agermanidis / livepython

Visually trace Python code in real-time.

Livepython

Watch your Python run like a movie.

NOTE: Livepython is alpha software. It doesn't handle a lot of edge cases and features may change.

Livepython is a desktop app that lets you visually trace, in real-time, the execution of a Python program. In addition, it can track changes in global and local variables as your program is running. Livepython is meant to give you a quick grasp of a program's execution flow. It's less messy than sprinkling print statements throughout your code and simpler to use than debuggers/profilers.

Livepython can be launched from the command-line as easily as:

livepython [program] [args...]

Controls:

SPACE: Play/Pause the program.

Left/Right Arrow: Change speed of execution.

V: Open/Close Variable Inspector.

Compatibility

Python Version	Compatible?
3.6	✅
3.5	✅
2.7	✅
2.6	❌

Installation

npm install livepython -g

Development

Livepython has 3 main components:

• a Python tracer that uses sys.settrace() to intercept every line of your program as it's being evaluated
• an Electron app that is responsible for the rendering the Livepython frontend
• a node.js gateway script that manages communication between the frontend and the tracer

If you want to make changes to Livepython, you will need to run webpack:

webpack

Then you can test your built version of livepython by running:

bin/livepython [your python program]

License

MIT

livepython's Issues

Do I need to install Node.js before running the livepython?

I didn't use node.js before,so when I use the livepython ,Note that I need to install the project by npm first. Is there a way to run livepython directly？

enhancement - expose dimensions of objects

https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder/blob/master/img_src/screenshot.png

It would be good if we could tweak this by one other thing - which is the dimensions / size of the array if the object in question responds to this.

README gif is disorienting

Just a bit of candid feedback... Seems like an awesome project, but the gif on the README is really confusing... I can't tell if you're scrolling up and down to show different lines lighting up? I also find myself trying to understand the intent of the source code itself, which, of course, is a fool's errand with all the jumping around.

What about using a simple, short program to showcase the program? Maybe a simple Euler problem or something like that.

enhancement - variable explorer - introspection on self

looking at the variable explorer - often there's a self reference. this wraps up a lot of properties and keeps things in the dark.

it would be awesome if this could be toggled and expanded to included the properties on class.
I believe this can be achieved with a dir() call.

unicode decode error

I can't launch it in my terminal, my system is windows 10, with python 3.6 and node v8.9.
the error is :

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\sytj1\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\livepython\bin/../tracer.py", line 189, in <module>
    code = compile(fp.read(), starting_filename, 'exec')
UnicodeDecodeError: 'gbk' codec can't decode byte 0x8c in position 89: illegal multibyte sequence```
I think this package can help me a lot, so I'm looking forward for your reply, thank you. 

Enhancement - don't close on completion

It would be handy to leave the windows open upon completion of the run, to allow time to look over the variable pane. Also, saving preferences (always show the variable pane, always show functions) would be useful.

Thanks!

newbie instructions on debugging electron app

I was going to dive into debugging / extending ticket - but would appreciate any pointers on running the app in debug mode with live tracer.

do I need electron-inspector?
https://electron.atom.io/docs/tutorial/debugging-main-process-node-inspector/

do i need?
require('electron-debug')({showDevTools: true});

enhancement - remove truncation of value

eg.
instead of
Tensor("rnn3/while/Identity_3:...

allow user to scroll to right to see larger value....

is there a memory limit on this ? or just a ui problem with css in electron I wonder.

webpack 3.12.0 - Invalid configuration object

Invalid configuration object. Webpack has been initialised using a configuration object that does not match the API schema.
 - configuration.module has an unknown property 'loaders'. These properties are valid:
   object { exprContextCritical?, exprContextRecursive?, exprContextRegExp?, exprContextRequest?, noParse?, rules?, defaultRules?, unknownContextCritical?, unknownContextRecursive?, unknownContextRegExp?, unknownContextRequest?, unsafeCache?, wrappedContextCritical?, wrappedContextRecursive?, wrappedContextRegExp?, strictExportPresence?, strictThisContextOnImports? }
   -> Options affecting the normal modules (`NormalModuleFactory`).
 - configuration.target should be one of these:
   "web" | "webworker" | "node" | "async-node" | "node-webkit" | "electron-main" | "electron-renderer" | function
   -> Environment to build for
   Details:
    * configuration.target should be one of these:
      "web" | "webworker" | "node" | "async-node" | "node-webkit" | "electron-main" | "electron-renderer"
    * configuration.target should be an instance of function

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49370849/configuration-module-has-an-unknown-property-loaders

fixed with rename of loaders -> rules

and

• configuration.target should be one of these:
  "web" | "webworker" | "node" | "async-node" | "node-webkit" | "electron-main" | "electron-renderer"

configuration.target -> electron-main

Allow replay of execution

Short running program

How would I use livepython to examine a short running program like an algorithm example? It seemed to exit immediately

is there a simple way to pipe input `<` to the script?

