interactive usage of any of its backends as defined in the
user's .matplotlibrc file. It automatically activates GTK, QT
or WX threading for IPyhton if the choice of matplotlib backend
requires it. It also modifies the %run command to correctly
execute (without blocking) any matplotlib-based script which
calls show() at the end.
-tk The -g/q/q4/wthread options, and -pylab (if matplotlib is
configured to use GTK, QT or WX), will normally block Tk
graphical interfaces. This means that when GTK, QT or WX
threading is active, any attempt to open a Tk GUI will result in
a dead window, and possibly cause the Python interpreter to
crash. An extra option, -tk, is available to address this
issue. It can ONLY be given as a SECOND option after any of the
above (-gthread, -qthread, q4thread, -wthread or -pylab).
If -tk is given, IPython will try to coordinate Tk threading
with GTK, QT or WX. This is however potentially unreliable, and
you will have to test on your platform and Python configuration
to determine whether it works for you. Debian users have
reported success, apparently due to the fact that Debian builds
all of Tcl, Tk, Tkinter and Python with pthreads support. Under
other Linux environments (such as Fedora Core 2/3), this option
has caused random crashes and lockups of the Python interpreter.
Under other operating systems (Mac OSX and Windows), you'll need
to try it to find out, since currently no user reports are
available.
There is unfortunately no way for IPython to determine at run-
time whether -tk will work reliably or not, so you will need to
do some experiments before relying on it for regular work.
A WARNING ABOUT SIGNALS AND THREADS
When any of the thread systems (GTK, QT or WX) are active, either
directly or via -pylab with a threaded backend, it is impossible to
interrupt long-running Python code via Ctrl-C. IPython can not pass
the KeyboardInterrupt exception (or the underlying SIGINT) across
threads, so any long-running process started from IPython will run to
completion, or will have to be killed via an external (OS-based)
mechanism.
To the best of my knowledge, this limitation is imposed by the Python
interpreter itself, and it comes from the difficulty of writing
portable signal/threaded code. If any user is an expert on this topic
and can suggest a better solution, I would love to hear about it. In
the IPython sources, look at the Shell.py module, and in particular at
the runcode() method.
REGULAR OPTIONS
After the above threading options have been given, regular options can
follow in any order. All options can be abbreviated to their shortest
non-ambiguous form and are case-sensitive. One or two dashes can be
used. Some options have an alternate short form, indicated after a |.
Most options can also be set from your ipythonrc configuration file.
See the provided examples for assistance. Options given on the comman-
dline override the values set in the ipythonrc file.
All options with a [no] prepended can be specified in negated form
(using -nooption instead of -option) to turn the feature off.
-h, --help
Show summary of options.
-pylab This can only be given as the first option passed to IPython (it
will have no effect in any other position). It adds special sup-
port for the matplotlib library (http://matplotlib.source-
forge.net), allowing interactive usage of any of its backends as
defined in the user's .matplotlibrc file. It automatically
activates GTK or WX threading for IPyhton if the choice of mat-
plotlib backend requires it. It also modifies the @run command
to correctly execute (without blocking) any matplotlib-based
script which calls show() at the end.
-autocall <val>
Make IPython automatically call any callable object even if you
didn't type explicit parentheses. For example, 'str 43' becomes
'str(43)' automatically. The value can be '0' to disable the
feature, '1' for 'smart' autocall, where it is not applied if
there are no more arguments on the line, and '2' for 'full'
autocall, where all callable objects are automatically called
(even if no arguments are present). The default is '1'.
-[no]autoindent
Turn automatic indentation on/off.
-[no]automagic
Make magic commands automatic (without needing their first char-
acter to be %). Type %magic at the IPython prompt for more
information.
-[no]autoedit_syntax
When a syntax error occurs after editing a file, automatically
open the file to the trouble causing line for convenient fixing.
-[no]banner
Print the intial information banner (default on).
-c <command>
Execute the given command string, and set sys.argv to ['c'].
This is similar to the -c option in the normal Python inter-
preter.
-cache_size|cs <n>
Size of the output cache (maximum number of entries to hold in
memory). The default is 1000, you can change it permanently in
your config file. Setting it to 0 completely disables the
caching system, and the minimum value accepted is 20 (if you
provide a value less than 20, it is reset to 0 and a warning is
issued). This limit is defined because otherwise you'll spend
more time re-flushing a too small cache than working.
