them as a
1071 1071 starting point for writing your own extensions.
1072 1072
1073 1073 .. _pasting_with_prompts:
1074 1074
1075 1075 Pasting of code starting with Python or IPython prompts
1076 1076 -------------------------------------------------------
1077 1077
1078 1078 IPython is smart enough to filter out input prompts, be they plain Python ones
1079 1079 (``>>>`` and ``...``) or IPython ones (``In [N]:`` and `` ...:``). You can
1080 1080 therefore copy and paste from existing interactive sessions without worry.
1081 1081
1082 1082 The following is a 'screenshot' of how things work, copying an example from the
1083 1083 standard Python tutorial::
1084 1084
1085 1085 In [1]: >>> # Fibonacci series:
1086 1086
1087 1087 In [2]: ... # the sum of two elements defines the next
1088 1088
1089 1089 In [3]: ... a, b = 0, 1
1090 1090
1091 1091 In [4]: >>> while b < 10:
1092 1092 ...: ... print b
1093 1093 ...: ... a, b = b, a+b
1094 1094 ...:
1095 1095 1
1096 1096 1
1097 1097 2
1098 1098 3
1099 1099 5
1100 1100 8
1101 1101
1102 1102 And pasting from IPython sessions works equally well::
1103 1103
1104 1104 In [1]: In [5]: def f(x):
1105 1105 ...: ...: "A simple function"
1106 1106 ...: ...: return x**2
1107 1107 ...: ...:
1108 1108
1109 1109 In [2]: f(3)
1110 1110 Out[2]: 9
1111 1111
1112 1112 .. _gui_support:
1113 1113
1114 1114 GUI event loop support
1115 1115 ======================
1116 1116
1117 1117 .. versionadded:: 0.11
1118 1118 The ``%gui`` magic and :mod:`IPython.lib.inputhook`.
1119 1119
1120 .. warning::
1121
1122 All GUI support with the ``%gui`` magic, described in this section, applies
1123 only to the plain terminal IPython, *not* to the Qt console. The Qt console
1124 currently only supports GUI interaction via the ``--pylab`` flag, as
1125 explained :ref:`in the matplotlib section <matplotlib_support>`.
1126
1127 We intend to correct this limitation as soon as possible, you can track our
1128 progress at issue #643_.
1129
1130 .. _643: https://github.com/ipython/ipython/issues/643
1131
1120 1132 IPython has excellent support for working interactively with Graphical User
1121 1133 Interface (GUI) toolkits, such as wxPython, PyQt4, PyGTK and Tk. This is
1122 1134 implemented using Python's builtin ``PyOSInputHook`` hook. This implementation
1123 1135 is extremely robust compared to our previous thread-based version. The
1124 1136 advantages of this are:
1125 1137
1126 1138 * GUIs can be enabled and disabled dynamically at runtime.
1127 1139 * The active GUI can be switched dynamically at runtime.
1128 1140 * In some cases, multiple GUIs can run simultaneously with no problems.
1129 1141 * There is a developer API in :mod:`IPython.lib.inputhook` for customizing
1130 1142 all of these things.
1131 1143
1132 1144 For users, enabling GUI event loop integration is simple. You simple use the
1133 1145 ``%gui`` magic as follows::
1134 1146
1135 1147 %gui [GUINAME]
1136 1148
1137 1149 With no arguments, ``%gui`` removes all GUI support. Valid ``GUINAME``
1138 1150 arguments are ``wx``, ``qt4``, ``gtk`` and ``tk``.
1139 1151
1140 1152 Thus, to use wxPython interactively and create a running :class:`wx.App`
1141 1153 object, do::
1142 1154
1143 1155 %gui wx
1144 1156
1145 1157 For information on IPython's Matplotlib integration (and the ``pylab`` mode)
1146 1158 see :ref:`this section <matplotlib_support>`.
1147 1159
1148 For developers that want to use IPython's GUI event loop integration in
1149 the form of a library, these capabilities are exposed in library form
1150 in the :mod:`IPython.lib.inputhook`. Interested developers should see the
1151 module docstrings for more information, but there are a few points that
1152 should be mentioned here.
