[IPython-dev] [IPython-user] On Eggs and the striping of docs & examples

[Fernando Perez]

Ville Vainio wrote:
>>Here's an idea - we could put a few-page quick-reference into IPython,
>>accessible by typing 'quickref'. It would have all the handy "%sc
>>var=ls *.cpp" stuff that users might forget.
> 
> 
> Bah, didn't realize there was just '?'. It may be a bit verbose for
> quick reference, but something like that could be added to the start
> of the output.

I think we could just edit it a bit, and include right in there a pointer to 
some of the online resources that have sprung around ipython:

http://ipython.scipy.org/doc/manual/node4.html
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/python/2005/01/27/ipython.html
http://showmedo.com/videoListPage?listKey=PythonIPythonSeries
http://www.python-industries.com/clepy/ipython/

I prefer to have a single point of entrance for newcomers to get off the 
ground, even if it's just plain text and slightly long.  They can always read 
it a few times, the first just getting the basics, and later coming back to 
read details.  That text should mostly describe how to find more info (use of 
? even for magics), along with highlighting the key magics for various tasks 
(not all are equally useful, and probably %run and %edit are the main ones).

I think a plain text document (or reST), cleanly formatted, should do the 
trick just fine with '?'.  The current one is not bad, but VERY old and 
unchanged for a long time.  It could certainly use a face-lift.

Cheers,

f