Wing Python IDE

Environment

The following properties control the Python environment:

Python Executable specifies the Python executable that should be used with code in this project. The default is to use Python found on the PATH, or if none is found there then the latest version found anywhere on the system. Use Command Line to enter any command that invokes Python with all provided arguments. This is often set to the value of sys.executable (after import sys) in the selected Python. A list of all found Python installations is given in the drop down to the right of the entry area.

To use an environment set up by virtualenv or Anaconda, choose Activated Env to enter the full path to activate or activate.bat for the selected environment. The drop down menu to the right of this field lists recently used and automatically found environments. If the path to the activate script contains spaces, this option will not work. In that case, use Command Line as described above.

In Wing Pro, this property can tell Wing to run Python on a container or remote host. On a container, some of the other properties listed below (as noted) are ignored if the container configuration does not enable Inherit Project Environment. On a remote host, the default directory used for other fields in Project Properties, and for adding files and directories to the project, will be the base directory defined by the selected remote host.

When this property invokes Anaconda Python, Wing will automatically run Anaconda's activate base before it starts Python. This is needed to avoid failure to import some modules as a result of missing environment. See About Anaconda Environments in the Anaconda How-To for details.

Python Path sets the PYTHONPATH environment variable to use whenever Python is launched for debugging, execution, unit testing, or running the Python Shell. When Use default is selected, the PYTHONPATH environment variable inherited by Wing at startup is used. Otherwise, when Custom is selected, the specified PYTHONPATH is used instead.

Setting this property is usually only necessary if your code changes sys.path at runtime in a way that Wing can't auto-detect or if it depends on PYTHONPATH being set from the outside. You should not add Python standard library directories here. Python already knows those and Wing will be able to obtain them by inspecting your selected Python Executable.

This property allows displaying the entered Python Path either as a list or as text using the path separator appropriate for the OS. If you need to paste in a path, select View as Text first and then right-click to Paste. The path is stored internally as a list, so the same configuration can work on multiple OSes.

Both Python and Wing use the selected PYTHONPATH to locate modules that are imported with the import statement. If necessary directories are missing from the configured path, Python will raise ImportError for modules it cannot find, and Wing will fail to provide auto-completion, goto-definition, and other code intelligence on imported modules.

When using a container as the Python Executable, this property is ignored unless the container configuration enables Inherit Project Environment.

Environment is used to specify values that should be added, modified, or removed from the environment used for debugging and executing code from Wing, including also when running unit tests or version control commands. The values defined here are also used to expand environment variable references used in other properties.

Each entry is in var=value form, without any quotes around the value, and must be specified one per line. An entry in the form var= (without a value) will remove the given variable so it is undefined.

Note that you are operating on the environment inherited by the IDE when it started and not modifying an empty environment. On macOS the environment inherited by Wing may differ according to whether you launched Wing from the command line or with the Finder.

When Use inherited environment is selected, any entered values are ignored and the inherited environment is used without changes.

When using a container as the Python Executable, this property is not used for debug processes, unit tests, or OS Commands running on the container unless Inherit Project Environment is checked in the container configuration.

Package Manager selects the package manager to use with this project. The default choice of Auto-Detect looks for requirements.txt, poetry.lock, and Pyfile in the same directory as the Wing project file or in the configured Project Home Directory (see below) and chooses either pip, poetry, or pipenv, respectively.

Auto-Update Package Configuration File chooses whether Wing will automatically manage the package configuration file when installing, removing, or upgrading packages. For pip, this is the requirements.txt file. For Poetry and pipenv, this option is ignored since those always update their package management files automatically. Wing expects the package configuration files in the same directory as the Wing project file or in the directory set with the Project Home Directory under the Options tab in Project Properties.

Uninstall Removes Unused Packages controls whether Wing uninstalls unused dependencies after a package is uninstalled. This includes only packages not mentioned in or used by any of the packages listed in the package configuration file.

Debug/Execute

The following properties control environment for debugged and executed code:

Main Entry Point defines where execution starts when the debugger is launched from the IDE. The default is to start debugging in the current editor file. Alternatively, use this property to select a file or named entry point where debug should always start, regardless of which file is current in the editor.

For files, the debug environment defined in Project Properties may be overridden by clicking on the file and selecting Properties.

Analyze main entry point for sys.path changes controls whether Wing tries to find changes to sys.path in your main entry point. It does nothing if you have not set a main entry point from the Debug/Execute tab in Project Properties.

Debug Child Processes controls whether or not Wing automatically starts debug in child processes that are launched from a debug process. Choose Use Preferences Setting to use the policy set in preferences, and Always Debug Child Processes or Never Debug Child Processes to enable or disable child process debugging in all cases for this project, regardless of the preferences setting. See Debugging Child Processes for details.

Initial Directory sets the initial working directory used for debugging and executing code. When Use default is selected and the file is launched as a script, this will be the directory where the debugged or executed file is located. When Use Default is selected and the file is launched with python -m, this will be the directory where the top level module or containing package is located. When Custom is selected, the specified directory is used instead. Use $(WING:PROJECT_DIR) for the project's directory.

