##// END OF EJS Templates
a couple of more stray XDG / .config references
Paul Ivanov -
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@@ -1,571 +1,570
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 directory will be located in $IPYTHONDIR/profile_default. For Linux users,
49 IPYTHONDIR defaults to `$HOME/.config/ipython`, and for other Unix systems
50 to `$HOME/.ipython`. For Windows users, $HOME resolves to C:\\Documents
51 and Settings\\YourUserName in most instances.
48 directory will be located in $IPYTHONDIR/profile_default. IPYTHONDIR
49 defaults to to `$HOME/.ipython`. For Windows users, $HOME resolves to
50 C:\\Documents and Settings\\YourUserName in most instances.
52 51
53 52 To initialize a profile with the default configuration file, do::
54 53
55 54 $> ipython profile create
56 55
57 56 and start editing `IPYTHONDIR/profile_default/ipython_config.py`
58 57
59 58 In IPython's documentation, we will refer to this directory as
60 59 `IPYTHONDIR`, you can change its default location by creating an
61 60 environment variable with this name and setting it to the desired path.
62 61
63 62 For more information, see the manual available in HTML and PDF in your
64 63 installation, or online at http://ipython.org/documentation.html.
65 64 """
66 65
67 66 interactive_usage = """
68 67 IPython -- An enhanced Interactive Python
69 68 =========================================
70 69
71 70 IPython offers a combination of convenient shell features, special commands
72 71 and a history mechanism for both input (command history) and output (results
73 72 caching, similar to Mathematica). It is intended to be a fully compatible
74 73 replacement for the standard Python interpreter, while offering vastly
75 74 improved functionality and flexibility.
76 75
77 76 At your system command line, type 'ipython -h' to see the command line
78 77 options available. This document only describes interactive features.
79 78
80 79 MAIN FEATURES
81 80 -------------
82 81
83 82 * Access to the standard Python help. As of Python 2.1, a help system is
84 83 available with access to object docstrings and the Python manuals. Simply
85 84 type 'help' (no quotes) to access it.
86 85
87 86 * Magic commands: type %magic for information on the magic subsystem.
88 87
89 88 * System command aliases, via the %alias command or the configuration file(s).
90 89
91 90 * Dynamic object information:
92 91
93 92 Typing ?word or word? prints detailed information about an object. If
94 93 certain strings in the object are too long (docstrings, code, etc.) they get
95 94 snipped in the center for brevity.
96 95
97 96 Typing ??word or word?? gives access to the full information without
98 97 snipping long strings. Long strings are sent to the screen through the less
99 98 pager if longer than the screen, printed otherwise.
100 99
101 100 The ?/?? system gives access to the full source code for any object (if
102 101 available), shows function prototypes and other useful information.
103 102
104 103 If you just want to see an object's docstring, type '%pdoc object' (without
105 104 quotes, and without % if you have automagic on).
106 105
107 106 Both %pdoc and ?/?? give you access to documentation even on things which are
108 107 not explicitely defined. Try for example typing {}.get? or after import os,
109 108 type os.path.abspath??. The magic functions %pdef, %source and %file operate
110 109 similarly.
111 110
112 111 * Completion in the local namespace, by typing TAB at the prompt.
113 112
114 113 At any time, hitting tab will complete any available python commands or
115 114 variable names, and show you a list of the possible completions if there's
116 115 no unambiguous one. It will also complete filenames in the current directory.
117 116
118 117 This feature requires the readline and rlcomplete modules, so it won't work
119 118 if your Python lacks readline support (such as under Windows).
120 119
121 120 * Search previous command history in two ways (also requires readline):
122 121
123 122 - Start typing, and then use Ctrl-p (previous,up) and Ctrl-n (next,down) to
124 123 search through only the history items that match what you've typed so
125 124 far. If you use Ctrl-p/Ctrl-n at a blank prompt, they just behave like
126 125 normal arrow keys.
127 126
128 127 - Hit Ctrl-r: opens a search prompt. Begin typing and the system searches
129 128 your history for lines that match what you've typed so far, completing as
130 129 much as it can.
131 130
132 131 - %hist: search history by index (this does *not* require readline).
133 132
134 133 * Persistent command history across sessions.
135 134
136 135 * Logging of input with the ability to save and restore a working session.
137 136
138 137 * System escape with !. Typing !ls will run 'ls' in the current directory.
139 138
140 139 * The reload command does a 'deep' reload of a module: changes made to the
141 140 module since you imported will actually be available without having to exit.
142 141
143 142 * Verbose and colored exception traceback printouts. See the magic xmode and
144 143 xcolor functions for details (just type %magic).
145 144
146 145 * Input caching system:
147 146
148 147 IPython offers numbered prompts (In/Out) with input and output caching. All
149 148 input is saved and can be retrieved as variables (besides the usual arrow
150 149 key recall).
151 150
152 151 The following GLOBAL variables always exist (so don't overwrite them!):
153 152 _i: stores previous input.
154 153 _ii: next previous.
155 154 _iii: next-next previous.
156 155 _ih : a list of all input _ih[n] is the input from line n.
157 156
158 157 Additionally, global variables named _i<n> are dynamically created (<n>
159 158 being the prompt counter), such that _i<n> == _ih[<n>]
160 159
161 160 For example, what you typed at prompt 14 is available as _i14 and _ih[14].
162 161
163 162 You can create macros which contain multiple input lines from this history,
164 163 for later re-execution, with the %macro function.
165 164
166 165 The history function %hist allows you to see any part of your input history
167 166 by printing a range of the _i variables. Note that inputs which contain
168 167 magic functions (%) appear in the history with a prepended comment. This is
169 168 because they aren't really valid Python code, so you can't exec them.
170 169
171 170 * Output caching system:
172 171
173 172 For output that is returned from actions, a system similar to the input
174 173 cache exists but using _ instead of _i. Only actions that produce a result
175 174 (NOT assignments, for example) are cached. If you are familiar with
176 175 Mathematica, IPython's _ variables behave exactly like Mathematica's %
177 176 variables.
178 177
179 178 The following GLOBAL variables always exist (so don't overwrite them!):
180 179 _ (one underscore): previous output.
181 180 __ (two underscores): next previous.
182 181 ___ (three underscores): next-next previous.
183 182
184 183 Global variables named _<n> are dynamically created (<n> being the prompt
185 184 counter), such that the result of output <n> is always available as _<n>.
186 185
187 186 Finally, a global dictionary named _oh exists with entries for all lines
188 187 which generated output.
189 188
190 189 * Directory history:
191 190
192 191 Your history of visited directories is kept in the global list _dh, and the
193 192 magic %cd command can be used to go to any entry in that list.
194 193
195 194 * Auto-parentheses and auto-quotes (adapted from Nathan Gray's LazyPython)
196 195
197 196 1. Auto-parentheses
198 197
199 198 Callable objects (i.e. functions, methods, etc) can be invoked like
200 199 this (notice the commas between the arguments)::
201 200
202 201 In [1]: callable_ob arg1, arg2, arg3
203 202
204 203 and the input will be translated to this::
205 204
206 205 callable_ob(arg1, arg2, arg3)
207 206
208 207 This feature is off by default (in rare cases it can produce
209 208 undesirable side-effects), but you can activate it at the command-line
210 209 by starting IPython with `--autocall 1`, set it permanently in your
211 210 configuration file, or turn on at runtime with `%autocall 1`.
