[IPython-dev] New GUI integration in IPython

[Gökhan Sever]

On Mon, Aug 31, 2009 at 5:43 PM, Brian Granger <ellisonbg.net at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> This email is being sent out to to the lists of users+devs who regularly
> use IPython's "pylab" mode or "-wthread", "-qthread", "-gthread", etc.
> threaded shells.  As of today, in IPython's trunk, we have a completely new
> implementation of our GUI event loop integration that dramatically improves
> the stability of using the TERMINAL BASED IPython with GUI applications.
> This does not affect attempts to embed IPython into GUI applications.
>
> At this point, we need developers to begin to try out the new stuff and
> adapt their projects to use the new capabilities.  Here are some things you
> will get:
>
> * Stability and robustness have been improved greatly.
> * KeyboardInterrupts should work on all platforms reliably.
> * No more command line flags - instead everything can be
> activated/de-activated/switched at runtime.  This should allow projects like
> matplotlib to enable reliable backend switching.  See the new %gui magic for
> more information on this.
> * We have a new developer module for working with these features
> (IPython.lib.inputhook).
> * Unless someone complains very loudly *and* steps up to the plate to
> maintain them, the old threaded shells will be removed in the next release
> of IPython.
>
> Here are some starting points for documentation on the new features:
>
>
> http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ipython-dev/ipython/trunk/annotate/head%3A/docs/source/interactive/reference.txt#L1375<http://bazaar.launchpad.net/%7Eipython-dev/ipython/trunk/annotate/head%3A/docs/source/interactive/reference.txt#L1375>
>
> http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ipython-dev/ipython/trunk/annotate/head%3A/IPython/lib/inputhook.py<http://bazaar.launchpad.net/%7Eipython-dev/ipython/trunk/annotate/head%3A/IPython/lib/inputhook.py>
>
> http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~ipython-dev/ipython/trunk/annotate/head%3A/IPython/core/magic.py#L3542<http://bazaar.launchpad.net/%7Eipython-dev/ipython/trunk/annotate/head%3A/IPython/core/magic.py#L3542>
>
> Please let us know if you have questions - we are more than willing to help
> you get started with all of this.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Brian
>
>
>
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> http://mail.scipy.org/mailman/listinfo/ipython-dev
>
>
Two questions on this change:

1-) No more auto explicit numpy.core and matplotlib.pyplot load into the
visible namespace right? This was a handy functionality to make quick tests,
without a need for imports. I am sure this could be remedied putting proper
statements somewhere into the config file, however with the switches removed
how to instantiate IPython telling that I want matplotlib and numpy
functionality in my shell.

2-) No thread options gone, each time we issue a plot directive, a show()
must be explicitly stated. I will miss this lazy way of programming :)

3-) What are the visible ad[dis]vantages of these changes to a simple user
:) Those who don't integrate Ipython into a GUI application and changing
backends very frequently.

Thanks
-- 
Gökhan
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