from IPython.ipapi import TryNext from IPython.external.simplegeneric import generic ''' 'Generic' functions for extending IPython See http://cheeseshop.python.org/pypi/simplegeneric Here's an example from genutils.py: def print_lsstring(arg): """ Prettier (non-repr-like) and more informative printer for LSString """ print "LSString (.p, .n, .l, .s available). Value:" print arg print_lsstring = result_display.when_type(LSString)(print_lsstring) (Yes, the nasty syntax is for python 2.3 compatibility. Your own extensions can use the niftier decorator syntax) ''' @generic def result_display(result): """ print the result of computation """ raise TryNext result_display = generic(result_display)