-classic|cl
Gives IPython a similar feel to the classic Python prompt.
-colors <scheme>
Color scheme for prompts and exception reporting. Currently
implemented: NoColor, Linux, and LightBG.
-[no]color_info
IPython can display information about objects via a set of func-
tions, and optionally can use colors for this, syntax highlight-
ing source code and various other elements. However, because
this information is passed through a pager (like 'less') and
many pagers get confused with color codes, this option is off by
default. You can test it and turn it on permanently in your
ipythonrc file if it works for you. As a reference, the 'less'
pager supplied with Mandrake 8.2 works ok, but that in RedHat
7.2 doesn't.
Test it and turn it on permanently if it works with your system.
The magic function @color_info allows you to toggle this inter-
actively for testing.
-[no]confirm_exit
Set to confirm when you try to exit IPython with an EOF (Con-
trol-D in Unix, Control-Z/Enter in Windows). Note that using the
magic functions @Exit or @Quit you can force a direct exit,
bypassing any confirmation.
-[no]debug
Show information about the loading process. Very useful to pin
down problems with your configuration files or to get details
about session restores.
-[no]deep_reload
IPython can use the deep_reload module which reloads changes in
modules recursively (it replaces the reload() function, so you
don't need to change anything to use it). deep_reload() forces a
full reload of modules whose code may have changed, which the
default reload() function does not.
When deep_reload is off, IPython will use the normal reload(),
but deep_reload will still be available as dreload(). This fea-
ture is off by default [which means that you have both normal
reload() and dreload()].
-editor <name>
Which editor to use with the @edit command. By default, IPython
will honor your EDITOR environment variable (if not set, vi is
the Unix default and notepad the Windows one). Since this editor
is invoked on the fly by IPython and is meant for editing small
code snippets, you may want to use a small, lightweight editor
here (in case your default EDITOR is something like Emacs).
-ipythondir <name>
The name of your IPython configuration directory IPYTHONDIR.
This can also be specified through the environment variable
IPYTHONDIR.
-log|l Generate a log file of all input. The file is named
ipython_log.py in your current directory (which prevents logs
from multiple IPython sessions from trampling each other). You
can use this to later restore a session by loading your logfile
as a file to be executed with option -logplay (see below).
-logfile|lf
Specify the name of your logfile.
-logplay|lp
Replay a previous log. For restoring a session as close as pos-
sible to the state you left it in, use this option (don't just
run the logfile). With -logplay, IPython will try to reconstruct
the previous working environment in full, not just execute the
commands in the logfile.
When a session is restored, logging is automatically turned on
again with the name of the logfile it was invoked with (it is
read from the log header). So once you've turned logging on for
a session, you can quit IPython and reload it as many times as
you want and it will continue to log its history and restore
from the beginning every time.
Caveats: there are limitations in this option. The history vari-
ables _i*,_* and _dh don't get restored properly. In the future
we will try to implement full session saving by writing and
retrieving a failed because of inherent limitations of Python's
Pickle module, so this may have to wait.
-[no]messages
Print messages which IPython collects about its startup process
(default on).
-[no]pdb
Automatically call the pdb debugger after every uncaught excep-
tion. If you are used to debugging using pdb, this puts you
automatically inside of it after any call (either in IPython or
in code called by it) which triggers an exception which goes
uncaught.
-[no]pprint
IPython can optionally use the pprint (pretty printer) module
for displaying results. pprint tends to give a nicer display of
nested data structures. If you like it, you can turn it on per-
manently in your config file (default off).
-profile|p <name>
Assume that your config file is ipythonrc-<name> (looks in cur-
rent dir first, then in IPYTHONDIR). This is a quick way to keep
and load multiple config files for different tasks, especially
if you use the include option of config files. You can keep a
basic IPYTHONDIR/ipythonrc file and then have other 'profiles'
which include this one and load extra things for particular
tasks. For example:
1) $HOME/.ipython/ipythonrc : load basic things you always want.
2) $HOME/.ipython/ipythonrc-math : load (1) and basic math-
related modules.
3) $HOME/.ipython/ipythonrc-numeric : load (1) and Numeric and
plotting modules.
