[IPython-dev] [matplotlib-devel] IPython proposal: getting rid of "ipython -pylab\-wthread\etc."

[Michael Droettboom]

This is a great project and I'm sure we're all looking forward to having 
"just one way to do it".

However, do not overestimate how up-to-date these packages will be, 
particularly in managed environments.  For instance the RHEL4 boxes we 
run at my employer still have pygtk 2.4.  (Yes, that is 4 years old!)  
It would be unfortunate if our users couldn't update matplotlib without 
the pain of recompiling a large part of the gtk stack underneath.

So just a plea to keep the old code paths working -- perhaps surrounded 
in big flashing "REMOVE ME LATER" comments.  I understand that 
maintaining code that fewer and fewer users will be running is like a 
time bomb.  Maybe we could raise a deprecation warning if a user has an 
old version of a toolkit, so at least when the bomb finally goes off the 
user has a first guess as to why.  But I think dropping all support for 
these older versions in one step would be a mistake.

Cheers,
Mike

Brian Granger wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> [sent to mpl-dev, enthought-dev and ipython-dev]
>
> This summer, we are doing some major refactoring of IPython's core.  
> One of the things I am working on is changing how IPython's works with 
> GUI toolkits.  These changes will have a significant impact (hopefully 
> for the better) on your project, so I wanted to open a discussion 
> about this issue.
>
> Here is the current situation:  currently, IPython uses threads to 
> allow GUI event loops.  This code lives in IPython.Shell and is 
> extremely subtle, hard to maintain and fragile.  Fernando and John 
> Hunter have done a fantastic job in developing this code, but in the 
> long run we need a more robust approach.
>
> Here is the proposal:  Python has an obscure hook called 
> PyOS_InputHook.  By using this hook, GUI toolkits can interleave their 
> event loop with a command line program *without threads*.  Even though 
> PyOS_InputHook is not well known, this is how Python's built-in 
> integration with Tk works.  The good news is that other GUI toolkits 
> are starting to support PyOS_InputHook:
>
> * PyGTK 2.15.1 has this.
> * The mpl MacOSX backend works this way
> * Recent versions of PyQT 4 have this.
> * I am working with Robin Dunn to implement this in wxPython 2.8 and 2.9
>
> Bottom line: once people are using these recent/upcoming versions of 
> the GUI toolkits, IPython will no longer need to maintain the code in 
> Shell.py and IPython won't need to have -pylab/-wthread/etc options. 
>
> So, how does affect your project?
>
> * People will be able to use your project interactive from the regular 
> python prompt.
> * You will need to make small changes to your GUI toolkits 
> initialization code.
> * All of us will need to coordinate version transitions to make sure 
> that there is a clean transition to this new approach.
> * I need help testing the new approach (especially with wxPython) to 
> make sure that your project actually works with the new approach.
>
> What needs to be done at this point?
>
> * I would like to discuss how the transition should be made in terms 
> of versions.
> * I need help testing this new approach in the various toolkits - 
> especially with wx.
> * I want to see if there are other issues related to this that I am 
> missing.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Brian
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-- 
Michael Droettboom
Science Software Branch
Operations and Engineering Division
Space Telescope Science Institute
Operated by AURA for NASA