A simple module for Python2/3 to print and refresh multi line output contents in terminal


Keywords
multi, line, print, value, binding, refresh
License
Apache-2.0
Install
pip install reprint==0.6.0

Documentation

reprint reprint

reprint is a Python 2/3 module for binding variables and refreshing multi-line output in terminal.

The solution for calculating Unicode char width is from urwid

中文版README

Features

  • Python 2/3 support
  • Simple variable bindings and automatic command line refresh upon variable change
  • Simultaneous multi-line refresh with each line binded to different variables
  • Robust thread safety with threading.Lock

Setup

pip install reprint

DEMO

Demo_gif

Guidance

  1. Import the output object
from reprint import output
  1. Use with block to control the initialization, output object contains the following parameters:

    • output_type: "list" or "dict" (default: "list"), indicating the list mode or the dict mode.
    • initial_len: int (default: 1), only works in the list mode, indicating the initial length of the list. It's for modifying the content by index without initialization.
    • interval: int (default: 0), the minimal refresh interval (in millisecond). The refresh function call will be ignored unless at least this amount of time has passed since last refresh.
    with output(output_type="list", initial_len=1, interval=0) as output_list:
  2. Changing the variables in output_list will trigger the refresh of the command line output.

Note

  • In the with block, any print/logging/Exception commands that print texts on terminal would ruin the format of the reprint output. If you need to append some content to the end of the output, use append function in the output object (works both in the list or the dict mode).

  • Don't assign a new list or dict to the output object. If you want to change the whole list or dict, use change function in the output object (works both in the list or the dict mode).

  • Old messages will not be fully wiped out if the height of the output is larger than the height of the terminal window. So you should control the length of your output.

    • Or you may use the force_single_line mode to force the output to stay in single line.
    with output(output_type="list", initial_len=1, interval=0, force_single_line=True) as output_list:
  • The initialization of threading should be in the with block if you use reprint in threading.

  • When used in non-terminal environment, reprint will use the built-in print function.

  • Does not work in the IDLE terminal, and any other environment that doesn't provide terminal_size.

FAQ

Q: I want to use customize 'sort function' for dict mode to sort output lines, what should I do?

A: You can use that parameter name sort_key when initializing the output object, such as:

with output(output_type='dict', sort_key=lambda x:x[1]) as output_lines:

then reprint will use that function as the key parameter in the sorted function

elif isinstance(content, dict):
    for k, v in sorted(content.items(), key=sort_key):
        print("{}: {}".format(k, v))

Q: How to disable all warning?

A: You can use that parameter name no_warning when initializing the output object, such as:

with output(no_warning=True) as output_list: