i have a python module with a function:
def do_stuff(param1 = 'a'):
if type(param1) == int:
# enter python interpreter here
do_something()
else:
do_something_else()
is there a way to drop into the command line interpreter where i have the comment? so that if i run the following in python:
>>> import my_module
>>> do_stuff(1)
i get my next prompt in the scope and context of where i have the comment in do_stuff()?
If you want a standard interactive prompt (instead of the debugger, as shown by prestomation), you can do this:
import code
code.interact(local=locals())
See: the code module.
If you have IPython installed, and want an IPython shell instead, you can do this for IPython >= 0.11:
import IPython; IPython.embed()
or for older versions:
from IPython.Shell import IPShellEmbed
ipshell = IPShellEmbed()
ipshell(local_ns=locals())
code.interact(), a la PDB c(ontinue)?
code.interact() is a blocking call. Your program will stop and wait for it to finish. If you exit the interactive interpreter, your program should resume with the statement immediately following.
help function is overridden, etc.Inserting
import pdb; pdb.set_trace()
will enter the python debugger at that point
See here: http://docs.python.org/library/pdb.html
pdb is great vanilla python; if you have room for bringing in an external package, ipdb is great -- same functionality as the debugger, but with the syntax highlighting, tab completion, etc of ipython
ipdb was deprecated, nowadays I use pdbpp (pdb++), which has similar features, and works with import pdb; pdb.set_trace() (i.e. it patches that import, so it is a drop-in replacement)
ipdb was deprecated? I can't find any news of that.ipdb before, but have enjoyed pdbpp since
! to avoid name clashes with pdb commands. So !list([1, 2]) will work as you expect. To enter multiline statements, you can use pdb's interact command, which is equivalent to code.interact(local={**globals(), **locals()}).If you want a default Python interpreter, you can do
import code
code.interact(local=dict(globals(), **locals()))
This will allow access to both locals and globals.
If you want to drop into an IPython interpreter, the IPShellEmbed solution is outdated. Currently what works is:
from IPython import embed
embed()
code.interact(local=dict(globals(), **locals())) is so much better than code.interact(local=locals()) because the latter makes you re-import packages
Update for 2023: breakpoint() is included since py3.7 and will drop you into the debugger (pdb by default).
If you have other debuggers installed (ipdb, pdbpp, ... to name a few) then breakpoint() will instead drop you into those.
Please see these docs for more info: https://docs.python.org/3/library/pdb.html
