Re: [matplotlib-devel] [IPython-dev] IPython (new) + matplotlib report: happy news

[Fernando P. <fpe...@gm...>]

On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 6:01 PM, Benjamin Root <ben...@ou...> wrote:
> True... but, consider this.  ipython can already display the code for a
> particular module/function using the '??' idiom.  Why not have some way to
> take that text and bring it into the input buffer?

Yes, but that's a separate issue.  The approach you propose would
likely have in ex.demo_somehting() a stub to retrieve the actual
example code as a string from a file elsewhere, because (at least
right now) the mpl examples are written as 100% standalone files, not
as functions inside of some other control module.  What you are saying
does apply to the mayavi.mlab.test_*() functions, that do serve as
examples precisely in that manner, since those *do* contain their code
inside the functions.

So for the matplotlib examples, that live in standalone files, we'd
still need something different.

> I can imagine this being useful beyond matplotlib where anybody could have
> their example codes easily accessed and edited.

Certainly!  Right now the pager is a very simple tool, but I hope that
once we put this code out we'll get contributions from enterprising Qt
coders who may improve it and add things like a button that would copy
the code from the source part of an info pane and paste it in the
interactive area, all with a single click.

We want to settle the core protocol/messaging behavior first, and once
this is ready and people test it a little, I really hope we'll get
contributions that enhance the user experience very much in this
manner.

Cheers,

f