On Wed, Sep 15, 2010 at 1:08 AM, Fernando Perez <fpe...@gm...>wrote: > 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. > > Well, my idea was predicated upon what I said previously that matplotlib should package the examples into a useful module with function call. This way, one could have been able to run the demos and view the code just like any other piece of code in matplotlib. > > 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. > > That is a good gameplan. What I have seen of ipython is very good and really resolves a lot of gripes I have had with my typical python development workflow. Keep up the good work! Ben Root