ITANGO(1)
✨ NAME ✨
okay so bestie, the header literally just says itango and then itango again — iconic, no notes 💅 so here's the whole vibe:
ITango (https://pypi.python.org/pypi/itango/) is a PyTango CLI built on top of IPython (http://ipython.org/). It's designed to be used as an IPython profile, fr fr.
It's been a thing since PyTango 7.1.2, and it got moved out into its own separate project as of PyTango 9.2.0 🦋
You start ITango by typing this on the command line:
$ itangoor, same energy:
$ ipython --profile=tangoand you should get something like this: [image] 🌸
🎀 FEATURES 🎀
ITango works like a normal python console, but it hands you an extra little goodie bag of features from IPython, like:
- proper (bash-like) command completion
- automatic expansion of python variables, functions, types
- command history (up/down arrow keys, plus the
%histcommand) - a help system (the
object?syntax, andhelp(object)) - persistently store your favorite variables
- color modes
For the complete list, go check out the IPython web page (http://ipython.org/).
PLUS a whole additional set of Tango (http://www.tango-controls.org/) specific features, and this is the part that really eats:
- automatic import of Tango objects to the console namespace (the
tangomodule,DeviceProxy(=Device),Database,GroupandAttributeProxy(=Attribute)) - device name completion
- attribute name completion
- automatic tango object member completion
- list tango devices, classes, servers
- customized tango error message
- tango error introspection
- switch database
- refresh database
- list tango devices, classes
- store favorite tango objects
- store favorite tango devices
- tango color modes
Check out the Highlights to see how to put all of this to good use :-)
🌈 HIGHLIGHTS 🌈
🦋 Tab completion 🦋
ITango exports a bunch of tango specific objects right into the console namespace. These include:
- the
tangomodule itself
ITango [1]: tango
Result [1]: <module 'tango' from ...>- the
DeviceProxy(=Device),AttributeProxy(=Attribute),DatabaseandGroupclasses
ITango [1]: De<tab>
DeprecationWarning Device DeviceProxy
ITango [2]: Device
Result [2]: <class 'tango._tango.DeviceProxy'>
ITango [3]: Device("sys/tg_test/1")
Result [3]: DeviceProxy(sys/tg_test/1)
ITango [4]: Datab<tab>
ITango [4]: Database
ITango [4]: Att<tab>
Attribute AttributeError AttributeProxy- the
TangoDatabaseobject that your itango session is currently connected to
ITango [1]: db
Result [1]: Database(homer, 10000)💜 Device name completion 💜
ITango knows the complete list of device names (including alias) for the current tango database. Which means when you're trying to create a new Device, hitting <tab> shows you a context sensitive list of devices. Obsessed.
ITango [1]: test = Device("<tab>
Display all 3654 possibilities? (y or n) n
ITango [1]: test = Device("sys<tab>
sys/access_control/1 sys/database/2 sys/tautest/1 sys/tg_test/1
ITango [2]: test = Device("sys/tg_test/1")🌸 Attribute name completion 🌸
ITango can inspect the list of attributes — as long as the device server for the device where that attribute lives is actually running, bestie.
ITango [1]: short_scalar = Attribute("sys<tab>
sys/access_control/1/ sys/database/2/ sys/tautest/1/ sys/tg_test/1/
ITango [1]: short_scalar = Attribute("sys/tg_test/1/<tab>
sys/tg_test/1/State sys/tg_test/1/no_value
sys/tg_test/1/Status sys/tg_test/1/short_image
sys/tg_test/1/ampli sys/tg_test/1/short_image_ro
sys/tg_test/1/boolean_image sys/tg_test/1/short_scalar
sys/tg_test/1/boolean_image_ro sys/tg_test/1/short_scalar_ro
sys/tg_test/1/boolean_scalar sys/tg_test/1/short_scalar_rww
sys/tg_test/1/boolean_spectrum sys/tg_test/1/short_scalar_w
sys/tg_test/1/boolean_spectrum_ro sys/tg_test/1/short_spectrum
sys/tg_test/1/double_image sys/tg_test/1/short_spectrum_ro
sys/tg_test/1/double_image_ro sys/tg_test/1/string_image
sys/tg_test/1/double_scalar sys/tg_test/1/string_image_ro
...