1160 For developers that want to use IPython's GUI event loop integration in the
1161 form of a library, these capabilities are exposed in library form in the
1162 :mod:`IPython.lib.inputhook` and :mod:`IPython.lib.guisupport` modules.
1163 Interested developers should see the module docstrings for more information,
1164 but there are a few points that should be mentioned here.
1153 1165
1154 1166 First, the ``PyOSInputHook`` approach only works in command line settings
1155 where readline is activated.
1167 where readline is activated. As indicated in the warning above, we plan on
1168 improving the integration of GUI event loops with the standalone kernel used by
1169 the Qt console and other frontends (issue 643_).
1156 1170
1157 1171 Second, when using the ``PyOSInputHook`` approach, a GUI application should
1158 1172 *not* start its event loop. Instead all of this is handled by the
1159 1173 ``PyOSInputHook``. This means that applications that are meant to be used both
1160 1174 in IPython and as standalone apps need to have special code to detects how the
1161 application is being run. We highly recommend using IPython's
1162 :func:`enable_foo` functions for this. Here is a simple example that shows the
1163 recommended code that should be at the bottom of a wxPython using GUI
1164 application::
1165
1166 try:
1167 from IPython.lib.inputhook import enable_wx
1168 enable_wx(app)
1169 except ImportError:
1170 app.MainLoop()
1171
1172 This pattern should be used instead of the simple ``app.MainLoop()`` code
1173 that a standalone wxPython application would have.
1175 application is being run. We highly recommend using IPython's support for this.
1176 Since the details vary slightly between toolkits, we point you to the various
1177 examples in our source directory :file:`docs/examples/lib` that demonstrate
1178 these capabilities.
1179
1180 .. warning::
1181
1182 The WX version of this is currently broken. While ``--pylab=wx`` works
1183 fine, standalone WX apps do not. See
1184 https://github.com/ipython/ipython/issues/645 for details of our progress on
1185 this issue.
1186
1174 1187
1175 1188 Third, unlike previous versions of IPython, we no longer "hijack" (replace
1176 1189 them with no-ops) the event loops. This is done to allow applications that
1177 1190 actually need to run the real event loops to do so. This is often needed to
1178 1191 process pending events at critical points.
1179 1192
1180 1193 Finally, we also have a number of examples in our source directory
1181 1194 :file:`docs/examples/lib` that demonstrate these capabilities.
1182 1195
1183 1196 PyQt and PySide
1184 1197 ---------------
1185 1198
1186 1199 .. attempt at explanation of the complete mess that is Qt support
1187 1200
1188 1201 When you use ``--gui=qt`` or ``--pylab=qt``, IPython can work with either
1189 1202 PyQt4 or PySide. There are three options for configuration here, because
1190 1203 PyQt4 has two APIs for QString and QVariant - v1, which is the default on
1191 1204 Python 2, and the more natural v2, which is the only API supported by PySide.
1192 1205 v2 is also the default for PyQt4 on Python 3. IPython's code for the QtConsole
1193 1206 uses v2, but you can still use any interface in your code, since the
1194 1207 Qt frontend is in a different process.
1195 1208
1196 1209 The default will be to import PyQt4 without configuration of the APIs, thus
1197 1210 matching what most applications would expect. It will fall back of PySide if
1198 1211 PyQt4 is unavailable.
1199 1212
1200 1213 If specified, IPython will respect the environment variable ``QT_API`` used
1201 1214 by ETS. ETS 4.0 also works with both PyQt4 and PySide, but it requires
1202 1215 PyQt4 to use its v2 API. So if ``QT_API=pyside`` PySide will be used,
1203 1216 and if ``QT_API=pyqt`` then PyQt4 will be used *with the v2 API* for
1204 1217 QString and QVariant, so ETS codes like MayaVi will also work with IPython.
1205 1218
1206 1219 If you launch IPython in pylab mode with ``ipython --pylab=qt``, then IPython
1207 1220 will ask matplotlib which Qt library to use (only if QT_API is *not set*), via
1208 1221 the 'backend.qt4' rcParam. If matplotlib is version 1.0.1 or older, then
1209 1222 IPython will always use PyQt4 without setting the v2 APIs, since neither v2
1210 1223 PyQt nor PySide work.