I like the python script.py < input.txt style on occasion

Obvious alternative: work the input file in as an argument,
just thought it might be obvious/doable itself :))

doesn't seem to work with 'livepython script.py < input.txt' just as a mention, it opens and steps through to the line with input() but the in isn't ... putting

livepython fails with "SyntaxError: Unexpected token {"

livepython foo.py 
/usr/local/lib/node_modules/livepython/bin/livepython:27
const { spawn } = require("child_process");
      ^

SyntaxError: Unexpected token {
    at exports.runInThisContext (vm.js:53:16)
    at Module._compile (module.js:374:25)
    at Object.Module._extensions..js (module.js:417:10)
    at Module.load (module.js:344:32)
    at Function.Module._load (module.js:301:12)
    at Function.Module.runMain (module.js:442:10)
    at startup (node.js:136:18)
    at node.js:966:3

is there an arg required or shortcut to see the variable inspector window?

otherwise it seems like macOS,10.13.1 doesn't want to play nice for me at least

problem: no variable inspector window is showing up when i run livepython script.py

UnicodeDecodeError: 'gbk' codec can't decode byte 0xa6 in position 549: illegal multibyte sequence

C:\ub16_prj>livepython yk-demo-mind.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\web\nvm\v11.6.0\node_modules\livepython\bin/../tracer.py", line 189, in
code = compile(fp.read(), starting_filename, 'exec')
UnicodeDecodeError: 'gbk' codec can't decode byte 0xa6 in position 549: illegal multibyte sequence

C:\ub16_prj>livepython3

plug in for spyder

hello,

I recently discovered livepython and I guess that you already know the spyder IDE, where is possible to add plug-in, having livepython in spyder would be great
https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder/wiki/User-plugins

I don't have the knowledge to do so but you may find this interesting

Full screen mode

enhancement - variable explorer - pandas / scipy / numpy - help wanted.

this maybe too hard -(feel free to close) just putting it out there

there's a full blown ide - spyder that can do this.
https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder

some screen shots.
https://gist.github.com/johndpope/187b0dd996d16152ace2f842d43e3990

not sure how this app works under the hood - but if you could hook into these somehow - it would be amazing. Microsoft threw this in the too hard basket (if you need any motivation).

microsoft/vscode#29971

also related
microsoft/PTVS#747

enhancement - force directed layout visualization of files/methods accessed

Hi @agermanidis - latest build is so good - and runs really smooth.
thanks so much for all your work. the variable explore is great!

so I'm thinking out loud here - but given the last suggestion was well received - going to take another stab.

I'm imagining a visualization of classes accessed like gource.io
(this requires c++ etc too heavy for electron - however d3 has a simple force directed graph)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNBtDstOTmA&t=44s

FORCE DIRECTED GRAPH
https://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/4062045

curves

when a file is imported an edge would be created in graph.
when a method is called - perhaps the link is highlighted.
a naive linking maybe the edge would be from parent class - to child class.
not sure best way to do this.

Specify which python interpreter to use

Seems to pick up default environment python, which could python2.7 or python3.5. Could you add option to specify the path to the interpreter as arg?

Pausing doesn't work on Windows

Reported by @AlfredQuan in #11.

Install fails on Mac M1

npm install doesn't work with M1 Mac.

Not able to input in console on Windows

System

Windows 7 x64
Python 3.6.1 on win32
[!] Not sure if this happens on other systems as well

Description

When running scripts containing an input()-function I am not able to input something and so the execution stops.

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a test.py with following content:

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-

x = input('Input something: ')
print(str(x))

2. Open console window and run with livepython

livepython test.py

3. Try to input something in the console window

她她她

便于大家了解

enhancement - on start up - throw error if script bombs out

usually just running python will uncover exceptions - but it would be great to propagate this out to console.

How can I run livepython in a Docker container?

I tried to run livepython in a docker image which I build (docker build -t livepython .) with the following Dockerfile.

# use base image which provides Python latest and Node 10.x
FROM nikolaik/python-nodejs:latest

# install livepython
RUN npm install livepython

# electron default port
EXPOSE 8080

# run livepython executable
ENTRYPOINT ["livepython"]
CMD ["--help"]

If I run the image (docker run -it livepython) the executable cannot be found docker: Error response from daemon: OCI runtime create failed: container_linux.go:348: starting container process caused "exec: \"livepython\": executable file not found in $PATH": unknown. I could not find an executable in the container. Can you help out?