Difference between revisions of "ICalico"

Revision as of 12:18, 8 April 2014

ICalico is a new method of interacting with Calico. In addition, a host of new functionality is available.

Installation

1. Install IPython version 2.0.0 or greater
   • http://ipython.org/install.html
   • Make sure that ipython is in your path
   • On Windows: PATH=%PATH%;c:\Python27\Scripts
2. Install Calico version 3.0.0 or greater
   • Calico Download
   • Put Calico where it will live before going on
3. Start IPython with Calico profile
   • icalico

A web page should open up which will allow you to enter scripts and Calico "magic" commands (see below).

Trouble shooting

If a webpage opens, you should see:

1. the purple Calico butterfly logo in the upper-left corner
2. if you type calico in a cell and evaluate it (control+enter) it should respond back with the Calico version number, like <Calico version 3.0.0>

If a webpage does not open, some things to check:

1. Is IPython in your path?
2. Do you have a default web browser?
3. On Linux, is Mono on your path?

Other questions? Please ask on the calico-users mailing list.

If you move the Calico folder, you should re-create a new Calico profile:

1. cd Calico
2. calico --create-profile

A personal note on Mac installation: To install and run on a Mac, I had to:

1. install zmqlib from source
2. put mono on path

Getting Started

For an introduction to this manner of interacting with programs, please see:

http://nbviewer.ipython.org/urls/bitbucket.org/ipre/calico/raw/master/notebooks/Calico%20Overview.ipynb

Documentation

Technically, ICalico is a "IPython kernel". However, of course ICalico can operate using any of a number of languages.

Magics

ICalico magics are "meta" commands: commands for the ICalico system, separate from any Calico language.

• One preceding percent sign indicates a "magic line command" (applies to just the line)
• Two preceding percent signs indicates a "magic cell command" (applies to just the cell)
• Three preceding percent sign indicates a "magic notebook command" (applies from here to rest of notebook)

Any cell can have any number of magic commands, but they must all appear first, before any code.

%connect_info        - show ICalico JSON connection information
%download url [file] - download a URL to a file
%edit FILENAME       - edit a file in an external editor
%%file FILENAME      - create a filename with contents of cell
%%html               - treat the cell as HTML
%%javascript         - treat the cell as Javascript data
%lang                - get information on current language
%%lang LANGUAGE      - change language for just this cell
%%%lang LANGUAGE     - change language for rest of cells
%magic               - get information on magic meta-commands
%qtconsole           - start a qtconsole
%run FILENAME        - run a file (language determined by extension)
%%svg                - treat the cell as SVG data
%%time               - time how long it takes to run this cell

Display Functions

These are available from the calico object:

• display(item[, item]*) - display one or more items to the notebook output area
  • display_html(item)
  • display_javascript(item)
  • display_json(item)
  • display_svg(item)
  • display_png(item)
  • display_jpeg(item)
  • display_latex(item)
  • display_pdf(item)
• Audio(URI)
• HTML(string)
• Javascript(string)
• Latex(string)
• Math(string)
• Table()
• Image(URI)
• YouTubeVideo(id, width, height)
• IFrame(src)
• SVG(xml)
• FileLink(filename)
• FileLinks(directory)
• VimeoVideo(id)

Examples:

calico.display(calico.HTML("<b>This is bold!</b>"))

Widgets

Widgets allow for creating interactive interfaces, when connected to an executing kernel. All of the widgets are available from the calico object.

• BoundedFloatTextWidget
• BoundedIntTextWidget
• ButtonWidget
• CameraWidget
• CheckboxWidget
• ContainerWidget
• DropdownWidget
• FloatProgressWidget
• FloatSliderWidget
• FloatTextProgressWidget
• FloatTextWidget
• HTMLWidget
• ImageWidget
• IntProgressWidget
• IntSliderWidget
• IntTextWidget
• LatexWidget
• PasswordWidget
• PopupWidget
• RadioButtonsWidget
• SelectWidget
• SelectionWidget
• TextWidget
• TextareaWidget
• ToggleButtonWidget
• ToggleButtonsWidget

Container widgets:

• ContainerWidget
• PopupWidget
• AccordionWidget
• TabWidget

In addition, there are Javascript-based widgets:

• GeoChart
• LineChart
• ScatterChart

Examples:

from Widgets import Lines

lines = Lines(3) # three lines
for label, line in [["", [1, 2, 3]], 
                    ["", [5, 6, 7]],
                    ["", [2, 4, 5]]]:
    lines = Lines(lines, line, label)
calico.LineChart(lines, {"width": 800, "height": 300, "chartArea": {"width": 300}})