ITango [1]: short_scalar = Attribute("sys/tg_test/1/short_scalar")
ITango [29]: print test.read()
DeviceAttribute[
data_format = tango._tango.AttrDataFormat.SCALAR
dim_x = 1
dim_y = 0
has_failed = False
is_empty = False
name = 'short_scalar'
nb_read = 1
nb_written = 1
quality = tango._tango.AttrQuality.ATTR_VALID
r_dimension = AttributeDimension(dim_x = 1, dim_y = 0)
time = TimeVal(tv_nsec = 0, tv_sec = 1279723723, tv_usec = 905598)
type = tango._tango.CmdArgType.DevShort
value = 47
w_dim_x = 1
w_dim_y = 0
w_dimension = AttributeDimension(dim_x = 1, dim_y = 0)
w_value = 0]🧚 Automatic tango object member completion 🧚
When you create a new tango object (say, a device), itango can dynamically figure out which members that device has — including tango commands and attributes, if the device is currently running 🔥
ITango [1]: test = Device("sys/tg_test/1")
ITango [2]: test.<tab>
Display all 240 possibilities? (y or n)
...
test.DevVoid test.get_access_control
test.Init test.get_asynch_replies
test.State test.get_attribute_config
test.Status test.get_attribute_config_ex
test.SwitchStates test.get_attribute_list
...
ITango [2]: test.short_<tab>
test.short_image test.short_scalar test.short_scalar_rww test.short_spectrum
test.short_image_ro test.short_scalar_ro test.short_scalar_w test.short_spectrum_ro
ITango [2]: test.short_scalar # old style: test.read_attribute("short_scalar").value
Result [2]: 252
ITango [3]: test.Dev<tab>
test.DevBoolean test.DevUShort test.DevVarShortArray
test.DevDouble test.DevVarCharArray test.DevVarStringArray
test.DevFloat test.DevVarDoubleArray test.DevVarULongArray
test.DevLong test.DevVarDoubleStringArray test.DevVarUShortArray
test.DevShort test.DevVarFloatArray test.DevVoid
test.DevString test.DevVarLongArray
test.DevULong test.DevVarLongStringArray
ITango [3]: test.DevDouble(56.433) # old style: test.command_inout("DevDouble").
Result [3]: 56.433👑 Tango classes as DeviceProxy 👑
ITango exports every known tango class as a python alias to DeviceProxy. So if you wanna create a device of a class you already know (say, Libera, for example) you can literally just do:
ITango [1]: lib01 = Libera("BO01/DI/BPM-01")And the big slay here is that the tango device name completion is sensitive to the type of device you're trying to create. Meaning: if you're mid-way through typing a device name and you press <tab>, only devices of the tango class 'Libera' will pop up as possible completions. main character behavior 💅
ITango [1]: bpm1 = Libera("<tab>
BO01/DI/BPM-01 BO01/DI/BPM-09 BO02/DI/BPM-06 BO03/DI/BPM-03 BO03/DI/BPM-11 BO04/DI/BPM-08
BO01/DI/BPM-02 BO01/DI/BPM-10 BO02/DI/BPM-07 BO03/DI/BPM-04 BO04/DI/BPM-01 BO04/DI/BPM-09
BO01/DI/BPM-03 BO01/DI/BPM-11 BO02/DI/BPM-08 BO03/DI/BPM-05 BO04/DI/BPM-02 BO04/DI/BPM-10
BO01/DI/BPM-04 BO02/DI/BPM-01 BO02/DI/BPM-09 BO03/DI/BPM-06 BO04/DI/BPM-03 BO04/DI/BPM-11
BO01/DI/BPM-05 BO02/DI/BPM-02 BO02/DI/BPM-10 BO03/DI/BPM-07 BO04/DI/BPM-04
BO01/DI/BPM-06 BO02/DI/BPM-03 BO02/DI/BPM-11 BO03/DI/BPM-08 BO04/DI/BPM-05
