[IPython-dev] interactive widgets with d3 and three.js
Chris Kees
cekees at gmail.com
Fri Oct 19 14:24:56 EDT 2012
On Fri, Oct 19, 2012 at 12:06 AM, Brian Granger <ellisonbg at gmail.com> wrote:
> Chris,
>
>> I'm trying to build some interactive representations of geometric
>> objects (domains of pde's) in the notebook. For now I'm using d3.js
>> and three.js for the interactive representation and haven't written
>> any callbacks to actually change the python representations so this
>> equations is just about display for now. I'm starting with rectangles
>> and rectangular cuboids. I can't seem to get the objects to display
>> and interact properly without separating the html from the javascript
>> like this:
>>
>> display(d.html) #add a canvas or div element
>> d.javascript #get the canvas or div element and render to it with
>> d3.js or three.js
>>
>> Shouldn't I be able to just stick the javascript in a <script> element
>> and get the right behavior from d.html? Or should I actually be
>> grabbing some element id in the javascript and just having the
>> javascript modify it? It's not really that big of a deal--I'll
>> probably add and edit() or show() function anyway. I'm more concerned
>> about straightening out my understanding of how ipython is interacting
>> with the generated html for a given notebook.
>
> Yes, if you want to do everything with JS, you will need to learn
> about jquery and use that to modify the DOM. When the JS code is run,
> there are two jquery objects you have access to: element and
> container:
>
> element = the div that all output should go into. You will usually do
> element.append(new_stuff)
> container = the div that is outside the element that starts out
> hidden. In your JS code you will want to call container.show()
>
Hey Brian,
I have it sort of working with this:
this.element.append("<div id='mydiv'></div>")
var rectDemo = d3.select("#mydiv")
.append("svg")
.attr("width", 400)
.attr("height", 400);
rectDemo.append("rect")
.style("stroke", "red")
.attr("width",350)
.attr("height", 350)
$(".container").show();
Seems like I should be able to do it with just d3 selections, but I
don't seem to have mastered selections yet. I can get by with a hack
for now.
To make sure I understand the path forward: In the future the process
of creating and using a javascript widget will be to write Python code
that packs up the object and some instructions as a json message in
the python code which will be sent to the client (with
display(my_json_msg) say). Then there will be a case statement in the
notebook javascript that matches some tag in my_json_msg with a set of
pre-defined javascript functions that have to be configured server
side. That way the only way to do damage is to exploit weaknesses in
the catalog of javascript functions installed server side.
I've spent a little time looking at the "Z Callbacks" notebook example
and your branch/example. I'm wondering if there's a simple way for me
to mimic this in my existing notebook that would allow me to put all
the javascript code in the first markdown cell and do everything else
with the standard display api. For example my domain class could
implement
def show():
display(my_display_only_json_msg)
def edit():
display(my_editor_json_msg)
@Matthias, thanks for the feedback on d3. I'm struggling with the docs
a bit, but it seems to work ok, and there are some really nice
examples at https://github.com/mbostock/d3/wiki/Gallery.
Thanks,
Chris
> BUT, we should warn you that we are going to eliminate the ability to
> run Python generated JS in the notebook. There are two reasons for
> this:
>
> * Security. The current approach opens the door for some really nasty
> (and trivial) attacks that we can't allow.
> * Ease of development. As you will find, writing Python code that
> writes JS code that is run in the browser using eval is nearly
> impossible to actually get anything done. I wrote all of this code
> and I still can't do it for anything other than something trivial.
> eval makes debugging impossible and getting data from Python to JS in
> this manner is horribly painful.
>
> Moving forward here is what we are going to do instead:
>
> * Rely on publishing JSON messages to get data back to the browser.
> This will use the _repr_json_ method or publish_json function we
> already have.
> * Create JSON "handlers" in the notebook that know how to handle
> different types of JSON messages.
> * These handlers will be loaded when the main notebook page is loaded
> and will be part of the notebook "server".
> * We will ship basic handlers that "everyone" wants to use with
> ipython proper - along with their JS dependencies (such as d3).
> * We will allow users to install new handlers for plugins they want to
> develop/use.
>
> We are a ways off from implementing all of this (I have just barely
> starting to play with it) and we will need to discuss the details with
> the rest of the dev team, but I wanted to let you know that we are
> moving in this direction as it obviously affects your plans.
>
> Here is a branch that I have that starts to try this approach out:
>
> https://github.com/ellisonbg/ipython/tree/opt
>
> Here is the specific handler for some JSON I published:
>
> https://github.com/ellisonbg/ipython/blob/opt/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/js/outputarea.js#L455
>
> If you want to play, you could start to pick through this code, but
> warning - it is a TOTAL mess and a half. Probably best to keep
> playing like you are, and later convert to the new approach.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Brian
>
>> Here is the notebook:
>> https://github.com/erdc-cm/proteus-notebooks/blob/master/Domain%20Display.ipynb.
>> You'd have to either clone my repo + submodules or clone three.js
>> into your notebook directory in order to run this.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Chris
>>
>> p.s. I'd be interested in any advice on whether d3.js and three.js are
>> the way to go. I would consider just working directly in svg and
>> webgl. I've done a little of both, and right I'm not quite sure how
>> much value the libraries add to the core html5 functionality.
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>
>
>
> --
> Brian E. Granger
> Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo
> bgranger at calpoly.edu and ellisonbg at gmail.com
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