Re: [matplotlib-devel] New flags in IPython, of interest to matplotlib users

On Dec 12, 2007 7:16 AM, Paul Kienzle <pki...@ni...> wrote:
> I'm curious about the term 'threading backend'.
>
> Recently I posted a question about how to handle slow plots, suggesting
> that the backend canvas have an isabort() method so that the renderer
> can stop what it is doing and post the current bitmap as it stands.
> This is to support interactive operations such as panning and resizing
> on large data collections.
>
> Do you mean something similar when you say 'threading backend', and is
> it already supported in IPython?

No, it just means that ipython can run in conjunction with the major
GUI toolkits in a non-blocking manner.  In a plain python shell, if
you open a plot window (for any backend other than Tk), you can't go
back to the prompt and keep typing until you close the plot.  IPython
allows that to happen, with Wx, GTK, Qt and Qt4.

Cheers,

f