[IPython-user] re set doesn't

[Robert Kern]

On 2009-12-09 20:14 PM, Dr. Phillip M. Feldman wrote:
>
> Robert Kern-2 wrote:
>>
>> On 2009-12-07 18:06 PM, Dr. Phillip M. Feldman wrote:
>>
>> 1. Imports of extension modules simply can't be undone in Python.
>
> This is obviously not the case.  When I kill Python and reload it, all
> module imports are gone (and all figure windows are closed).  Voila!

That's not what people usually mean when they say "reset the interpreter" or 
"unloading a module".

> The
> question is this: Is there a practical way to do this via a command?  I know
> that in Linux and Unix, a process can relaunch the executable with which it
> is associated, which wipes out all state and starts things over from the
> beginning.

That's not really a good description of what's going on. "Wiping out all state" 
usually implies that some non-state stuff, like the interpreter itself, remains. 
Similarly, "unloading a module" is usually taken to mean that the process 
continues to exist.

> So, in Linux and Unix implementations of Python, it should be
> possible to do this.  I'm not sure about Windows.

It's the same on Unix and Windows. You want something in the os.exec*() family 
of functions.

   http://docs.python.org/library/os#os.execl

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
  that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
  an underlying truth."
   -- Umberto Eco