document locating IPython files

docs/source/config/overview.txt

@@ -1,533 +1,552 b''
 .. _config_overview:
 
 ============================================
 Overview of the IPython configuration system
 ============================================
 
 This section describes the IPython configuration system. Starting with version
 0.11, IPython has a completely new configuration system that is quite
 different from the older :file:`ipythonrc` or :file:`ipy_user_conf.py`
 approaches. The new configuration system was designed from scratch to address
 the particular configuration needs of IPython. While there are many
 other excellent configuration systems out there, we found that none of them
 met our requirements.
 
 .. warning::
 
     If you are upgrading to version 0.11 of IPython, you will need to migrate
     your old :file:`ipythonrc` or :file:`ipy_user_conf.py` configuration files
     to the new system. You may want to read the section on 
     :ref:`configuring IPython <configuring_ipython>`. There are also some ideas
     `on the IPython wiki <http://wiki.ipython.org/Cookbook/Moving_config_to_IPython_0.11>`_
     about this.
 
 The discussion that follows is focused on teaching users how to configure
 IPython to their liking.  Developers who want to know more about how they
 can enable their objects to take advantage of the configuration system
 should consult our :ref:`developer guide <developer_guide>`
 
 The main concepts
 =================
 
 There are a number of abstractions that the IPython configuration system uses.
 Each of these abstractions is represented by a Python class.
 
 Configuration object: :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config`
     A configuration object is a simple dictionary-like class that holds
     configuration attributes and sub-configuration objects. These classes
     support dotted attribute style access (``Foo.bar``) in addition to the
     regular dictionary style access (``Foo['bar']``). Configuration objects
     are smart. They know how to merge themselves with other configuration
     objects and they automatically create sub-configuration objects.
 
 Application: :class:`~IPython.config.application.Application`
     An application is a process that does a specific job. The most obvious
     application is the :command:`ipython` command line program. Each
     application reads *one or more* configuration files and a single set of
     command line options
     and then produces a master configuration object for the application. This
     configuration object is then passed to the configurable objects that the
     application creates. These configurable objects implement the actual logic
     of the application and know how to configure themselves given the
     configuration object.
     
     Applications always have a `log` attribute that is a configured Logger.
     This allows centralized logging configuration per-application.
 
 Configurable: :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable`
     A configurable is a regular Python class that serves as a base class for
     all main classes in an application. The
     :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable` base class is
     lightweight and only does one things.
 
     This :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable` is a subclass
     of :class:`~IPython.utils.traitlets.HasTraits` that knows how to configure
     itself. Class level traits with the metadata ``config=True`` become
     values that can be configured from the command line and configuration
     files.
     
     Developers create :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable`
     subclasses that implement all of the logic in the application. Each of
     these subclasses has its own configuration information that controls how
     instances are created.
 
 Singletons: :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.SingletonConfigurable`
     Any object for which there is a single canonical instance. These are
     just like Configurables, except they have a class method 
     :meth:`~IPython.config.configurable.SingletonConfigurable.instance`,
     that returns the current active instance (or creates one if it
     does not exist).  Examples of singletons include
     :class:`~IPython.config.application.Application`s and
     :class:`~IPython.core.interactiveshell.InteractiveShell`.  This lets
     objects easily connect to the current running Application without passing
     objects around everywhere.  For instance, to get the current running 
     Application instance, simply do: ``app = Application.instance()``.
 
 
 .. note::
 
     Singletons are not strictly enforced - you can have many instances
     of a given singleton class, but the :meth:`instance` method will always
     return the same one.
 
 Having described these main concepts, we can now state the main idea in our
 configuration system: *"configuration" allows the default values of class
 attributes to be controlled on a class by class basis*. Thus all instances of
 a given class are configured in the same way. Furthermore, if two instances
 need to be configured differently, they need to be instances of two different
 classes. While this model may seem a bit restrictive, we have found that it
 expresses most things that need to be configured extremely well. However, it
 is possible to create two instances of the same class that have different
 trait values. This is done by overriding the configuration.
 