1211 1224
1212 1225 .. warning::
1213 1226
1214 1227 Note that this means for ETS 4 to work with PyQt4, ``QT_API`` *must* be set
1215 1228 to work with IPython's qt integration, because otherwise PyQt4 will be
1216 1229 loaded in an incompatible mode.
1217 1230
1218 1231 It also means that you must *not* have ``QT_API`` set if you want to
1219 1232 use ``--gui=qt`` with code that requires PyQt4 API v1.
1220 1233
1221 1234
1222 1235 .. _matplotlib_support:
1223 1236
1224 1237 Plotting with matplotlib
1225 1238 ========================
1226 1239
1227 1240 `Matplotlib`_ provides high quality 2D and 3D plotting for Python. Matplotlib
1228 1241 can produce plots on screen using a variety of GUI toolkits, including Tk,
1229 1242 PyGTK, PyQt4 and wxPython. It also provides a number of commands useful for
1230 1243 scientific computing, all with a syntax compatible with that of the popular
1231 1244 Matlab program.
1232 1245
1233 1246 To start IPython with matplotlib support, use the ``--pylab`` switch. If no
1234 1247 arguments are given, IPython will automatically detect your choice of
1235 1248 matplotlib backend. You can also request a specific backend with
1236 1249 ``--pylab=backend``, where ``backend`` must be one of: 'tk', 'qt', 'wx', 'gtk',
1237 1250 'osx'.
1238 1251
1239 1252 .. _Matplotlib: http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net
1240 1253
1241 1254 .. _interactive_demos:
1242 1255
1243 1256 Interactive demos with IPython
1244 1257 ==============================
1245 1258
1246 1259 IPython ships with a basic system for running scripts interactively in
1247 1260 sections, useful when presenting code to audiences. A few tags embedded
1248 1261 in comments (so that the script remains valid Python code) divide a file
1249 1262 into separate blocks, and the demo can be run one block at a time, with
1250 1263 IPython printing (with syntax highlighting) the block before executing
1251 1264 it, and returning to the interactive prompt after each block. The
1252 1265 interactive namespace is updated after each block is run with the
1253 1266 contents of the demo's namespace.
1254 1267
1255 1268 This allows you to show a piece of code, run it and then execute
1256 1269 interactively commands based on the variables just created. Once you
1257 1270 want to continue, you simply execute the next block of the demo. The
1258 1271 following listing shows the markup necessary for dividing a script into
1259 1272 sections for execution as a demo:
1260 1273
1261 1274 .. literalinclude:: ../../examples/lib/example-demo.py
1262 1275 :language: python
1263 1276
1264 1277 In order to run a file as a demo, you must first make a Demo object out
1265 1278 of it. If the file is named myscript.py, the following code will make a
1266 1279 demo::
1267 1280
1268 1281 from IPython.lib.demo import Demo
1269 1282
1270 1283 mydemo = Demo('myscript.py')
1271 1284
1272 1285 This creates the mydemo object, whose blocks you run one at a time by
1273 1286 simply calling the object with no arguments. If you have autocall active
1274 1287 in IPython (the default), all you need to do is type::
1275 1288
1276 1289 mydemo
1277 1290
1278 1291 and IPython will call it, executing each block. Demo objects can be
1279 1292 restarted, you can move forward or back skipping blocks, re-execute the
1280 1293 last block, etc. Simply use the Tab key on a demo object to see its
1281 1294 methods, and call '?' on them to see their docstrings for more usage
1282 1295 details. In addition, the demo module itself contains a comprehensive
1283 1296 docstring, which you can access via::
1284 1297
1285 1298 from IPython.lib import demo
1286 1299
1287 1300 demo?
1288 1301
1289 1302 Limitations: It is important to note that these demos are limited to
1290 1303 fairly simple uses. In particular, you can not put division marks in
1291 1304 indented code (loops, if statements, function definitions, etc.)
1292 1305 Supporting something like this would basically require tracking the
1293 1306 internal execution state of the Python interpreter, so only top-level
1294 1307 divisions are allowed. If you want to be able to open an IPython
1295 1308 instance at an arbitrary point in a program, you can use IPython's
1296 1309 embedding facilities, see :func:`IPython.embed` for details.
1297 1310
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