How can I do an "if run from ipython" test in Python?

Question

To ease debugging from Ipython, I include the following in the beginning of my scripts

from IPython.Debugger import Tracer
debug = Tracer()

However, if I launch my script from the command line with

$ python myscript.py

I get an error related to Ipython. Is there a way to do the following

if run_from_ipython():
    from IPython.Debugger import Tracer
    debug = Tracer()

This way I only import the Tracer() function when I need it.

Tom Dunham · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-21 11:33:49Z

59

This is probably the kind of thing you are looking for:

def run_from_ipython():
    try:
        __IPYTHON__
        return True
    except NameError:
        return False

answered Mar 21, 2011 at 11:33

Tom Dunham

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1 Comment

More detailed IPython configuration detection (whether pylab is loaded and in inline mode) is discussed here: stackoverflow.com/questions/15341757/…

Jan Hudec · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-21 11:31:54Z

13

The Python way is to use exceptions. Like:

try:
    from IPython.Debugger import Tracer
    debug = Tracer()
except ImportError:
    pass # or set "debug" to something else or whatever

answered Mar 21, 2011 at 11:31

Jan Hudec

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+1 is more common in Python to try things instead of testing things