[IPython-User] DISPLAY environment in IPython/matplotlib running in screen(1)?

[Frank Horowitz]

Hi All,

I have fallen into the habit of running large jobs via "ipython -pylab" remotely by ssh-ing into a screen(1) session. (More of "computational nudging" than true steering I'm afraid... ;-)

The problem is, sometimes when I disconnect and re-connect, the DISPLAY environment changes, so that I can't match the values for the (ongoing) IPython session. This leads to me being unable to use matplotlib interactively.

I've tried resetting the DISPLAY to match the new value using %env and  os.environ.data, but to no avail. The value being used by the backend (Tk apparently, possibly implying TkAgg, although I can't see where that is specified these days) stubbornly remains the same as to what it was set to upon first invocation.

What's the trickery for resetting the DISPLAY environment on-the-fly from within such a persistent "ipython -pylab" session?

TIA for any help you might be able to provide,
 
	Frank Horowitz
	frank@horow.net