Develop Reference

VS Code execute selection to IPython shell in terminal (no notebook)

I wanted to use IPython interactive in VSC (not using a notebook). By using a keybiding for workbench.action.terminal.runSelectedText, I can successfully execute a selection to a python interactive shell, but with iPython it fails to run the cell and I have to change selection to the terminal and press enter.
Here's my keybidings.json file:
[
{
"key": "ctrl+enter",
"command": "workbench.action.terminal.runSelectedText"
}
]
Any help to solve this is much appreciated! Ideally, a keybinding configuration that includes an extra enter.

I have this problem when I upgraded IPython to version 7.30.1
The solution I found is that add "--simple-prompt", this is not perfect (just no color theme or auto completion), but at very least, you don't need to press enter when sending codes to run.

IPython is not officially supported by the Python extension and this is part of the reason: IPython's design simply requires you to press Enter an extra time based on how VS Code sends text into the terminal.

This is an issue with IPython's autoindent feature. You can disable this by passing --no-autoindent when launching IPython (i.e. ipython --no-autoindent).
edit: added gif.

I was annoyed by this quirk in vs-code too.
I noticed that when using a python virtual environment (I use pipenv) my selected line was executed in an Ipython terminal and no extra Enter key press was needed.
To reproduce or test out:
Launch VS Code
Open a python file and a terminal window
In the terminal run pipenv shell (requires pip install pipenv && pipenv install ipython)
Then in the terminal run ipython (or ipython --no-autoindent)
Select a line in your python file and from a vs-code command palette execute Terminal: Run Selected Text in Active Terminal (or use a keyboard shortcut)

iPython automatically at launch in Visual Studio Code on Os X

I would like that iPython run automatically when I launch VSC instead of typing ipython and press enter in the terminal. The answer here How to set ipython/jupyter as the default python terminal for vscode? doesn't work as it is for windows but it shouldn't be really different. Also, is there something similar to the 'Execute' button in Spyder instead of typing %run filename ? Thanks !

I presume you mean you want to run the "Python Interactive Window" and not just an iPython console on startup
There is currently no way to run it on startup. At least no way without writing another extension that would run a command when opening a workspace. It would be simple for us to add one though. Probably a workspace setting. Can you log an issue here:
https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-python/issues/new
For you second question, 'Execute' in spyder, we have 'Run Current File in Python Interactive Window'. This works on any python file. You can get to it through the context menu on a file or through the command palette.

Sadly the nice workflow of spyder is not provided by any official extension at the moment (as far as I know).
But you can implement the basics easily on your own by writing an extension. Even with no experience in TypeScript you can quickly build an extension which starts an IPython console as soon as you open a python file. I also managed to execute a startup script which implements the runfile method. VS Code also allows keybindings for your functions, so that you can almost work like you can with spyder.
Spyder modified the IPython terminal quite a bit though, so it won't feel exactly the same. But after all, everything there is open source so you could implement it yourself, which is what I'm trying to do in my free time.

Attach external system terminal into Spyder

I have been running into a trouble whereby Spyder IPython console is not producing Matplotlib figures as desired. I thought initially that there is something wrong in my code since jupyter notebook gives me the same wrong figures. However, when running the script in Spyder using external terminal the figures are produced as desired. Also, when I run the code in VSC the correct figures are displayed.
So the only option I am left with in Spyder is to use the external terminal to execute the code. However, it is quite a pain every time to run some codes and then manually close the terminal.
I would like to know if there is a way to permanently attach the external terminal inside Spyder? I hate the IPython console when it comes to plotting matplotlib figures!!

(Spyder maintainer here) Sorry but there's no way to dock an external Python terminal inside Spyder.

how can I configure PyCharm so that running a Python script file is visible for Python Console

I am writing Python scripts in Pycharm with IPython installed. So I can use Python Console in Pycharm to type Python commands and check the immediate output of the codes. However, when I run a script file after pressing 'Run' button (Shift+F10), all the variables and functions are not visible to the Python Console. This is, however, the feature of Spyder, another popular Python IDE. So here is my question: how can I configure Pycharm so that running a Python script file is visible for Python Console? Thanks

You could also run the part of your code you want to test/check in the console by selecting it and then right clicking and clicking on "Execute Selection in Console Alt-Shift-E". That's what I use sometimes when the debugger is not helpful. After running the code (you can also just "run" functions or classes) the console knows the functions and you can use the same features that Spyder has. However, be aware that when you change the code you need to run it in the console once to update the console definitions!

