Understanding how python.execSelectionInTerminal works

[matiasandina]

I have been having some hiccups with python.execSelectionInTerminal. I mapped it to CTRL + ENTER as a shortcut.
I am unsure my expected behavior is the actual way this works.

Open a new file, type

print("hello")  # CTRL enter

Results:

Opens a new terminal window, initiates REPL, and runs the code.

I take this is the intended behavior. But I find it to be in conflict with different situations

Previously initiated python

If initiate python on the terminal. Hitting CTRL + ENTER will create a new terminal window just as above.

Working on a different directory

If I first cd into a folder on the terminal and then hit CTRL + ENTER, a new terminal window will be created, just as above in the same dir as the first time around. This is an immediate problem since the scripts will not find the proper objects in path.

Hacks

To be able to have CTRL + ENTER go to the proper terminal and the proper working directory, I have to first initiate the repl, then exit, then change dirs, then run again. I don't believe this is by design, but I might be wrong.

# first CTRL+ENTER here
matias@choilab:~$ /bin/python3
Python 3.10.12 (main, Nov 20 2023, 15:14:05) [GCC 11.4.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> print('hello')
hello
>>> quit()
# try to change dir
matias@choilab:~$ cd trial
# second CTRL + ENTER here sends stuff to bash terminal <- massive issue when sending many multiple python lines
matias@choilab:~/trial$ print('hello')
bash: syntax error near unexpected token `'hello''
# Have to manually start the REPL again
matias@choilab:~/trial$ python3
Python 3.10.12 (main, Nov 20 2023, 15:14:05) [GCC 11.4.0] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
# third CTRL + ENTER work now
>>> print('hello')
hello

I am not making use of changing the directory inside python since this is to illustrate that python.execSelectionInTerminal somehow cares about having an initiated terminal window called Python with the cmd icon and only then any python.execSelectionInTerminal will go to the desired terminal. It seems that you can only have one active terminal and all code will go there (you cannot have code going into different python instances from different files).

The most pressing issue is when running code that lives under several folders /root/module1/module1.py, /root/module2/module2.py but originally working from /root/ as it's more convenient to open that folder in VSCode to handle all code.
Hitting CTRL + enter opens a REPL in /root, which obviously immediately crashes code that depends on the folder structure. What I found is very similar to related issues with opening new terminals #21393.

[brettcannon]

This is all by design. If you would like to request new functionality, please open a feature request.

[matiasandina]

I am afraid I am not sure what the thing that is wrong is. As you say, if this is expected behavior and by design, I might be the one who's wrongly expecting CTRL + ENTER to stop making new windows. It also makes a new window after I launch the REPL. It's as if it needed to launch a Python terminal to be able to exist and remember that selection forever (i.e., even when quit python). I guess maybe the only feature that I would consider requesting is the ability to select which terminal will be used for running (then if the terminal already contains a python session, just send the line). It would remember that terminal as it does now, so that it doesn't need to prompt each time CTRL + ENTER is hit. The behavior would be somewhat similar to what happens in PyCharm

[brettcannon]

It's as if it needed to launch a Python terminal to be able to exist and remember that selection forever (i.e., even when quit python).

Correct. We don't monitor what happens in the terminal, so we don't know if you killed the REPL or not. So we assume you don't for the terminal we launch for you.