[Visualpython-users] vpython and ipython

Hi all,

First off, thanks for the great work.

I've been dabbling with Python for a bit aiming to move away from
Matlab. A few days ago, to do some NMR simulation, I started coding
with vpython and the 3D-plots are incredible. Great experience for a
newbie 3D programmer like me.

Anyway, for developing python programs, I've found ipython very
useful. The interactivity is just great and there are many more
features. See here (http://ipython.scipy.org/)

However, vpython and ipython don't interact very well.

1a. If we run the programs through ipython, when we close the vpython
window it crashes the ipython as well. The prompt (terminal
properties) is affected as well. Why?

1b. If we don't close the window we can run the program again in the
ipython prompt. However it doesn't reuse the existing plot. It opens a
new window and during a debugging session, a number of windows are
opened. Is it possible to reuse the existing vpython window?

2. This is related to the vector() object used in vpython. Is it in
anyway related to the numpy array() or matrix() object? I've been
passing the pos/axis of arrows with numpy arrays and it seems to work.
Is there a difference in using vector() as opposed to numpy.array?

3. Is there a matrix object similar to vector? I'm using the numpy
array and matrix objects now to represent the rotation matrix.

I'm using Ubuntu-9.10 64 bit, with the Boost fixes described
previously in the list.

Thanks,
Venkat.