You can not. But you can use pdb (which will break code execution where you need it and you will be able to do the same things, as in the Python Console).
And, which is better and more powerful, you can use PyCharm's debugger. It represents all available variables in tree-like structures and is really handy.

Interactive matplotlib through Eclipse PyDev

This is a follow up to this interactive matplolib through eclipse thread which is about 2 years old, I was wondering if there has been any progress in the meantime.
I am running the IPython console in a console window in Eclipse PyDev, but I am unable to get the same interactive plotting features with matplotlib as if I were to run IPython in a (Windows) command prompt outside Eclipse PyDev. Here is how the two compare:
A) Running IPython in a shell outside Eclipse PyDev
Run IPython in a Windows command prompt with "ipython --pylab"
Within the IPython console enter "plot([1,2,3])". This will open a figure plot window and the IPython console is ready for further commands (without having to close the figure plot window).
For example, I can enter "xlabel('years')" and this will update my figure plot window.
B) Running IPython in an interactive console within Eclipse PyDev
Enter the following in the IPython interactive console within Eclipse PyDev:
"from pylab import *"
"plot([1,2,3])" --> Figure plot window does not show up.
I have to enter "show()" to open the figure plot window. But now the problem is that as long as I keep the figure plot window open, the IPython console does not accept any new commands.
So I close the figure plot window, enter "xlabel('years')", followed by "show()" again. This will re-open the figure plot window with "years" as my axis label, but the plot itself is empty and does not show the [1,2,3] data anymore.
With this behaviour, A) is clearly superior to B), but I would like to keep working in Eclipse PyDev because I like always having the variables list on my screen (without having to run a command to show all variables like when running IPython form a windows shell). Using Wicked Shell, as suggested in the other thread, does not work (IPython does not work properly in Wicked Shell).
How can I configure IPython in Eclipse PyDev so that it shows the same interactive behavior as if I would run it in a windows command prompt?

You can solve this problem by selecting a GUI for the Interactive Console in PyDev Preference.
Eclipse -> Window -> Preferences -> Pydev -> Interactive Console -> Enable GUI event loop integration.
In my case, I chose PyQt (qt/qt4)

Apologies for the potentially incomplete answer, but hopefully I will be able to shed some light on the problem.
I believe that the one that the OP describes is normal behaviour. In fact, starting from the command line ipython, importing pylab and issuing a plot command produces exactly the blocking behaviour described, so this is not related to pydev or eclipse. The fact is that show in matplotlib is blocking in interactive mode; when you use matplotlib in a ipython session started as "ipython --pylab", you are taking advantage of some "hacks" that the ipython developers did for you around matplotlib, allowing to have both an interactive mode and non blocking calls. However, importing pylab is not enough to apply these "hacks". PyDev does not seems to allow flags to the interpreter call, so one can't directly invoke "ipython --pylab".
Luckily, ipython has a special command "pylab" that applies the hacks and imports pylab even if the interpreter was not started with the pylab flag. So you can just try to type "pylab" inside the console (actually, you can even customize your pydev console so that it is done automatically) and you should get the desired behaviour. However, I must report that while this works fine for me from a ipython session started from the command line, something goes wrong when I try to do the same from inside Eclipse. The command doesn't block, I get the python icon but the matplotlib window doesn't show up. For the records, I am on a Mac running Snow Leopard. I am not able to tell if the same problem happens also in Windows, that the OP seems to be using.

I achieve similar behave in Eclipse PyDev by executing plotting function in another thread:
import threading
from pylab import *
import matplotlib.animation as animation
import time
x = array(range(0,1000))/100
y = sin(x)
def updateData(self):
ax.set_data(x,y)
def MyThread():
global ax
fig, axarr = subplots(1)
ax, = axarr.plot(x,y)
simulation = animation.FuncAnimation(fig, updateData)
show()
t = threading.Thread(target=MyThread)
t.start()
# console stay active, user can interactively control figure
time.sleep(1)
y = sin(2*x)
time.sleep(2)
ax.get_axes().grid()
ax.get_axes().set_xlabel("time")
Tested with toolchain Eclipse 4.3, PyDev 2.7.1, Python 3.2, IPython 0.13

Just use the %matplotlibmagic-command to activate interactive plotting (exactly what you described).
The pylab command imports numpy.* and pylab.*, seriously polluting your global namespace.