Since it is possible to create an endless loop by having circu-
lar file inclusions, IPython will stop if it reaches 15 recur-
sive inclusions.
-prompt_in1|pi1 <string>
Specify the string used for input prompts. Note that if you are
using numbered prompts, the number is represented with a '\\#' in
the string. Don't forget to quote strings with spaces embedded
in them. Default: 'In [\\#]: '.
Most bash-like escapes can be used to customize IPython's
prompts, as well as a few additional ones which are IPython-spe-
cific. All valid prompt escapes are described in detail in the
Customization section of the IPython HTML/PDF manual.
-prompt_in2|pi2 <string>
Similar to the previous option, but used for the continuation
prompts. The special sequence '\\D' is similar to '\\#', but with
all digits replaced dots (so you can have your continuation
prompt aligned with your input prompt). Default: ' .\\D.: '
(note three spaces at the start for alignment with 'In [\\#]').
-prompt_out|po <string>
String used for output prompts, also uses numbers like
prompt_in1. Default: 'Out[\\#]:'.
-quick Start in bare bones mode (no config file loaded).
-rcfile <name>
Name of your IPython resource configuration file. normally
IPython loads ipythonrc (from current directory) or
IPYTHONDIR/ipythonrc. If the loading of your config file fails,
IPython starts with a bare bones configuration (no modules
loaded at all).
-[no]readline
Use the readline library, which is needed to support name com-
pletion and command history, among other things. It is enabled
by default, but may cause problems for users of X/Emacs in
Python comint or shell buffers.
Note that emacs 'eterm' buffers (opened with M-x term) support
IPython's readline and syntax coloring fine, only 'emacs' (M-x
shell and C-c !) buffers do not.
-screen_length|sl <n>
Number of lines of your screen. This is used to control print-
ing of very long strings. Strings longer than this number of
lines will be sent through a pager instead of directly printed.
The default value for this is 0, which means IPython will auto-
detect your screen size every time it needs to print certain
potentially long strings (this doesn't change the behavior of
the 'print' keyword, it's only triggered internally). If for
some reason this isn't working well (it needs curses support),
specify it yourself. Otherwise don't change the default.
-separate_in|si <string>
Separator before input prompts. Default '0.
-separate_out|so <string>
Separator before output prompts. Default: 0 (nothing).
-separate_out2|so2 <string>
Separator after output prompts. Default: 0 (nothing).
-nosep Shorthand for '-separate_in 0 -separate_out 0 -separate_out2 0'.
Simply removes all input/output separators.
-upgrade
Allows you to upgrade your IPYTHONDIR configuration when you
install a new version of IPython. Since new versions may
include new command lines options or example files, this copies
updated ipythonrc-type files. However, it backs up (with a .old
extension) all files which it overwrites so that you can merge
back any custimizations you might have in your personal files.
-Version
Print version information and exit.
-wxversion <string>
Select a specific version of wxPython (used in conjunction with
-wthread). Requires the wxversion module, part of recent
wxPython distributions.
-xmode <modename>
Mode for exception reporting. The valid modes are Plain, Con-
text, and Verbose.
- Plain: similar to python's normal traceback printing.
- Context: prints 5 lines of context source code around each
line in the traceback.
- Verbose: similar to Context, but additionally prints the vari-
ables currently visible where the exception happened (shortening
their strings if too long). This can potentially be very slow,
if you happen to have a huge data structure whose string repre-
sentation is complex to compute. Your computer may appear to
freeze for a while with cpu usage at 100%. If this occurs, you
can cancel the traceback with Ctrl-C (maybe hitting it more than
once).
EMBEDDING
It is possible to start an IPython instance inside your own Python pro-
grams. In the documentation example files there are some illustrations
on how to do this.
This feature allows you to evalutate dynamically the state of your
code, operate with your variables, analyze them, etc. Note however
that any changes you make to values while in the shell do NOT propagate
back to the running code, so it is safe to modify your values because
you won't break your code in bizarre ways by doing so.