 Now, we show what our configuration objects and files look like.
 
 Configuration objects and files
 ===============================
 
 A configuration file is simply a pure Python file that sets the attributes
 of a global, pre-created configuration object.  This configuration object is a 
 :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config` instance.  While in a configuration
 file, to get a reference to this object, simply call the :func:`get_config`
 function.  We inject this function into the global namespace that the 
 configuration file is executed in.
 
 Here is an example of a super simple configuration file that does nothing::
 
     c = get_config()
 
 Once you get a reference to the configuration object, you simply set
 attributes on it.  All you have to know is:
 
 * The name of each attribute.
 * The type of each attribute.
 
 The answers to these two questions are provided by the various
 :class:`~IPython.config.configurable.Configurable` subclasses that an
 application uses. Let's look at how this would work for a simple configurable
 subclass::
 
     # Sample configurable:
     from IPython.config.configurable import Configurable
     from IPython.utils.traitlets import Int, Float, Unicode, Bool
     
     class MyClass(Configurable):
         name = Unicode(u'defaultname', config=True)
         ranking = Int(0, config=True)
         value = Float(99.0)
         # The rest of the class implementation would go here..
 
 In this example, we see that :class:`MyClass` has three attributes, two
 of whom (``name``, ``ranking``) can be configured.  All of the attributes
 are given types and default values.  If a :class:`MyClass` is instantiated,
 but not configured, these default values will be used.  But let's see how
 to configure this class in a configuration file::
 
     # Sample config file
     c = get_config()
     
     c.MyClass.name = 'coolname'
     c.MyClass.ranking = 10
 
 After this configuration file is loaded, the values set in it will override
 the class defaults anytime a :class:`MyClass` is created.  Furthermore,
 these attributes will be type checked and validated anytime they are set.
 This type checking is handled by the :mod:`IPython.utils.traitlets` module,
 which provides the :class:`Unicode`, :class:`Int` and :class:`Float` types.
 In addition to these traitlets, the :mod:`IPython.utils.traitlets` provides
 traitlets for a number of other types.
 
 .. note::
 
     Underneath the hood, the :class:`Configurable` base class is a subclass of
     :class:`IPython.utils.traitlets.HasTraits`. The
     :mod:`IPython.utils.traitlets` module is a lightweight version of
     :mod:`enthought.traits`. Our implementation is a pure Python subset
     (mostly API compatible) of :mod:`enthought.traits` that does not have any
     of the automatic GUI generation capabilities. Our plan is to achieve 100%
     API compatibility to enable the actual :mod:`enthought.traits` to
     eventually be used instead. Currently, we cannot use
     :mod:`enthought.traits` as we are committed to the core of IPython being
     pure Python.
 
 It should be very clear at this point what the naming convention is for 
 configuration attributes::
 
     c.ClassName.attribute_name = attribute_value
 
 Here, ``ClassName`` is the name of the class whose configuration attribute you
 want to set, ``attribute_name`` is the name of the attribute you want to set
 and ``attribute_value`` the the value you want it to have. The ``ClassName``
 attribute of ``c`` is not the actual class, but instead is another
 :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config` instance.
 
 .. note::
 
     The careful reader may wonder how the ``ClassName`` (``MyClass`` in
     the above example) attribute of the configuration object ``c`` gets
     created. These attributes are created on the fly by the
     :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config` instance, using a simple naming
     convention. Any attribute of a :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config`
     instance whose name begins with an uppercase character is assumed to be a
     sub-configuration and a new empty :class:`~IPython.config.loader.Config`
     instance is dynamically created for that attribute. This allows deeply
     hierarchical information created easily (``c.Foo.Bar.value``) on the fly.
 
