How do I start ipython's qtconsole cleanly on

Question

I have python 3.4 and ipython 2.3.1 installed on Windows 7. I installed ipython using pip from a wheel from http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs/ (Thanks, Chris!). This install procedure does not create any start menu shortcuts, even when run as administrator. I can successfully run "ipython qtconsole" from a cmd window, but then I have to have that command window open and the process doesn't fork--it's just and extra window hosting the child process. If I create a shortcut to do the same, it opens a cmd window which then opens the qtconsole.

So, how do I start qtconsole without having an extra cmd window? In previous versions, you could invoke python to run the ipython-console script, but that seems to be done away with now, in favor of a dedicated exe that appears to do the same...but waits for it to finish. Is there a way I can start qtconsole without waiting?

Answer 1

I found something here, and then tried a few things and hence found that this does it if typed in the run window

c:\python27\pythonw -c "import IPython; IPython.start_ipython(['qtconsole'])"

I guess it should also work for shortcuts.

P.S: I am using python 2.7.9 with IPython 3.0.0 on windows 7

Answer 2

If you installed Python using Anaconda then such a shortcut already exists under the name Jupyter QTConsole.