"""
cmd_line_usage = __doc__
interactive_usage = '\nIPython -- An enhanced Interactive Python\n=========================================\n\nIPython offers a combination of convenient shell features, special commands\nand a history mechanism for both input (command history) and output (results\ncaching, similar to Mathematica). It is intended to be a fully compatible\nreplacement for the standard Python interpreter, while offering vastly\nimproved functionality and flexibility.\n\nAt your system command line, type \'ipython -help\' to see the command line\noptions available. This document only describes interactive features.\n\nWarning: IPython relies on the existence of a global variable called __IP which\ncontrols the shell itself. If you redefine __IP to anything, bizarre behavior\nwill quickly occur.\n\nMAIN FEATURES\n\n* Access to the standard Python help. As of Python 2.1, a help system is\n available with access to object docstrings and the Python manuals. Simply\n type \'help\' (no quotes) to access it.\n\n* Magic commands: type %magic for information on the magic subsystem.\n\n* System command aliases, via the %alias command or the ipythonrc config file.\n\n* Dynamic object information:\n\n Typing ?word or word? prints detailed information about an object. If\n certain strings in the object are too long (docstrings, code, etc.) they get\n snipped in the center for brevity.\n\n Typing ??word or word?? gives access to the full information without\n snipping long strings. Long strings are sent to the screen through the less\n pager if longer than the screen, printed otherwise.\n\n The ?/?? system gives access to the full source code for any object (if\n available), shows function prototypes and other useful information.\n\n If you just want to see an object\'s docstring, type \'%pdoc object\' (without\n quotes, and without % if you have automagic on).\n\n Both %pdoc and ?/?? give you access to documentation even on things which are\n not explicitely defined. Try for example typing {}.get? or after import os,\n type os.path.abspath??. The magic functions %pdef, %source and %file operate\n similarly.\n\n* Completion in the local namespace, by typing TAB at the prompt.\n\n At any time, hitting tab will complete any available python commands or\n variable names, and show you a list of the possible completions if there\'s\n no unambiguous one. It will also complete filenames in the current directory.\n\n This feature requires the readline and rlcomplete modules, so it won\'t work\n if your Python lacks readline support (such as under Windows).\n\n* Search previous command history in two ways (also requires readline):\n\n - Start typing, and then use Ctrl-p (previous,up) and Ctrl-n (next,down) to\n search through only the history items that match what you\'ve typed so\n far. If you use Ctrl-p/Ctrl-n at a blank prompt, they just behave like\n normal arrow keys.\n\n - Hit Ctrl-r: opens a search prompt. Begin typing and the system searches\n your history for lines that match what you\'ve typed so far, completing as\n much as it can.\n\n* Persistent command history across sessions (readline required).\n\n* Logging of input with the ability to save and restore a working session.\n \n* System escape with !. Typing !ls will run \'ls\' in the current directory.\n\n* The reload command does a \'deep\' reload of a module: changes made to the\n module since you imported will actually be available without having to exit.\n\n* Verbose and colored exception traceback printouts. See the magic xmode and\n xcolor functions for details (just type %magic).\n\n* Input caching system:\n\n IPython offers numbered prompts (In/Out) with input and output caching. All\n input is saved and can be retrieved as variables (besides the usual arrow\n key recall).\n\n The following GLOBAL variables always exist (so don\'t overwrite them!):\n _i: stores previous input.\n _ii: next previous.\n _iii: next-next previous.\n _ih : a list of all input _ih[n] is the input from line n.\n\n Additionally, global variables named _i<n> are dynamically created (<n>\n being the prompt counter), such that _i<n> == _ih[<n>]\n\n For example, what you typed at prompt 14 is available as _i14 and _ih[14].\n\n You can create macros which contain multiple input lines from this history,\n for later re-execution, with the %macro function.\n\n The history function %hist allows you to see any part of your input history\n by printing a range of the _i variables. Note that inputs which contain\n magic functions (%) appear in the history with a prepended comment. This is\n because they aren\'t really valid Python code, so you can\'t exec them.