 Configuration files inheritance
 ===============================
 
 Let's say you want to have different configuration files for various purposes.
 Our configuration system makes it easy for one configuration file to inherit
 the information in another configuration file. The :func:`load_subconfig`
 command can be used in a configuration file for this purpose. Here is a simple
 example that loads all of the values from the file :file:`base_config.py`::
 
     # base_config.py
     c = get_config()
     c.MyClass.name = 'coolname'
     c.MyClass.ranking = 100
 
 into the configuration file :file:`main_config.py`::
 
     # main_config.py
     c = get_config()
     
     # Load everything from base_config.py
     load_subconfig('base_config.py')
     
     # Now override one of the values
     c.MyClass.name = 'bettername'
 
 In a situation like this the :func:`load_subconfig` makes sure that the
 search path for sub-configuration files is inherited from that of the parent.
 Thus, you can typically put the two in the same directory and everything will
 just work.
 
 You can also load configuration files by profile, for instance:
 
 .. sourcecode:: python
 
     load_subconfig('ipython_config.py', profile='default')
 
 to inherit your default configuration as a starting point.
 
 
 Class based configuration inheritance
 =====================================
 
 There is another aspect of configuration where inheritance comes into play.
 Sometimes, your classes will have an inheritance hierarchy that you want
 to be reflected in the configuration system.  Here is a simple example::
 
     from IPython.config.configurable import Configurable
     from IPython.utils.traitlets import Int, Float, Unicode, Bool
     
     class Foo(Configurable):
         name = Unicode(u'fooname', config=True)
         value = Float(100.0, config=True)
     
     class Bar(Foo):
         name = Unicode(u'barname', config=True)
         othervalue = Int(0, config=True)
 
 Now, we can create a configuration file to configure instances of :class:`Foo`
 and :class:`Bar`::
 
     # config file
     c = get_config()
     
     c.Foo.name = u'bestname'
     c.Bar.othervalue = 10
 
 This class hierarchy and configuration file accomplishes the following:
 
 * The default value for :attr:`Foo.name` and :attr:`Bar.name` will be
   'bestname'.  Because :class:`Bar` is a :class:`Foo` subclass it also
   picks up the configuration information for :class:`Foo`.
 * The default value for :attr:`Foo.value` and :attr:`Bar.value` will be
   ``100.0``, which is the value specified as the class default.
 * The default value for :attr:`Bar.othervalue` will be 10 as set in the
   configuration file.  Because :class:`Foo` is the parent of :class:`Bar`
   it doesn't know anything about the :attr:`othervalue` attribute.
 
 
 .. _ipython_dir:
 
 Configuration file location
 ===========================
 
 So where should you put your configuration files? IPython uses "profiles" for
 configuration, and by default, all profiles will be stored in the so called
 "IPython directory". The location of this directory is determined by the
 following algorithm:
 
-* If the ``ipython_dir`` command line flag is given, its value is used.
+* If the ``ipython-dir`` command line flag is given, its value is used.
 
 * If not, the value returned by :func:`IPython.utils.path.get_ipython_dir`
   is used. This function will first look at the :envvar:`IPYTHONDIR`
   environment variable and then default to a platform-specific default.
   Historical support for the :envvar:`IPYTHON_DIR` environment variable will
   be removed in a future release.
 
 On posix systems (Linux, Unix, etc.), IPython respects the ``$XDG_CONFIG_HOME``
 part of the `XDG Base Directory`_ specification. If ``$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`` is
 defined and exists ( ``XDG_CONFIG_HOME`` has a default interpretation of
 :file:`$HOME/.config`), then IPython's config directory will be located in
 :file:`$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ipython`.  If users still have an IPython directory
 in :file:`$HOME/.ipython`, then that will be used. in preference to the 
 system default.
 
 For most users, the default value will simply be something like 
 :file:`$HOME/.config/ipython` on Linux, or :file:`$HOME/.ipython`
 elsewhere.
 
 Once the location of the IPython directory has been determined, you need to know
 which profile you are using. For users with a single configuration, this will
 simply be 'default', and will be located in 
 :file:`<IPYTHONDIR>/profile_default`.
 
