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testCopysign was defined twice in test_math; combine the definitions
author Mark Dickinson <dickinsm@gmail.com>
date Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:11:25 +0000
parents 137599acb8ba
children b36cb4602e21
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1 .. _tut-interacting:
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2
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3 **************************************************
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4 Interactive Input Editing and History Substitution
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5 **************************************************
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6
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7 Some versions of the Python interpreter support editing of the current input
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8 line and history substitution, similar to facilities found in the Korn shell and
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9 the GNU Bash shell. This is implemented using the `GNU Readline`_ library,
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10 which supports Emacs-style and vi-style editing. This library has its own
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11 documentation which I won't duplicate here; however, the basics are easily
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12 explained. The interactive editing and history described here are optionally
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13 available in the Unix and Cygwin versions of the interpreter.
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14
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15 This chapter does *not* document the editing facilities of Mark Hammond's
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16 PythonWin package or the Tk-based environment, IDLE, distributed with Python.
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17 The command line history recall which operates within DOS boxes on NT and some
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18 other DOS and Windows flavors is yet another beast.
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20
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21 .. _tut-lineediting:
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22
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23 Line Editing
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24 ============
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25
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26 If supported, input line editing is active whenever the interpreter prints a
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27 primary or secondary prompt. The current line can be edited using the
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28 conventional Emacs control characters. The most important of these are:
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29 :kbd:`C-A` (Control-A) moves the cursor to the beginning of the line, :kbd:`C-E`
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30 to the end, :kbd:`C-B` moves it one position to the left, :kbd:`C-F` to the
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31 right. Backspace erases the character to the left of the cursor, :kbd:`C-D` the
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32 character to its right. :kbd:`C-K` kills (erases) the rest of the line to the
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33 right of the cursor, :kbd:`C-Y` yanks back the last killed string.
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34 :kbd:`C-underscore` undoes the last change you made; it can be repeated for
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35 cumulative effect.
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36
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37
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38 .. _tut-history:
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39
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40 History Substitution
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41 ====================
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42
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43 History substitution works as follows. All non-empty input lines issued are
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44 saved in a history buffer, and when a new prompt is given you are positioned on
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45 a new line at the bottom of this buffer. :kbd:`C-P` moves one line up (back) in
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46 the history buffer, :kbd:`C-N` moves one down. Any line in the history buffer
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47 can be edited; an asterisk appears in front of the prompt to mark a line as
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48 modified. Pressing the :kbd:`Return` key passes the current line to the
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49 interpreter. :kbd:`C-R` starts an incremental reverse search; :kbd:`C-S` starts
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50 a forward search.
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51
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52
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53 .. _tut-keybindings:
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54
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55 Key Bindings
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56 ============
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57
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58 The key bindings and some other parameters of the Readline library can be
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59 customized by placing commands in an initialization file called
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60 :file:`~/.inputrc`. Key bindings have the form ::
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61
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62 key-name: function-name
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63
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64 or ::
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65
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66 "string": function-name
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67
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68 and options can be set with ::
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69
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70 set option-name value
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71
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72 For example::
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73
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74 # I prefer vi-style editing:
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75 set editing-mode vi
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76
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77 # Edit using a single line:
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78 set horizontal-scroll-mode On
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79
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80 # Rebind some keys:
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81 Meta-h: backward-kill-word
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82 "\C-u": universal-argument
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83 "\C-x\C-r": re-read-init-file
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84
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85 Note that the default binding for :kbd:`Tab` in Python is to insert a :kbd:`Tab`
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86 character instead of Readline's default filename completion function. If you
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87 insist, you can override this by putting ::
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88
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89 Tab: complete
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90
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91 in your :file:`~/.inputrc`. (Of course, this makes it harder to type indented
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92 continuation lines if you're accustomed to using :kbd:`Tab` for that purpose.)
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93
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94 .. index::
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95 module: rlcompleter
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96 module: readline
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97
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98 Automatic completion of variable and module names is optionally available. To
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99 enable it in the interpreter's interactive mode, add the following to your
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100 startup file: [#]_ ::
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101
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102 import rlcompleter, readline
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103 readline.parse_and_bind('tab: complete')
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104
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105 This binds the :kbd:`Tab` key to the completion function, so hitting the
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106 :kbd:`Tab` key twice suggests completions; it looks at Python statement names,
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107 the current local variables, and the available module names. For dotted
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108 expressions such as ``string.a``, it will evaluate the expression up to the
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109 final ``'.'`` and then suggest completions from the attributes of the resulting
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110 object. Note that this may execute application-defined code if an object with a
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111 :meth:`__getattr__` method is part of the expression.
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112
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113 A more capable startup file might look like this example. Note that this
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114 deletes the names it creates once they are no longer needed; this is done since
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115 the startup file is executed in the same namespace as the interactive commands,
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116 and removing the names avoids creating side effects in the interactive
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117 environment. You may find it convenient to keep some of the imported modules,
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118 such as :mod:`os`, which turn out to be needed in most sessions with the
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119 interpreter. ::
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120
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121 # Add auto-completion and a stored history file of commands to your Python
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122 # interactive interpreter. Requires Python 2.0+, readline. Autocomplete is
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123 # bound to the Esc key by default (you can change it - see readline docs).
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124 #
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125 # Store the file in ~/.pystartup, and set an environment variable to point
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126 # to it: "export PYTHONSTARTUP=/home/user/.pystartup" in bash.
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127 #
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128 # Note that PYTHONSTARTUP does *not* expand "~", so you have to put in the
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129 # full path to your home directory.
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130
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131 import atexit
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132 import os
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133 import readline
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134 import rlcompleter
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135
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136 historyPath = os.path.expanduser("~/.pyhistory")
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137
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138 def save_history(historyPath=historyPath):
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139 import readline
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140 readline.write_history_file(historyPath)
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141
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142 if os.path.exists(historyPath):
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143 readline.read_history_file(historyPath)
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144
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145 atexit.register(save_history)
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146 del os, atexit, readline, rlcompleter, save_history, historyPath
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147
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148
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149 .. _tut-commentary:
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150
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151 Alternatives to the Interactive Interpreter
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152 ===========================================
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153
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154 This facility is an enormous step forward compared to earlier versions of the
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155 interpreter; however, some wishes are left: It would be nice if the proper
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156 indentation were suggested on continuation lines (the parser knows if an indent
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157 token is required next). The completion mechanism might use the interpreter's
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158 symbol table. A command to check (or even suggest) matching parentheses,
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159 quotes, etc., would also be useful.
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160
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161 One alternative enhanced interactive interpreter that has been around for quite
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162 some time is `IPython`_, which features tab completion, object exploration and
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163 advanced history management. It can also be thoroughly customized and embedded
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164 into other applications. Another similar enhanced interactive environment is
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165 `bpython`_.
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166
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167
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168 .. rubric:: Footnotes
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169
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170 .. [#] Python will execute the contents of a file identified by the
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171 :envvar:`PYTHONSTARTUP` environment variable when you start an interactive
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172 interpreter.
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173
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174
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175 .. _GNU Readline: http://tiswww.case.edu/php/chet/readline/rltop.html
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176 .. _IPython: http://ipython.scipy.org/
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177 .. _bpython: http://www.bpython-interpreter.org/