This Engineering Notebook post rethinks what Leo's IPython bridge (in 
*leoIPython.py*) must be.

Leo's IPython bridge has likely not worked for years. Imo, the bridge has 
never been much more than a toy. As a result, I feel free to re-imagine 
everything about Leo's relationship to IPython.


*Goals and requirements*

*I'll retire leoIPython.py unless Leo can become an easy-to-use IPython 
notebook. * 

- Leo and IPython must run without blocking each other.
- IPython must have access to c, g and p.

*Managing event loops*

As an experiment, I tried running this Leonine script:

import IPython
IPython.embed()

As expected, this script starts IPython in the console window from which 
Leo launched. And IPython does have access to c, g and p!

In [1]: c
Out[1]: Commander 1439643722256: 'c:/Repos/leo-editor/leo/core/leoPy.leo'
In [2]: g
Out[2]: <module 'leo.core.leoGlobals' from 
'C:\\Repos\\leo-editor\\leo\\core\\leoGlobals.py'>
In [3]: p
Out[3]: <pos 1439662055744 childIndex: 6 lvl: 0 key: 1439726600784:6 embed>

Alas, Leo hangs until IPython quits. So more work is needed :-)

*Managing namespaces*

A new Leo command, *execute-ipython-script*, should execute p.b in a 
namespace that includes all names known to the running IPython instance.

Similarly, IPython must have access to c, g and p *without *using embed.

*Packaging*

Leo's present *--ipython* command-line arg starts Leo in a ipython console 
window. I would like to retire this arg: it's clumsy and adds nothing 
essential.

Instead, a new Leo command, say *launch-ipython*, would:

- Exit with a warning if importing ipython fails.
- Launch (once) IPython in the console from which Leo was launched. 

*Summary*

Leo's IPython bridge is little more than a toy. Worse, leoIPython.py has 
not worked for years. I shall retire leoIPython.py unless Leo can become a 
straightforward, easy-to-use IPython notebook. This notebook must:

- block neither IPython nor Leo.
- give IPython access to c, g and p.
- have an execute-ipython-script command.

It remains an open question whether these goals are attainable. I have 
hopes: IPython's API (fully accessible from Leo) has many features relating 
to embedding IPython into applications.

All comments and questions are welcome.

Edward

P.S. Running Leo from Leo's bridge is not the answer. We could avoid 
clashing event loops by embedding Leo's bridge (in *leoBridge.leo*) into 
IPython. But giving IPython access to Leo via Leo's bridge would add almost 
nothing to IPython!

EKR

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