 The next thing you need to know is what to call your configuration file. The
 basic idea is that each application has its own default configuration filename.
 The default named used by the :command:`ipython` command line program is
 :file:`ipython_config.py`, and *all* IPython applications will use this file.
 Other applications, such as the parallel :command:`ipcluster` scripts or the
 QtConsole will load their own config files *after* :file:`ipython_config.py`. To
 load a particular configuration file instead of the default, the name can be
 overridden by the ``config_file`` command line flag.
 
 To generate the default configuration files, do::
 
     $> ipython profile create
 
 and you will have a default :file:`ipython_config.py` in your IPython directory
 under :file:`profile_default`. If you want the default config files for the
 :mod:`IPython.parallel` applications, add ``--parallel`` to the end of the
 command-line args.
 
+
+Locating these files
+--------------------
+
+From the command-line, you can quickly locate the IPYTHONDIR or a specific
+profile with:
+
+.. sourcecode:: bash
+
+    $> ipython locate
+    /home/you/.ipython
+    
+    $> ipython locate profile foo
+    /home/you/.ipython/profile_foo
+
+These map to the utility functions: :func:`IPython.utils.path.get_ipython_dir`
+and :func:`IPython.utils.path.locate_profile` respectively.
+
+
 .. _Profiles:
 
 Profiles
 ========
 
 A profile is a directory containing configuration and runtime files, such as
 logs, connection info for the parallel apps, and your IPython command history.
 
 The idea is that users often want to maintain a set of configuration files for
 different purposes: one for doing numerical computing with NumPy and SciPy and
 another for doing symbolic computing with SymPy. Profiles make it easy to keep a
 separate configuration files, logs, and histories for each of these purposes.
 
 Let's start by showing how a profile is used:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
     $ ipython --profile=sympy
 
 This tells the :command:`ipython` command line program to get its configuration
 from the "sympy" profile. The file names for various profiles do not change. The
 only difference is that profiles are named in a special way. In the case above,
 the "sympy" profile means looking for :file:`ipython_config.py` in :file:`<IPYTHONDIR>/profile_sympy`.
 
 The general pattern is this: simply create a new profile with:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
     ipython profile create <name>
 
 which adds a directory called ``profile_<name>`` to your IPython directory. Then
 you can load this profile by adding ``--profile=<name>`` to your command line
 options. Profiles are supported by all IPython applications.
 
 IPython ships with some sample profiles in :file:`IPython/config/profile`. If
 you create profiles with the name of one of our shipped profiles, these config
 files will be copied over instead of starting with the automatically generated
 config files.
 
 Security Files
 --------------
 
 If you are using the notebook, qtconsole, or parallel code, IPython stores
 connection information in small JSON files in the active profile's security
 directory. This directory is made private, so only you can see the files inside. If
 you need to move connection files around to other computers, this is where they will
 be. If you want your code to be able to open security files by name, we have a
 convenience function :func:`IPython.utils.path.get_security_file`, which will return
 the absolute path to a security file from its filename and [optionally] profile
 name.
 
 Startup Files
 -------------
 
 If you want some code to be run at the beginning of every IPython session with a
 particular profile, the easiest way is to add Python (.py) or IPython (.ipy) scripts
 to your :file:`<profile>/startup` directory. Files in this directory will always be
 executed as soon as the IPython shell is constructed, and before any other code or
 scripts you have specified. If you have multiple files in the startup directory,
 they will be run in lexicographical order, so you can control the ordering by adding
 a '00-' prefix.
 
 .. note::
 
     Automatic startup files are new in IPython 0.12. Use the
     InteractiveShellApp.exec_files configurable for similar behavior in 0.11.
 
 
 .. _commandline:
 
 Command-line arguments
 ======================
 
 IPython exposes *all* configurable options on the command-line. The command-line
 arguments are generated from the Configurable traits of the classes associated
 with a given Application.  Configuring IPython from the command-line may look
 very similar to an IPython config file
 
 IPython applications use a parser called
 :class:`~IPython.config.loader.KeyValueLoader` to load values into a Config
 object.  Values are assigned in much the same way as in a config file:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
     $> ipython --InteractiveShell.use_readline=False --BaseIPythonApplication.profile='myprofile'
 
 Is the same as adding:
 
 .. sourcecode:: python
 
     c.InteractiveShell.use_readline=False
     c.BaseIPythonApplication.profile='myprofile'
 
 to your config file. Key/Value arguments *always* take a value, separated by '='
 and no spaces.
 