212 211
213 212 You can force auto-parentheses by using '/' as the first character
214 213 of a line. For example::
215 214
216 215 In [1]: /globals # becomes 'globals()'
217 216
218 217 Note that the '/' MUST be the first character on the line! This
219 218 won't work::
220 219
221 220 In [2]: print /globals # syntax error
222 221
223 222 In most cases the automatic algorithm should work, so you should
224 223 rarely need to explicitly invoke /. One notable exception is if you
225 224 are trying to call a function with a list of tuples as arguments (the
226 225 parenthesis will confuse IPython)::
227 226
228 227 In [1]: zip (1,2,3),(4,5,6) # won't work
229 228
230 229 but this will work::
231 230
232 231 In [2]: /zip (1,2,3),(4,5,6)
233 232 ------> zip ((1,2,3),(4,5,6))
234 233 Out[2]= [(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)]
235 234
236 235 IPython tells you that it has altered your command line by
237 236 displaying the new command line preceded by -->. e.g.::
238 237
239 238 In [18]: callable list
240 239 -------> callable (list)
241 240
242 241 2. Auto-Quoting
243 242
244 243 You can force auto-quoting of a function's arguments by using ',' as
245 244 the first character of a line. For example::
246 245
247 246 In [1]: ,my_function /home/me # becomes my_function("/home/me")
248 247
249 248 If you use ';' instead, the whole argument is quoted as a single
250 249 string (while ',' splits on whitespace)::
251 250
252 251 In [2]: ,my_function a b c # becomes my_function("a","b","c")
253 252 In [3]: ;my_function a b c # becomes my_function("a b c")
254 253
255 254 Note that the ',' MUST be the first character on the line! This
256 255 won't work::
257 256
258 257 In [4]: x = ,my_function /home/me # syntax error
259 258 """
260 259
261 260 interactive_usage_min = """\
262 261 An enhanced console for Python.
263 262 Some of its features are:
264 263 - Readline support if the readline library is present.
265 264 - Tab completion in the local namespace.
266 265 - Logging of input, see command-line options.
267 266 - System shell escape via ! , eg !ls.
268 267 - Magic commands, starting with a % (like %ls, %pwd, %cd, etc.)
269 268 - Keeps track of locally defined variables via %who, %whos.
270 269 - Show object information with a ? eg ?x or x? (use ?? for more info).
271 270 """
272 271
273 272 quick_reference = r"""
274 273 IPython -- An enhanced Interactive Python - Quick Reference Card
275 274 ================================================================
276 275
277 276 obj?, obj?? : Get help, or more help for object (also works as
278 277 ?obj, ??obj).
279 278 ?foo.*abc* : List names in 'foo' containing 'abc' in them.
280 279 %magic : Information about IPython's 'magic' % functions.
281 280
282 281 Magic functions are prefixed by % or %%, and typically take their arguments
283 282 without parentheses, quotes or even commas for convenience. Line magics take a
284 283 single % and cell magics are prefixed with two %%.
285 284
286 285 Example magic function calls:
287 286
288 287 %alias d ls -F : 'd' is now an alias for 'ls -F'
289 288 alias d ls -F : Works if 'alias' not a python name
290 289 alist = %alias : Get list of aliases to 'alist'
291 290 cd /usr/share : Obvious. cd -<tab> to choose from visited dirs.
292 291 %cd?? : See help AND source for magic %cd
293 292 %timeit x=10 : time the 'x=10' statement with high precision.
294 293 %%timeit x=2**100
295 294 x**100 : time 'x*100' with a setup of 'x=2**100'; setup code is not
296 295 counted. This is an example of a cell magic.
297 296
298 297 System commands:
299 298
300 299 !cp a.txt b/ : System command escape, calls os.system()
301 300 cp a.txt b/ : after %rehashx, most system commands work without !
302 301 cp ${f}.txt $bar : Variable expansion in magics and system commands
303 302 files = !ls /usr : Capture sytem command output
304 303 files.s, files.l, files.n: "a b c", ['a','b','c'], 'a\nb\nc'
305 304
306 305 History:
307 306
308 307 _i, _ii, _iii : Previous, next previous, next next previous input
309 308 _i4, _ih[2:5] : Input history line 4, lines 2-4
310 309 exec _i81 : Execute input history line #81 again
311 310 %rep 81 : Edit input history line #81
312 311 _, __, ___ : previous, next previous, next next previous output
313 312 _dh : Directory history
314 313 _oh : Output history
315 314 %hist : Command history. '%hist -g foo' search history for 'foo'
316 315
317 316 Autocall:
318 317
319 318 f 1,2 : f(1,2) # Off by default, enable with %autocall magic.
320 319 /f 1,2 : f(1,2) (forced autoparen)
321 320 ,f 1 2 : f("1","2")
322 321 ;f 1 2 : f("1 2")
323 322
324 323 Remember: TAB completion works in many contexts, not just file names
325 324 or python names.
