[IPython-dev] wildcard patch

[Fernando Perez]

Fernando Perez wrote:

> Thanks for the patch.  I'll apply a slightly modified version, because dir() 
> can actually return non-strings on rare occasions (nasty as it is).  The 
> tab-completion code in ipython in fact guards against this situation, which 
> we've seen in the wild with wrapped C++ code.

OK, I committed the patch with these extra safeties in place and some other 
changes.

> In addition, I'll make the behavior of * honor the flags regarding the display 
> of _ and __ names in tab completion.  I think that ipython's mechanisms should 
> all be consistent in this regard.

Scratch this.  I'd forgotten that the * system already has a flag to deal with 
underscores, so I left that alone.

One comment: as I use this system more and more, I'm wondering if we shouldn't 
make the default search be case sensitive.  Python is a case sensitive 
language, so I think that the search should by default match the language.  I 
think it's a good idea to offer the case insensitive alternative, for when you 
really don't know what something may be even vaguely called, but I'm leaning 
towards having this facility more closely follow language defaults.

I haven't committed any changes in thir regard though, so I'll be happy to 
hear opinions.

Cheers,

f