Cookbook: Dynamic prompt - ShuaiYAN/ipython GitHub Wiki
This assumes IPython 0.12
I used IPython to create a custom shell for a project at work. I wanted the prompt to show some status information about the state of the system it was controlling.
ED: I've changed these examples to use the config system. You can do the same things with an embedded instance of IPython .
First, we change the default ipython_config.py file, adding these lines:
# _foobar will be the part of the prompt we control c.PromptManager.in_template = "[{_foobar}]\n[\#]>>> " c.PromptManager.in2_template = ".\D.>>> " c.PromptManager.out_template = "[\#]<<< "
Next, we prepare our variable, ensuring it has a `__str__()` method for the prompt formatter to call:
This code goes in a startup file. Create a file such as `foobar_prompt.py` in `profile_default/startup/`
class FoobarPrompt(object):
var = "foo"
def __str__(self):
if self.var.lower() in ["foo", "bar"]:
return self.var
else:
return "UNKNOWN"
_foobar = FoobarPrompt()
del FoobarPrompt
Expected output:
$ ipython
[foo]
[1]>>> _foobar.var = "blah"
[UNKNOWN]
[2]>>> _foobar.var = "BAR"
[BAR]
[3]>>> _foobar
[3]<<< <__main__.FoobarPrompt at 0x25c2f90>
[BAR]
[4]>>>
You can also automatically set the state from the `pre_run_code_hook` (gets run every time code is executed) or the `pre_prompt_hook` (gets run just before the prompt is printed).
def update_prompt(self):
"Switch prompt between 'foo' and 'bar'."
_foobar = self.user_ns['_foobar']
_foobar.var = "foo" if (_foobar.var != "foo") else "bar"
get_ipython().set_hook("pre_prompt_hook", update_prompt)
Finally, there are a number of built in prompt variables:
Short | Long | Notes |
---|---|---|
%n, \# | {color.number}{count}{color.prompt} | history counter with bolding |
\N | {count} | history counter without bolding |
\D | {dots} | series of dots the same width as the history counter |
\T | {time} | current time |
\w | {cwd} | current working directory |
\W | {cwd_last} | basename of CWD |
\Xn | {cwd_x[n]} | Show the last n terms of the CWD. n=0 means show all. |
\Yn | {cwd_y[n]} | Like \Xn, but show '~' for $HOME |
\h | N/A | hostname, up to the first '.' |
\H | N/A | full hostname |
\u | N/A | username (from the $USER environment variable) |
\v | N/A | IPython version |
\$ | N/A | root symbol ("$" for normal user or "#" for root) |
\\ | N/A | escaped '\' |
\n | N/A | newline |
\r | N/A | carriage return |
On terminals supporting ANSI color switching, you can also use the following color variables:
# attributes of IPython.utils.coloransi.InputTermColors
{color.Black} {color.Green}
{color.BlinkBlack} {color.LightBlue}
{color.BlinkBlue} {color.LightCyan}
{color.BlinkCyan} {color.LightGray}
{color.BlinkGreen} {color.LightGreen}
{color.BlinkLightGray} {color.LightPurple}
{color.BlinkPurple} {color.LightRed}
{color.BlinkRed} {color.Purple}
{color.BlinkYellow} {color.Red}
{color.Blue} {color.White}
{color.Brown} {color.Yellow}
{color.Cyan} {color.Normal} (resets to terminal default)
{color.DarkGray} (try {color.normal} if above doesn't work)
c.PromptManager.in_template = "{color.LightGreen} \T {color.Yellow} \Y2 "
will produce a prompt with green time and yellow CWD.