326 325
327 326 The following magic functions are currently available:
328 327
329 328 """
330 329
331 330 gui_reference = """\
332 331 ===============================
333 332 The graphical IPython console
334 333 ===============================
335 334
336 335 This console is designed to emulate the look, feel and workflow of a terminal
337 336 environment, while adding a number of enhancements that are simply not possible
338 337 in a real terminal, such as inline syntax highlighting, true multiline editing,
339 338 inline graphics and much more.
340 339
341 340 This quick reference document contains the basic information you'll need to
342 341 know to make the most efficient use of it. For the various command line
343 342 options available at startup, type ``ipython qtconsole --help`` at the command line.
344 343
345 344
346 345 Multiline editing
347 346 =================
348 347
349 348 The graphical console is capable of true multiline editing, but it also tries
350 349 to behave intuitively like a terminal when possible. If you are used to
351 350 IPython's old terminal behavior, you should find the transition painless, and
352 351 once you learn a few basic keybindings it will be a much more efficient
353 352 environment.
354 353
355 354 For single expressions or indented blocks, the console behaves almost like the
356 355 terminal IPython: single expressions are immediately evaluated, and indented
357 356 blocks are evaluated once a single blank line is entered::
358 357
359 358 In [1]: print "Hello IPython!" # Enter was pressed at the end of the line
360 359 Hello IPython!
361 360
362 361 In [2]: for i in range(10):
363 362 ...: print i,
364 363 ...:
365 364 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
366 365
367 366 If you want to enter more than one expression in a single input block
368 367 (something not possible in the terminal), you can use ``Control-Enter`` at the
369 368 end of your first line instead of ``Enter``. At that point the console goes
370 369 into 'cell mode' and even if your inputs are not indented, it will continue
371 370 accepting arbitrarily many lines until either you enter an extra blank line or
372 371 you hit ``Shift-Enter`` (the key binding that forces execution). When a
373 372 multiline cell is entered, IPython analyzes it and executes its code producing
374 373 an ``Out[n]`` prompt only for the last expression in it, while the rest of the
375 374 cell is executed as if it was a script. An example should clarify this::
376 375
377 376 In [3]: x=1 # Hit C-Enter here
378 377 ...: y=2 # from now on, regular Enter is sufficient
379 378 ...: z=3
380 379 ...: x**2 # This does *not* produce an Out[] value
381 380 ...: x+y+z # Only the last expression does
382 381 ...:
383 382 Out[3]: 6
384 383
385 384 The behavior where an extra blank line forces execution is only active if you
386 385 are actually typing at the keyboard each line, and is meant to make it mimic
387 386 the IPython terminal behavior. If you paste a long chunk of input (for example
388 387 a long script copied form an editor or web browser), it can contain arbitrarily
389 388 many intermediate blank lines and they won't cause any problems. As always,
390 389 you can then make it execute by appending a blank line *at the end* or hitting
391 390 ``Shift-Enter`` anywhere within the cell.
392 391
393 392 With the up arrow key, you can retrieve previous blocks of input that contain
394 393 multiple lines. You can move inside of a multiline cell like you would in any
395 394 text editor. When you want it executed, the simplest thing to do is to hit the
396 395 force execution key, ``Shift-Enter`` (though you can also navigate to the end
397 396 and append a blank line by using ``Enter`` twice).
398 397
399 398 If you've edited a multiline cell and accidentally navigate out of it with the
400 399 up or down arrow keys, IPython will clear the cell and replace it with the
401 400 contents of the one above or below that you navigated to. If this was an
402 401 accident and you want to retrieve the cell you were editing, use the Undo
403 402 keybinding, ``Control-z``.
404 403
405 404
406 405 Key bindings
407 406 ============
408 407
409 408 The IPython console supports most of the basic Emacs line-oriented keybindings,
410 409 in addition to some of its own.
411 410
412 411 The keybinding prefixes mean:
413 412
414 413 - ``C``: Control
415 414 - ``S``: Shift
416 415 - ``M``: Meta (typically the Alt key)
417 416
418 417 The keybindings themselves are:
419 418
420 419 - ``Enter``: insert new line (may cause execution, see above).
421 420 - ``C-Enter``: *force* new line, *never* causes execution.
422 421 - ``S-Enter``: *force* execution regardless of where cursor is, no newline added.
