[IPython-dev] New ipythonqt console questions/feedback

[Fernando Perez]

Hi Erik,

On Tue, Oct 5, 2010 at 4:59 PM, Erik Tollerud <erik.tollerud at gmail.com> wrote:
> I just switched over to the trunk with the merged-in newkernel and
> have been playing around with the ipythonqt console.  Let me begin by
> saying: wow!  Thanks to all those involved in implementing this - it's
> a huge step forward in usability and looks really great.  I'd love to
> switch over to it as my primary ipython environment.  However, there
> are some things I haven't quite been able to figure out.  So consider
> each of these either a "how can I do this?" or a feature request (or
> at least a request as to whether or not it's on the todo list, in case
> I am inclined to try to implement it myself).

Thanks for the kind words!

> * Is it possible to execute the new-style ipython profiles when
> ipythonqt starts?  Looking at the ipythonqt main, it doesn't look to
> me like it's in there, but seems potentially pretty straightforward.
> This is the most crucial change for me as I have a lot of things that
> I want loaded by default (especially "from __future__ import division"
> !)

Not yet, it's very high on the todo list.  We simply haven't
implemented *any* configurability yet, I'm afraid.

> * Is there a way to adjust any of the keybindings, or add new ones?

No, and I don't know how easy that will be to do.  That's on the Qt
side of things, that I know much less.  I imagine we'd have to make an
API for matching keybinding descriptions to methods implemented in the
object, and a declarative syntax to state your bindings in the config
file.  Nothing fundamentally difficult, but probably won't happen for
the first release.

> * If not, is it possible to tie ctrl-D to the exit() function?  I
> think a lot of people used to the python terminal expect ctrl-D to be
> available to quit the terminal, so it might be a nice option to add
> in.  Ideally, it would also just quit, skipping over the yes/no dialog
> that exit() triggers with an automatic yes.  I understand, though, if
> that is just to be too easy to accidentally do.

Well, since the environment is now much more of a multiline editing
system, we made the keybindings mimic the Emacs ones, so C-D does
character delete.  I imagine it would be possilbe to see if it's at
the end of the buffer and trigger exit in that case, but I don't know
how easy that will be on the Qt side.

As for confirmation, we definitely want to refine the exit code to
allow unconditional exiting.  My take on it is that exit from a close
window event should ask (an accidental mis-click can easily happen)
but exit from typing explicitly 'exit' should be unconditional (nobody
types a full word by accident).

Would you mind making a ticket for this?  I think I know roughly how
to do it, but I don't have time for it right now.  I made a
'qtconsole' label to apply to these tickets so we can sort them
easily.

> * Unlike the terminal ipython, it seems that command history does not
> persist if I close out of ipythonqt and come back in.  Is this
> intentional?  I find it to be a highly useful feature...

Please file a ticket so we don't forget this one also, it's important
and I miss it too.

> * Is the parallel computing environment (ipcluser,ipcontroller, etc.)
> now based on the zmq kernel?  My understanding was that one of the
> motivations for zmq was to get rid of the twisted dependency - is that
> now in place, or is that still a work in progress?

In progress, advancing well, but not finished yet.  But it's much
farther along than we'd originally thought, thanks to Min's amazing
dedication.

> Thanks again for the hard work - I can already tell this will be a
> wonderful tool!

Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming!

Cheers,

f