Variable explorer : multiple windows open and impossible to close them with shortcuts

[JulietteCx]

Description

What steps will reproduce the problem?

In the variable explorer pane multiple windows open when clicking on a variable (say a list) but they do not update whenever we run the code again, nor get closed automatically. This results in a lot of windows open and no shortcut to clear all of that. Thanks for your help.

Versions

• Spyder version: 5.4.3 (conda)
• Python version: 3.11.3 64-bit
• Qt version: 5.15.2
• PyQt5 version: 5.15.7
• Operating System: Darwin 22.4.0

Dependencies

# Mandatory:
applaunchservices >=0.3.0                        :  0.3.0 (OK)
atomicwrites >=1.2.0                             :  1.4.0 (OK)
chardet >=2.0.0                                  :  4.0.0 (OK)
cloudpickle >=0.5.0                              :  2.2.1 (OK)
cookiecutter >=1.6.0                             :  1.7.3 (OK)
diff_match_patch >=20181111                      :  20200713 (OK)
intervaltree >=3.0.2                             :  3.1.0 (OK)
IPython >=7.31.1,<9.0.0,!=8.8.0,!=8.9.0,!=8.10.0 :  8.12.0 (OK)
jedi >=0.17.2,<0.19.0                            :  0.18.1 (OK)
jellyfish >=0.7                                  :  0.9.0 (OK)
jsonschema >=3.2.0                               :  4.17.3 (OK)
keyring >=17.0.0                                 :  23.13.1 (OK)
nbconvert >=4.0                                  :  6.5.4 (OK)
numpydoc >=0.6.0                                 :  1.5.0 (OK)
parso >=0.7.0,<0.9.0                             :  0.8.3 (OK)
pexpect >=4.4.0                                  :  4.8.0 (OK)
pickleshare >=0.4                                :  0.7.5 (OK)
psutil >=5.3                                     :  5.9.0 (OK)
pygments >=2.0                                   :  2.15.1 (OK)
pylint >=2.5.0,<3.0                              :  2.16.2 (OK)
pylint_venv >=2.1.1                              :  2.3.0 (OK)
pyls_spyder >=0.4.0                              :  0.4.0 (OK)
pylsp >=1.7.2,<1.8.0                             :  1.7.2 (OK)
pylsp_black >=1.2.0                              :  1.2.1 (OK)
qdarkstyle >=3.0.2,<3.2.0                        :  3.0.2 (OK)
qstylizer >=0.2.2                                :  0.2.2 (OK)
qtawesome >=1.2.1                                :  1.2.2 (OK)
qtconsole >=5.4.2,<5.5.0                         :  5.4.2 (OK)
qtpy >=2.1.0                                     :  2.2.0 (OK)
rtree >=0.9.7                                    :  1.0.1 (OK)
setuptools >=49.6.0                              :  67.8.0 (OK)
sphinx >=0.6.6                                   :  5.0.2 (OK)
spyder_kernels >=2.4.3,<2.5.0                    :  2.4.3 (OK)
textdistance >=4.2.0                             :  4.2.1 (OK)
three_merge >=0.1.1                              :  0.1.1 (OK)
watchdog >=0.10.3                                :  2.1.6 (OK)
zmq >=22.1.0                                     :  25.1.0 (OK)

# Optional:
cython >=0.21                                    :  None (NOK)
matplotlib >=3.0.0                               :  3.8.0 (OK)
numpy >=1.7                                      :  1.25.2 (OK)
pandas >=1.1.1                                   :  2.0.3 (OK)
scipy >=0.17.0                                   :  1.11.3 (OK)
sympy >=0.7.3                                    :  None (NOK)

[ccordoba12]

Hey @JulietteCx, thanks for reporting. You said:

In the variable explorer pane multiple windows open when clicking on a variable (say a list) but they do not update whenever we run the code again

This will change in Spyder 6 because we added a refresh button to our viewers. So users will be able to update them without closing and reopening variables.

Unfortunately, we can't refresh our viewers automatically after every run because viewing a variable requires making a copy in memory of it. So, if you have a lot of variables open, Spyder will start consuming a lot of memory.

nor get closed automatically. This results in a lot of windows open and no shortcut to clear all of that. Thanks for your help.

We haven't considered this use case before, so thanks for bringing it to our attention. I understand this can be a nuisance with many viewers open. And I like the idea of having a shortcut to close them all at once (which shouldn't be that hard to implement).

What do you think about also adding a shortcut to close the current viewer? Would you find that useful?

[JulietteCx]

Hi Carlos, Thanks for your reply. Good to know for the next version I think that will be very helpful. I get your point about refreshing. If there was a shortcut to clear all the windows I think that would be a huge improvement already! :) For the shortcut to close the current viewer, I am sorry but not so sure what you’re referring to. Might you clarify and I can let you know? Thanks! Best wishes, Juliette

[ccordoba12]

If there was a shortcut to clear all the windows I think that would be a huge improvement already! :)

I totally agree. Since we're wrapping up Spyder 6.0, it's probably not going to be available for that version. But I hope we'll have time to implement it for 6.1, to be released during the second half of the year.

For the shortcut to close the current viewer, I am sorry but not so sure what you’re referring to. Might you clarify and I can let you know? Thanks!

I meant the following:

• Click on a variable to quickly check its contents.
• A viewer is open for it.
• Since I just needed that for a quick peek, I don't want to keep that viewer open. So perhaps it'd be useful to simply press a shortcut (say Ctrl+W) to close the viewer and go back to Spyder to keep working on it.

[JulietteCx]

Hi Carlos, Thanks for your reply. Such a shame that I’ll have to wait for Spyder 6.1 ... I should have reached out earlier, I had noticed that very early on when I was using it. Regarding the shortcut, thanks for clarifying. This is exactly what I meant and I think it would be tremendously helpful to have it!! :-) Looking forward to the next version then ;-) Best wishes, Juliette

[ccordoba12]

Thanks for the extra input @JulietteCx! We'll take it into account when implementing this feature.