423 422 - ``Up``: step backwards through the history.
424 423 - ``Down``: step forwards through the history.
425 424 - ``S-Up``: search backwards through the history (like ``C-r`` in bash).
426 425 - ``S-Down``: search forwards through the history.
427 426 - ``C-c``: copy highlighted text to clipboard (prompts are automatically stripped).
428 427 - ``C-S-c``: copy highlighted text to clipboard (prompts are not stripped).
429 428 - ``C-v``: paste text from clipboard.
430 429 - ``C-z``: undo (retrieves lost text if you move out of a cell with the arrows).
431 430 - ``C-S-z``: redo.
432 431 - ``C-o``: move to 'other' area, between pager and terminal.
433 432 - ``C-l``: clear terminal.
434 433 - ``C-a``: go to beginning of line.
435 434 - ``C-e``: go to end of line.
436 435 - ``C-u``: kill from cursor to the begining of the line.
437 436 - ``C-k``: kill from cursor to the end of the line.
438 437 - ``C-y``: yank (paste)
439 438 - ``C-p``: previous line (like up arrow)
440 439 - ``C-n``: next line (like down arrow)
441 440 - ``C-f``: forward (like right arrow)
442 441 - ``C-b``: back (like left arrow)
443 442 - ``C-d``: delete next character, or exits if input is empty
444 443 - ``M-<``: move to the beginning of the input region.
445 444 - ``M->``: move to the end of the input region.
446 445 - ``M-d``: delete next word.
447 446 - ``M-Backspace``: delete previous word.
448 447 - ``C-.``: force a kernel restart (a confirmation dialog appears).
449 448 - ``C-+``: increase font size.
450 449 - ``C--``: decrease font size.
451 450 - ``C-M-Space``: toggle full screen. (Command-Control-Space on Mac OS X)
452 451
453 452 The IPython pager
454 453 =================
455 454
456 455 IPython will show long blocks of text from many sources using a builtin pager.
457 456 You can control where this pager appears with the ``--paging`` command-line
458 457 flag:
459 458
460 459 - ``inside`` [default]: the pager is overlaid on top of the main terminal. You
461 460 must quit the pager to get back to the terminal (similar to how a pager such
462 461 as ``less`` or ``more`` works).
463 462
464 463 - ``vsplit``: the console is made double-tall, and the pager appears on the
465 464 bottom area when needed. You can view its contents while using the terminal.
466 465
467 466 - ``hsplit``: the console is made double-wide, and the pager appears on the
468 467 right area when needed. You can view its contents while using the terminal.
469 468
470 469 - ``none``: the console never pages output.
471 470
472 471 If you use the vertical or horizontal paging modes, you can navigate between
473 472 terminal and pager as follows:
474 473
475 474 - Tab key: goes from pager to terminal (but not the other way around).
476 475 - Control-o: goes from one to another always.
477 476 - Mouse: click on either.
478 477
479 478 In all cases, the ``q`` or ``Escape`` keys quit the pager (when used with the
480 479 focus on the pager area).
481 480
482 481 Running subprocesses
483 482 ====================
484 483
485 484 The graphical IPython console uses the ``pexpect`` module to run subprocesses
486 485 when you type ``!command``. This has a number of advantages (true asynchronous
487 486 output from subprocesses as well as very robust termination of rogue
488 487 subprocesses with ``Control-C``), as well as some limitations. The main
489 488 limitation is that you can *not* interact back with the subprocess, so anything
490 489 that invokes a pager or expects you to type input into it will block and hang
491 490 (you can kill it with ``Control-C``).
492 491
493 492 We have provided as magics ``%less`` to page files (aliased to ``%more``),
494 493 ``%clear`` to clear the terminal, and ``%man`` on Linux/OSX. These cover the
495 494 most common commands you'd want to call in your subshell and that would cause
496 495 problems if invoked via ``!cmd``, but you need to be aware of this limitation.