 Common Arguments
 ****************
 
 Since the strictness and verbosity of the KVLoader above are not ideal for everyday
 use, common arguments can be specified as flags_ or aliases_.
 
 Flags and Aliases are handled by :mod:`argparse` instead, allowing for more flexible
 parsing. In general, flags and aliases are prefixed by ``--``, except for those
 that are single characters, in which case they can be specified with a single ``-``, e.g.:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
     $> ipython -i -c "import numpy; x=numpy.linspace(0,1)" --profile testing --colors=lightbg
 
 Aliases
 -------
 
 For convenience, applications have a mapping of commonly used traits, so you don't have
 to specify the whole class name:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
     $> ipython --profile myprofile
     # and
     $> ipython --profile='myprofile'
     # are equivalent to
     $> ipython --BaseIPythonApplication.profile='myprofile'
 
 Flags
 -----
 
 Applications can also be passed **flags**. Flags are options that take no
 arguments. They are simply wrappers for
 setting one or more configurables with predefined values, often True/False.
 
 For instance:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
     $> ipcontroller --debug
     # is equivalent to
     $> ipcontroller --Application.log_level=DEBUG
     # and
     $> ipython --pylab
     # is equivalent to
     $> ipython --pylab=auto
     # or
     $> ipython --no-banner
     # is equivalent to
     $> ipython --TerminalIPythonApp.display_banner=False
 
 Subcommands
 ***********
 
 
 Some IPython applications have **subcommands**. Subcommands are modeled after
 :command:`git`, and are called with the form :command:`command subcommand
 [...args]`.  Currently, the QtConsole is a subcommand of terminal IPython:
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
     $> ipython qtconsole --profile=myprofile
 
 and :command:`ipcluster` is simply a wrapper for its various subcommands (start,
 stop, engines).
 
 .. code-block:: bash
 
     $> ipcluster start --profile=myprofile --n=4
 
 
 To see a list of the available aliases, flags, and subcommands for an IPython application, simply pass ``-h`` or ``--help``.  And to see the full list of configurable options (*very* long), pass ``--help-all``.
 
 
 Design requirements
 ===================
 
 Here are the main requirements we wanted our configuration system to have:
 
 * Support for hierarchical configuration information.
 
 * Full integration with command line option parsers.  Often, you want to read
   a configuration file, but then override some of the values with command line
   options.  Our configuration system automates this process and allows each
   command line option to be linked to a particular attribute in the 
   configuration hierarchy that it will override.
 
 * Configuration files that are themselves valid Python code. This accomplishes
   many things. First, it becomes possible to put logic in your configuration
   files that sets attributes based on your operating system, network setup,
   Python version, etc. Second, Python has a super simple syntax for accessing
   hierarchical data structures, namely regular attribute access
   (``Foo.Bar.Bam.name``). Third, using Python makes it easy for users to
   import configuration attributes from one configuration file to another.
   Fourth, even though Python is dynamically typed, it does have types that can
   be checked at runtime. Thus, a ``1`` in a config file is the integer '1',
   while a ``'1'`` is a string.
 
 * A fully automated method for getting the configuration information to the
   classes that need it at runtime. Writing code that walks a configuration
   hierarchy to extract a particular attribute is painful. When you have
   complex configuration information with hundreds of attributes, this makes
   you want to cry.
 
 * Type checking and validation that doesn't require the entire configuration
   hierarchy to be specified statically before runtime. Python is a very
   dynamic language and you don't always know everything that needs to be
   configured when a program starts.
 
 
 .. _`XDG Base Directory`: http://standards.freedesktop.org/basedir-spec/basedir-spec-latest.html