ipython notebook: show compile LaTeX inplace

[dkrenn]

I also want to discourage the view() command, right now it is just spaghetti code that does different things depending on the time of the day. So I propose to use latex(...).compile() as an idiom to typeset LaTeX code.

See also https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/sage-devel/1ozhg8pHXL4

Depends on #17821
Depends on #17942

CC: @paulmasson @JeremiasE

Component: notebook

Keywords: ipython, latex, tikz, sd66

Author: Volker Braun

Branch/Commit: u/vbraun/pdf_wrapper @ 17529b3

Issue created by migration from https://trac.sagemath.org/ticket/18116

[dkrenn]

Changed keywords from ipython, latex, tikz to ipython, latex, tikz, sd66

[vbraun]

Branch: u/vbraun/pdf_wrapper

[vbraun]

comment:4

Basic implementation works...

---

New commits:

c475636	Wrapper for PDF Documents
1f50df6	Switch LaTeX output to the new PDF Document wrapper

[vbraun]

Commit: 1f50df6

[vbraun]

Author: Volker Braun

[sagetrac-git]

Changed commit from 1f50df6 to a6f2fa0

[sagetrac-git]

Branch pushed to git repo; I updated commit sha1. New commits:

a6f2fa0

forgot debug output

[dkrenn]

comment:6

show(T) stopped working (here I mean that it worked in sagenb showing the transducer inline and before this patch in ipython-notebook by showing it externally as pdf). It would be great if this gives the same as latex(T).compile(), since its docstring says "Show a graphics object x.".

Best wishes

Daniel

[vbraun]

comment:7

Launching an external viewer from the notebook server process equals NOT working in my book. So show(T) never worked in the ipython notebook, and this ticket doesn't change that.

The correct way to get graphical output is T.plot(). The fact that this cannot produce the graphics that you want is a bug in the finite state machine code.

The show docstring is correct, it'll show a Graphics object if you provide one. If you don't give it a graphics object then you won't get a picture.

[dkrenn]

comment:8

Replying to @vbraun:

Launching an external viewer from the notebook server process equals NOT working in my book. So show(T) never worked in the ipython notebook, and this ticket doesn't change that.

On my installations the command

T = transducers.GrayCode()
show(T)

does the following:

• 6.6.rc1 ipython-notebook: open and show the LaTeX-formatted output in external viewer (as pdf).

• 6.6.rc1 sagenb: show LaTeX-formatted output inline.

• 6.6.rc2+ipython notebook: show compile LaTeX inplace #18116 ipython-notebook: does nothing.

[vbraun]

comment:9

Thats because #17821 will first have to fix show

[vbraun]

Dependencies: #17821

[seblabbe]

Hi Daniel,

Replying to @dkrenn:

I also want to discourage the view() command, right now it is just spaghetti code that does different things depending on the time of the day.
So I propose to use latex(...).compile() as an idiom to typeset LaTeX code.

First, to me the following facts are all completely independent:
A. discourage the use of view()
B. view() is spaghetti code
C. propose latex(...).compile()
So one can't use A or B to suggest C.

Second, I have never liked in Sage the fact that there plenty of ways of drawing things. For an outside person, it is tough to understand the difference plot, show and view ? To me there should be one fonction to do them all. For that reason, I do not like the idea of proposing a fourth one being latex(...).compile() or anything else.

That being said, I really like the idea of being able to show tikz pictures in the ipython notebook.

[dkrenn]

comment:11

Replying to @vbraun:

I also want to discourage the view() command, right now it is just spaghetti code that does different things depending on the time of the day.

Ok, then the code should change.

So I propose to use latex(...).compile() as an idiom to typeset LaTeX code.

To me it is not clear from the command that this will show a picture.

[dkrenn]

comment:12

Replying to @seblabbe:

Second, I have never liked in Sage the fact that there plenty of ways of drawing things. For an outside person, it is tough to understand the difference plot, show and view ? To me there should be one fonction to do them all. For that reason, I do not like the idea of proposing a fourth one being latex(...).compile() or anything else.

I agree.

[vbraun]

comment:13

latex(...).compile() does not show a picture, it generates a PDF document. The document wrapper object pretty-prints graphically. You can also assign it to a variable, save as a pdf file, etc. In the latter case no picture is shown. Just like graphics objects (the return values of plot, for example)

You can't solve the "its impossible to guess the difference between view/show/pretty_print" conundrum without getting rid of 2 of them (or making them aliases, at least).

[vbraun]

comment:14

Also, show acts immediately, like print. Plot does not act immediately, it returns a graphics object that you can use elsewhere and need not result in graphical output.

In other words: its the difference between

def f():
    print 'hello'

and

def f():
   return 'hello'

[dkrenn]

comment:15

Replying to @vbraun:

Also, show acts immediately, like print. Plot does not act immediately, it returns a graphics object that you can use elsewhere and need not result in graphical output.

I see; thanks for this clearification.

[dkrenn]

comment:16

Replying to @vbraun:

latex(...).compile() does not show a picture, it generates a PDF document. The document wrapper object pretty-prints graphically. You can also assign it to a variable, save as a pdf file, etc. In the latter case no picture is shown. Just like graphics objects (the return values of plot, for example)

You can't solve the "its impossible to guess the difference between view/show/pretty_print" conundrum without getting rid of 2 of them (or making them aliases, at least).