497 496
498 497 Display
499 498 =======
500 499
501 500 The IPython console can now display objects in a variety of formats, including
502 501 HTML, PNG and SVG. This is accomplished using the display functions in
503 502 ``IPython.core.display``::
504 503
505 504 In [4]: from IPython.core.display import display, display_html
506 505
507 506 In [5]: from IPython.core.display import display_png, display_svg
508 507
509 508 Python objects can simply be passed to these functions and the appropriate
510 509 representations will be displayed in the console as long as the objects know
511 510 how to compute those representations. The easiest way of teaching objects how
512 511 to format themselves in various representations is to define special methods
513 512 such as: ``_repr_html_``, ``_repr_svg_`` and ``_repr_png_``. IPython's display formatters
514 513 can also be given custom formatter functions for various types::
515 514
516 515 In [6]: ip = get_ipython()
517 516
518 517 In [7]: html_formatter = ip.display_formatter.formatters['text/html']
519 518
520 519 In [8]: html_formatter.for_type(Foo, foo_to_html)
521 520
522 521 For further details, see ``IPython.core.formatters``.
523 522
524 523 Inline matplotlib graphics
525 524 ==========================
526 525
527 526 The IPython console is capable of displaying matplotlib figures inline, in SVG
528 527 or PNG format. If started with the ``matplotlib=inline``, then all figures are
529 528 rendered inline automatically (PNG by default). If started with ``--matplotlib``
530 529 or ``matplotlib=<your backend>``, then a GUI backend will be used, but IPython's
531 530 ``display()`` and ``getfigs()`` functions can be used to view plots inline::
532 531
533 532 In [9]: display(*getfigs()) # display all figures inline
534 533
535 534 In[10]: display(*getfigs(1,2)) # display figures 1 and 2 inline
536 535 """
537 536
538 537
539 538 quick_guide = """\
540 539 ? -> Introduction and overview of IPython's features.
541 540 %quickref -> Quick reference.
542 541 help -> Python's own help system.
543 542 object? -> Details about 'object', use 'object??' for extra details.
544 543 """
545 544
546 545 gui_note = """\
547 546 %guiref -> A brief reference about the graphical user interface.
548 547 """
549 548
550 549 default_banner_parts = [
551 550 'Python %s\n' % (sys.version.split('\n')[0],),
552 551 'Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.\n\n',
553 552 'IPython {version} -- An enhanced Interactive Python.\n'.format(
554 553 version=release.version,
555 554 ),
556 555 quick_guide
557 556 ]
558 557
559 558 default_gui_banner_parts = default_banner_parts + [gui_note]
560 559
561 560 default_banner = ''.join(default_banner_parts)
562 561
563 562 default_gui_banner = ''.join(default_gui_banner_parts)
564 563
565 564 # page GUI Reference, for use as a magic:
566 565
567 566 def page_guiref(arg_s=None):
568 567 """Show a basic reference about the GUI Console."""
569 568 from IPython.core import page
570 569 page.page(gui_reference, auto_html=True)
571 570
@@ -1,231 +1,230
1 1 .. _initial config:
2 2
3 3 =============================================================
4 4 Outdated configuration information that might still be useful
5 5 =============================================================
6 6
7 7 .. warning::
8 8
9 9 All of the information in this file is outdated. Until the new
10 10 configuration system is better documented, this material is being kept.
11 11
12 12 This section will help you set various things in your environment for
13 13 your IPython sessions to be as efficient as possible. All of IPython's
14 14 configuration information, along with several example files, is stored
15 in a directory named by default $HOME/.config/ipython if $HOME/.config
16 exists (Linux), or $HOME/.ipython as a secondary default. You can change this by
15 in a directory named by default $HOME/.ipython. You can change this by
17 16 defining the environment variable IPYTHONDIR, or at runtime with the
18 17 command line option -ipythondir.
19 18
20 19 If all goes well, the first time you run IPython it should automatically create
21 20 a user copy of the config directory for you, based on its builtin defaults. You
22 21 can look at the files it creates to learn more about configuring the
23 22 system. The main file you will modify to configure IPython's behavior is called
24 23 ipythonrc (with a .ini extension under Windows), included for reference
25 24 :ref:`here <ipythonrc>`. This file is very commented and has many variables you
26 25 can change to suit your taste, you can find more details :ref:`here
27 26 <customization>`. Here we discuss the basic things you will want to make sure
28 27 things are working properly from the beginning.