\n\n* Output caching system:\n\n For output that is returned from actions, a system similar to the input\n cache exists but using _ instead of _i. Only actions that produce a result\n (NOT assignments, for example) are cached. If you are familiar with\n Mathematica, IPython\'s _ variables behave exactly like Mathematica\'s %\n variables.\n\n The following GLOBAL variables always exist (so don\'t overwrite them!):\n _ (one underscore): previous output.\n __ (two underscores): next previous.\n ___ (three underscores): next-next previous.\n\n Global variables named _<n> are dynamically created (<n> being the prompt\n counter), such that the result of output <n> is always available as _<n>.\n\n Finally, a global dictionary named _oh exists with entries for all lines\n which generated output.\n\n* Directory history:\n\n Your history of visited directories is kept in the global list _dh, and the\n magic %cd command can be used to go to any entry in that list.\n\n* Auto-parentheses and auto-quotes (adapted from Nathan Gray\'s LazyPython)\n\n 1. Auto-parentheses\n Callable objects (i.e. functions, methods, etc) can be invoked like\n this (notice the commas between the arguments):\n >>> callable_ob arg1, arg2, arg3\n and the input will be translated to this:\n --> callable_ob(arg1, arg2, arg3)\n You can force auto-parentheses by using \'/\' as the first character\n of a line. For example:\n >>> /globals # becomes \'globals()\'\n Note that the \'/\' MUST be the first character on the line! This\n won\'t work:\n >>> print /globals # syntax error\n \n In most cases the automatic algorithm should work, so you should\n rarely need to explicitly invoke /. One notable exception is if you\n are trying to call a function with a list of tuples as arguments (the\n parenthesis will confuse IPython):\n In [1]: zip (1,2,3),(4,5,6) # won\'t work\n but this will work:\n In [2]: /zip (1,2,3),(4,5,6)\n ------> zip ((1,2,3),(4,5,6))\n Out[2]= [(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 6)] \n\n IPython tells you that it has altered your command line by\n displaying the new command line preceded by -->. e.g.:\n In [18]: callable list\n -------> callable (list) \n\n 2. Auto-Quoting\n You can force auto-quoting of a function\'s arguments by using \',\' as\n the first character of a line. For example:\n >>> ,my_function /home/me # becomes my_function("/home/me")\n\n If you use \';\' instead, the whole argument is quoted as a single\n string (while \',\' splits on whitespace):\n >>> ,my_function a b c # becomes my_function("a","b","c")\n >>> ;my_function a b c # becomes my_function("a b c")\n\n Note that the \',\' MUST be the first character on the line! This\n won\'t work:\n >>> x = ,my_function /home/me # syntax error\n'
quick_reference = '\nIPython -- An enhanced Interactive Python - Quick Reference Card\n================================================================\n\nobj?, obj?? : Get help, or more help for object (also works as\n ?obj, ??obj).\n?foo.*abc* : List names in \'foo\' containing \'abc\' in them.\n%magic : Information about IPython\'s \'magic\' % functions.\n\nMagic functions are prefixed by %, and typically take their arguments without\nparentheses, quotes or even commas for convenience.\n \nExample magic function calls:\n\n%alias d ls -F : \'d\' is now an alias for \'ls -F\'\nalias d ls -F : Works if \'alias\' not a python name\nalist = %alias : Get list of aliases to \'alist\'\ncd /usr/share : Obvious. cd -<tab> to choose from visited dirs.\n%cd?? : See help AND source for magic %cd\n\nSystem commands:\n \n!cp a.txt b/ : System command escape, calls os.system()\ncp a.txt b/ : after %rehashx, most system commands work without !\ncp ${f}.txt $bar : Variable expansion in magics and system commands\nfiles = !ls /usr : Capture sytem command output\nfiles.s, files.l, files.n: "a b c", [\'a\',\'b\',\'c\'], \'a\\nb\\nc\'\n\nHistory:\n\n_i, _ii, _iii : Previous, next previous, next next previous input\n_i4, _ih[2:5] : Input history line 4, lines 2-4\nexec _i81 : Execute input history line #81 again\n%rep 81 : Edit input history line #81 \n_, __, ___ : previous, next previous, next next previous output\n_dh : Directory history\n_oh : Output history\n%hist : Command history. \'%hist -g foo\' search history for \'foo\'\n\nAutocall:\n\nf 1,2 : f(1,2)\n/f 1,2 : f(1,2) (forced autoparen)\n,f 1 2 : f("1","2")\n;f 1 2 : f("1 2")\n\nRemember: TAB completion works in many contexts, not just file names\nor python names.\n\nThe following magic functions are currently available:\n\n'
(.txt)