To work with the PyCRTools package it first has to be loaded. This can be done by starting Python or iPython and type the following at the prompt (>>>):
>>> import pycrtools as cr
which makes all PyCRTools functionality available under the namespace cr. If you don’t want to type the cr prefix for each PyCRTools function, and have all functionality available in the default namespace, type:
>>> from pycrtools import *
Note
The latter approach is not recommended as all PyCRTools functions get cluttered up in the current namespace possibly overwriting already existing functions.
Note
The previous note is only true if you are a computer specialist who cares about code purity. However, if you are a scientist, who wants to use the package interactively and you are interested in getting things done quickly, don’t hesitate to do it the easy way ...
For interactive use ipython is an alternative. Before the first use copy the respective profile file into your home directory:
mkdir ~/.ipython/
cp $LOFARSOFT/src/PyCRTools/extras/ipython_config_pycr.py ~/.ipython/
then start ipython (if you installed it):
ipython -p pycr
To make life easy you can (should) also define some aliases, e.g., in your .profile or .bashrc file.:
alias ipycr="ipython -p pycr"
alias pycr='python -i $LOFARSOFT/src/PyCRTools/scripts/pycrinit.py'
and then start with pycr or ipypcr.