I am trying to use the %ed magic in IPython to use vim as the editor.
- vim is installed
- ipython and ipython qtconsole both work
- zsh is latest as updated with my oh-my-zsh install
I exported my prefernce to zsh
$ echo "export EDITOR=/usr/bin/vim" >> ~/.zshrc
$ echo "export VISUAL=/usr/bin/vim" >> ~/.zshrc
However, when I launch IPython and then invoke the %ed magic it fails
In [1]: %ed
IPython will make a temporary file named: /tmp/ipython_edit_pu4Yql.py
Editing.../bin/sh: 1: mvim: not found
WARNING: Could not open editor
How do I get this to work?
Try using IPython's profile configuration as a means of specifying editor. To do this:
Firstly, generate default configuration files:
$ ipython profile create
Next, find your ~/.ipython/profile_default/..._config.py
file to edit. For example on IPython 2.4.1,
$ vim ~/.ipython/profile_default/ipython_config.py
Find the commented-out .editor
setting, un-comment, and set it to vim
. For example in IPython 2.4.1, this would look like
c.TerminalInteractiveShell.editor = 'vim'
You will now find when you start IPython, you can %ed
and it will call up vim:
$ ipython
Python 2.7.11+ (default, Feb 22 2016, 16:38:42)
Type "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
IPython 2.4.1 -- An enhanced Interactive Python.
? -> Introduction and overview of IPython's features.
%quickref -> Quick reference.
help -> Python's own help system.
object? -> Details about 'object', use 'object??' for extra details.
In [1]: %ed
IPython will make a temporary file named: /tmp/ipython_edit_Tze8Ur/ipython_edit
_gghQG5.py
Editing... done. Executing edited code...
It works
Out[1]: 'print "It works"\n'
In [2]:
Explanation
man ipython
:
FILES
IPython uses various configuration files stored in profiles within
IPYTHONDIR. To generate the default configuration files and start
configuring IPython, do 'ipython profile create', and edit '*_config.py' files located in IPYTHONDIR/profile_default.
IPYTHONDIR
according to man ipython
:
IPYTHONDIR
This is the location where IPython stores all its configuration files. The default is $HOME/.ipython if IPYTHONDIR is not defined.
You can see the computed value of IPYTHONDIR with ipython locate
.
Also I mention the version because settings seem different across some versions, for 2.4.1 the setting is called:
c.TerminalInteractiveShell.editor = ...
Whereas in the answer given at IPython setting text editor, this setting was named differently:
c.IPythonWidget.editor = ...
Since it seems different between versions, after you generate the default configuration files, check and see how it is written in your IPython version, and act accordingly.