29 28
30 29 Color
31 30 =====
32 31
33 32 The default IPython configuration has most bells and whistles turned on
34 33 (they're pretty safe). But there's one that may cause problems on some
35 34 systems: the use of color on screen for displaying information. This is
36 35 very useful, since IPython can show prompts and exception tracebacks
37 36 with various colors, display syntax-highlighted source code, and in
38 37 general make it easier to visually parse information.
39 38
40 39 The following terminals seem to handle the color sequences fine:
41 40
42 41 * Linux main text console, KDE Konsole, Gnome Terminal, E-term,
43 42 rxvt, xterm.
44 43 * CDE terminal (tested under Solaris). This one boldfaces light colors.
45 44 * (X)Emacs buffers. See the emacs_ section for more details on
46 45 using IPython with (X)Emacs.
47 46 * A Windows (XP/2k) command prompt with pyreadline_.
48 47 * A Windows (XP/2k) CygWin shell. Although some users have reported
49 48 problems; it is not clear whether there is an issue for everyone
50 49 or only under specific configurations. If you have full color
51 50 support under cygwin, please post to the IPython mailing list so
52 51 this issue can be resolved for all users.
53 52
54 53 .. _pyreadline: https://code.launchpad.net/pyreadline
55 54
56 55 These have shown problems:
57 56
58 57 * Windows command prompt in WinXP/2k logged into a Linux machine via
59 58 telnet or ssh.
60 59 * Windows native command prompt in WinXP/2k, without Gary Bishop's
61 60 extensions. Once Gary's readline library is installed, the normal
62 61 WinXP/2k command prompt works perfectly.
63 62
64 63 Currently the following color schemes are available:
65 64
66 65 * NoColor: uses no color escapes at all (all escapes are empty '' ''
67 66 strings). This 'scheme' is thus fully safe to use in any terminal.
68 67 * Linux: works well in Linux console type environments: dark
69 68 background with light fonts. It uses bright colors for
70 69 information, so it is difficult to read if you have a light
71 70 colored background.
72 71 * LightBG: the basic colors are similar to those in the Linux scheme
73 72 but darker. It is easy to read in terminals with light backgrounds.
74 73
75 74 IPython uses colors for two main groups of things: prompts and
76 75 tracebacks which are directly printed to the terminal, and the object
77 76 introspection system which passes large sets of data through a pager.
78 77
79 78 Input/Output prompts and exception tracebacks
80 79 =============================================
81 80
82 81 You can test whether the colored prompts and tracebacks work on your
83 82 system interactively by typing '%colors Linux' at the prompt (use
84 83 '%colors LightBG' if your terminal has a light background). If the input
85 84 prompt shows garbage like::
86 85
87 86 [0;32mIn [[1;32m1[0;32m]: [0;00m
88 87
89 88 instead of (in color) something like::
90 89
91 90 In [1]:
92 91
93 92 this means that your terminal doesn't properly handle color escape
94 93 sequences. You can go to a 'no color' mode by typing '%colors NoColor'.
95 94
96 95 You can try using a different terminal emulator program (Emacs users,
97 96 see below). To permanently set your color preferences, edit the file
98 97 $IPYTHONDIR/ipythonrc and set the colors option to the desired value.
99 98
100 99
101 100 Object details (types, docstrings, source code, etc.)
102 101 =====================================================
103 102
104 103 IPython has a set of special functions for studying the objects you are working
105 104 with, discussed in detail :ref:`here <dynamic_object_info>`. But this system
106 105 relies on passing information which is longer than your screen through a data
107 106 pager, such as the common Unix less and more programs. In order to be able to
108 107 see this information in color, your pager needs to be properly configured. I
109 108 strongly recommend using less instead of more, as it seems that more simply can
110 109 not understand colored text correctly.
111 110
112 111 In order to configure less as your default pager, do the following:
113 112
114 113 1. Set the environment PAGER variable to less.
115 114 2. Set the environment LESS variable to -r (plus any other options
116 115 you always want to pass to less by default). This tells less to
117 116 properly interpret control sequences, which is how color
118 117 information is given to your terminal.
