Cookbook: Macro arguments - ShuaiYAN/ipython GitHub Wiki

It's now (svn rev 2337) possible to call macros with arguments on the command line. This is handy if you have constructed an elaborate macro and want to %edit it to be more generic - specify different target directories to copy files etc.

The arguments to macros are always contained in IPython user namespace, in _margv list variable, created using the normal IPython autocall handling.

Here we create a macro that takes an argument by "simulating" the argument passing on the first run (line #1):

[C:\ipython]|1> _margv = (34,)
[C:\ipython]|2> print "hello",_margv[0]
hello 34
[C:\ipython]|3> macro morjensta 2
Macro `morjensta` created. To execute, type its name (without quotes).
Macro contents:
print "hello",_margv[0]

[C:\ipython]|4> morjensta "jukka"
hello jukka
[C:\ipython]|6> hist
1: _margv = (34,)
2: print "hello",_margv[0]
3: _ip.magic("macro morjensta 2")
4: morjensta("jukka")
5: print "hello",_margv[0]
6: _ip.magic("hist ")
[C:\ipython]|7>

Of course you can't now call the macro without arguments anymore:

[C:\ipython]|9> morjensta
C:\ipython\<ipython console> in <module>()
<type 'exceptions.IndexError'>: tuple index out of range