This property also sets the initial directory for the Python Shell, determines how Wing resolves partial paths on the Python Path for source code analysis, and defines the default initial directory used in OS Commands. For these, Wing will use the directory of the Main Entry Point in the project as the default initial directory, or the directory of the project file if there is no defined main entry point.

Build Command specifies a command to execute before starting debug. This is useful to make sure that extension modules, Cython modules, and other compiled build targets are rebuilt before each run. The build is configured and run by the OS Commands tool.

Python Options specifies the command line options sent to the Python interpreter while debugging or executing code. The default of -u sets Python into unbuffered I/O mode, which ensures that the debug process output, including prompts shown for keyboard input, will appear in a timely fashion.

Note that these are not the command line arguments to send to your code, but instead options sent to Python itself. To send arguments to your code, select Debug Environment from the Debug menu. Alternatively, right-click on the Python file, select Properties, and then set Run Arguments under the Debug/Execute tab.

Debug Server Port sets the TCP/IP port on which the debugger listens for externally initiated debug processes. Using this allows multiple instances of Wing using different projects to concurrently listen for and accept externally initiated debug connections. See Advanced Debugging Topics for details.

Automatic Perspectives can be enabled to cause Wing to create and automatically switch between the Edit and Debug perspectives when debugging is stopped and started. See Perspectives for details.

Options

The following project options are provided:

Project Type (Wing Pro only) selects whether or not the project will be shared among several developers. When shared, the project will be written to two files, *.wpu and *.wpr. The latter can be checked into revision control and used by other developers or on other machines. See Project Types for details.

Default File Encoding sets the text encoding to use for files whose encoding cannot be determined from the contents of the file. This applies to all files edited when the project is open, whether or not they are part of the project. By default, this falls back to the value set by the Files > Default Encoding preference.

Project Home Directory sets the base directory for the project. This overrides the project file location as the directory on which to base relative paths shown in the Project tool and elsewhere. It is also used as the default directory in which the Python Shell subprocess is launched and for the starting directory when the Files > Default Directory Policy preference is set to Use Project's Home Directory.

Preferred Line Ending and Line Ending Policy control whether or not the project prefers a particular line ending style, and how to enforce that style, if at all. By default, projects do not enforce a line ending style but rather insert new lines to match any existing line endings in the file, and for new files Wing uses the Files > New File EOL preference.

Preferred Indent Style and Indent Style Policy control whether or not the project prefers a particular type of indentation style for files, and how to enforce that style, if at all. By default, projects do not enforce an indent style but rather insert new lines to match any existing indentation in the file, and for new files Wing uses the Editor > Indentation > Default Indent Style preference.

Auto-reformat and Reformatter select when and how to auto-reformat Python code. See Auto-Reformatting for details.

Strip Trailing Whitespace controls whether or not to automatically remove whitespace at the ends of lines when saving a file to disk. By default, this falls back to the Editor > Strip Trailing White Space preference.

Extensions

These properties are used to control and configure framework-specific extensions:

Enable Django Template Debugging enables Django-specific functionality that makes it possible for Wing's debugger to stop at breakpoints and step through Django template files.

Matplotlib Event Loop Support enables Matplotlib-specific event loop support that updates plots continuously when working interactively in the Python Shell.

Testing

In Wing Pro, these options control Wing's integrated unit testing support:

Default Test Framework defines the testing framework to use for test files that do not specify another framework in their File Properties.

Test File Patterns specifies which files in the project should be shown as unit tests in the Testing tool. Files may be selected by using any combination of wildcards and/or regular expressions that are matched with the full path of all the files in the project.

Output Wrap Column specifies at which column to wrap output from tests, when shown in the Testing tool.

Environment can be used to select environment for running unit tests that differs from the environment configured in Project Properties. This also allows setting command line arguments to send to all unit tests.

Use File Properties on an individual test to set different arguments for each test.

Process Model specifies whether Wing should start one test process for each test module, or one for each test package. Different testing frameworks and test suites may require one or the other approach.

Number of Processes sets the number of test processes that Wing will run concurrently. Setting this to a value greater than 1 will allow Wing to take advantage of multiple CPU cores, although it can also cause problems if tests assume they are run in a series.

Run as Package Modules controls whether a test file in a package is run as part of a package or as a stand-alone module. The default depends on the requirements of each unit test framework, and some unit test frameworks ignore this setting.

Save in Project File chooses how much of the test results shown in the Testing tool are saved into the project file for redisplay in future sessions. Wing can save all results and output, only results to avoid storing large amounts of output, or no results or output.

VCS

In Wing Pro, this tab can be used to override the Version Control preferences:

Version Control selects whether to use preferences settings, override preferences and disable version control entirely, or select another version control configuration. This is used most often when working with a remote host that requires different version control settings than the local host.