119 118
120 119 For the bash shell, add to your ~/.bashrc file the lines::
121 120
122 121 export PAGER=less
123 122 export LESS=-r
124 123
125 124 For the csh or tcsh shells, add to your ~/.cshrc file the lines::
126 125
127 126 setenv PAGER less
128 127 setenv LESS -r
129 128
130 129 There is similar syntax for other Unix shells, look at your system
131 130 documentation for details.
132 131
133 132 If you are on a system which lacks proper data pagers (such as Windows),
134 133 IPython will use a very limited builtin pager.
135 134
136 135 .. _Prompts:
137 136
138 137 Fine-tuning your prompt
139 138 =======================
140 139
141 140 IPython's prompts can be customized using a syntax similar to that of
142 141 the bash shell. Many of bash's escapes are supported, as well as a few
143 142 additional ones. We list them below::
144 143
145 144 \#
146 145 the prompt/history count number. This escape is automatically
147 146 wrapped in the coloring codes for the currently active color scheme.
148 147 \N
149 148 the 'naked' prompt/history count number: this is just the number
150 149 itself, without any coloring applied to it. This lets you produce
151 150 numbered prompts with your own colors.
152 151 \D
153 152 the prompt/history count, with the actual digits replaced by dots.
154 153 Used mainly in continuation prompts (prompt_in2)
155 154 \w
156 155 the current working directory
157 156 \W
158 157 the basename of current working directory
159 158 \Xn
160 159 where $n=0\ldots5.$ The current working directory, with $HOME
161 160 replaced by ~, and filtered out to contain only $n$ path elements
162 161 \Yn
163 162 Similar to \Xn, but with the $n+1$ element included if it is ~ (this
164 163 is similar to the behavior of the %cn escapes in tcsh)
165 164 \u
166 165 the username of the current user
167 166 \$
168 167 if the effective UID is 0, a #, otherwise a $
169 168 \h
170 169 the hostname up to the first '.'
171 170 \H
172 171 the hostname
173 172 \n
174 173 a newline
175 174 \r
176 175 a carriage return
177 176 \v
178 177 IPython version string
179 178
180 179 In addition to these, ANSI color escapes can be insterted into the
181 180 prompts, as \C_ColorName. The list of valid color names is: Black, Blue,
182 181 Brown, Cyan, DarkGray, Green, LightBlue, LightCyan, LightGray,
183 182 LightGreen, LightPurple, LightRed, NoColor, Normal, Purple, Red, White,
184 183 Yellow.
185 184
186 185 Finally, IPython supports the evaluation of arbitrary expressions in
187 186 your prompt string. The prompt strings are evaluated through the syntax
188 187 of PEP 215, but basically you can use $x.y to expand the value of x.y,
189 188 and for more complicated expressions you can use braces: ${foo()+x} will
190 189 call function foo and add to it the value of x, before putting the
191 190 result into your prompt. For example, using
192 191 prompt_in1 '${commands.getoutput("uptime")}\nIn [\#]: '
193 192 will print the result of the uptime command on each prompt (assuming the
194 193 commands module has been imported in your ipythonrc file).
195 194
196 195
197 196 Prompt examples
198 197
199 198 The following options in an ipythonrc file will give you IPython's
200 199 default prompts::
201 200
202 201 prompt_in1 'In [\#]:'
203 202 prompt_in2 ' .\D.:'
204 203 prompt_out 'Out[\#]:'
205 204
206 205 which look like this::
207 206
208 207 In [1]: 1+2
209 208 Out[1]: 3
210 209
211 210 In [2]: for i in (1,2,3):
212 211 ...: print i,
213 212 ...:
214 213 1 2 3
215 214
216 215 These will give you a very colorful prompt with path information::
217 216
218 217 #prompt_in1 '\C_Red\u\C_Blue[\C_Cyan\Y1\C_Blue]\C_LightGreen\#>'
219 218 prompt_in2 ' ..\D>'
220 219 prompt_out '<\#>'
221 220
222 221 which look like this::
223 222
224 223 fperez[~/ipython]1> 1+2
225 224 <1> 3
226 225 fperez[~/ipython]2> for i in (1,2,3):
227 226 ...> print i,
228 227 ...>
229 228 1 2 3
230 229
231 230
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