So view(A) does (or should do) the same as show(latex(A).compile()). Or am I wrong? If yes, can we just replace the code of view by this command?

[dkrenn]

comment:17

Would it be possible to have an arguemtn to show which says to look for latex-output? ...like show(A, what='latex') (with a better name)

[dkrenn]

comment:18

Anyhow, should the discussion about view be on another ticket (and/or on sage-devel)? My motivation for opening this ticket was to have inline-plots for tikz, which works with .compile().

[vbraun]

comment:19

Making view an alias for show(latex(..).compile()) doesn't make it one bit more self-explanatory.

The only real alternative is make latex objects display graphically by default, i.e.

sage: latex(1/2)

would use the displayhook to show mathjax or pdf. Thats possible, but I think many people use latex to generate latex code to paste into their articles and not to get cute pictures in the notebook.

[dkrenn]

comment:20

Replying to @vbraun:

Making view an alias for show(latex(..).compile()) doesn't make it one bit more self-explanatory.

True. (But having something (a function?) similar is/will be very handy.)

[seblabbe]

comment:21

Replying to @vbraun:

The only real alternative is make latex objects display graphically by default, i.e.

sage: latex(1/2)

would use the displayhook to show mathjax or pdf.

+1, there should be a method of LatexExpr that shows it pretty like LatexExpr.__pprint__ that is used by the displayhook thing.

Thats possible, but I think many people use latex to generate latex code to paste into their articles and not to get cute pictures in the notebook.

Well, they could still do:

sage: latex(1/2) # shows graphically
sage: print latex(1/2) # prints the source

[vbraun]

comment:22

Replying to @seblabbe:

+1, there should be a method of LatexExpr that shows it pretty like LatexExpr.__pprint__ that is used by the displayhook thing.

You say that because the objects that you are interested in have a broken plot() method, so you prefer graphical output generated by compiling latex. What if plot would actually work in the first place (i.e. have a proper tikz backend for Graphics objects)

[seblabbe]

comment:23

Replying to @vbraun:

You say that because the objects that you are interested in have a broken plot() method, so you prefer graphical output generated by compiling latex. What if plot would actually work in the first place (i.e. have a proper tikz backend for Graphics objects)

1. Through the years, I have been used in Sage for the plot() method to return a Graphics() object (and not anything else). If it can be made more general, why not?

2. I have used cases where I use both : plot() method for returning a Graphics or a Graphics3D sage object and _latex_() method for returning the tikz code. This is the case for instance for polyhedron in Sage where you can first use jmol to choose a nice projection and then create the tikz code using a chosen projection. Therefore, if plot() can now return output generated by latex, I still want it to draw my other Graphics sage object output maybe using some other arguments.

3. I think we don't have to hide the object LatexExpr to the user. I mean view or plot or show could just return the compiled default latex expression. But sometimes (graph for instance), there are many latex output (depending on which graphviz program I use). So, to me it is not the object that I draw, it is a latex expression. Therefore, there should be still a way to obtain the latex expression of an object and then draw it.

[vbraun]

comment:24

Plot should still return a graphics object. I'm saying that graphics objects should support tikz (next to matplotlib) to draw graph-type graphics objects. Just like 3-d graphcs objects can be rendered in different ways.

[sagetrac-git]

Branch pushed to git repo; I updated commit sha1. New commits:

8577e87	Refactor pretty_print/show to use the rich output system
42f4985	remove the unused and broken print_or_typeset
70e4d3a	fix doctest in symbolic expression show()
6278235	Merge tag '6.7.beta1' into #17821
41f0a57	fix broken docstring
43b77c1	Merge #17821 into #18116
b3e55dc	add a pdf.show(dpi=...) method

[sagetrac-git]

Changed commit from a6f2fa0 to b3e55dc

[vbraun]

Changed dependencies from #17821 to #17821, #17942

[sagetrac-git]

Branch pushed to git repo; I updated commit sha1. New commits:

91830de	Initial implementation of a download link in the IPython notebook
16cb948	Add SageNB support, automatic download in the ipython notebook
e9ad72a	fix doctests
abaf94b	Merge branch 'develop' into #17942
18968d0	Merge Sage-6.7.beta2 into #17942
c9f1718	fix documentation build
ed9898d	documentation fix
4360b79	Merge #17942 into #18116
6c1b02a	implement pdf.save

[sagetrac-git]

Changed commit from b3e55dc to 6c1b02a

[vbraun]

comment:28

This is now ready for review. I'll leave SVG support for later (#18280)

[seblabbe]

comment:29

The branch does not apply since sage-6.8.beta3.

[dkrenn]

comment:30

There is some kind of solution to the original problem of this ticket at #19515. The original problem was:

view(latex(transducers.GrayCode())) 

shows the transducer inplace in sagenb but it is a pitty that this does not work in the ipython notebook.

latex(transducers.GrayCode())

writes tikz-code.

[sagetrac-git]

Changed commit from 6c1b02a to 17529b3

[sagetrac-git]

Branch pushed to git repo; I updated commit sha1. New commits:

e4d709f	Merge in sage-7.2
17529b3	Fix doctest failures

[vbraun]

comment:32

Updated...

[paulmasson]

comment:33

Merge conflict with 7.4.beta5