BO01/DI/BPM-07 BO02/DI/BPM-04 BO03/DI/BPM-01 BO03/DI/BPM-09 BO04/DI/BPM-06
BO01/DI/BPM-08 BO02/DI/BPM-05 BO03/DI/BPM-02 BO03/DI/BPM-10 BO04/DI/BPM-07
ITango [1]: bpm1 = Libera("BO01<tab>
BO01/DI/BPM-01 BO01/DI/BPM-03 BO01/DI/BPM-05 BO01/DI/BPM-07 BO01/DI/BPM-09 BO01/DI/BPM-11
BO01/DI/BPM-02 BO01/DI/BPM-04 BO01/DI/BPM-06 BO01/DI/BPM-08 BO01/DI/BPM-10
ITango [1]: bpm1 = Libera("BO01/DI/BPM-01")🍓 Customized device representation 🍓
When you use ipython >= 0.11 with a Qt console frontend:
$ itango qtconsoletyping a variable containing a tango device object and then hitting Enter will show you a customized representation of the object instead of the usual repr(): [image]
You can customize the icon that itango displays for a specific device. First thing you gotta do is copy the image file into the itango.resource installation directory (and if you don't have permissions to do that, just copy the image into a directory of your choosing and make sure it's accessible from itango 🫶).
If you want that image used for all devices of a certain tango class, just add a new tango class property called __icon. You can do that with jive or, of course, with itango itself:
db.put_class_property("Libera", dict(__icon="libera.png"))
# if you placed your image in a directory different than itango.resource
# then, instead you have to specify the absolute directory
db.put_class_property("Libera", dict(__icon="/home/homer/.config/itango/libera.png"))If you need different images for different devices of the same class, you can specify an __icon property at the device level (and it takes precedence over the class property value, if one is defined):
db.put_device_property("BO01/DI/BPM-01", dict(__icon="libera2.png"))⭐ List tango devices, classes, servers ⭐
ITango gives you a set of magic functions (that's ipython lingo, iykyk) that let you check the list of tango devices, classes and servers that are registered in the current database.
ITango [1]: lsdev
Device Alias Server Class
---------------------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------- --------------------
expchan/BL99_Dummy0DCtrl/1 BL99_0D1 Pool/BL99 ZeroDExpChannel
simulator/bl98/motor08 Simulator/BL98 SimuMotor
expchan/BL99_Dummy0DCtrl/3 BL99_0D3 Pool/BL99 ZeroDExpChannel
expchan/BL99_Dummy0DCtrl/2 BL99_0D2 Pool/BL99 ZeroDExpChannel
expchan/BL99_Dummy0DCtrl/5 BL99_0D5 Pool/BL99 ZeroDExpChannel
expchan/BL99_Dummy0DCtrl/4 BL99_0D4 Pool/BL99 ZeroDExpChannel
expchan/BL99_Dummy0DCtrl/7 BL99_0D7 Pool/BL99 ZeroDExpChannel
expchan/BL99_Dummy0DCtrl/6 BL99_0D6 Pool/BL99 ZeroDExpChannel
simulator/bl98/motor01 Simulator/BL98 SimuMotor
simulator/bl98/motor02 Simulator/BL98 SimuMotor
simulator/bl98/motor03 Simulator/BL98 SimuMotor
mg/BL99/_mg_macserv_26065_-1320158352 Pool/BL99 MotorGroup
simulator/bl98/motor05 Simulator/BL98 SimuMotor
simulator/bl98/motor06 Simulator/BL98 SimuMotor
simulator/bl98/motor07 Simulator/BL98 SimuMotor
simulator/BL98/motctrl01 Simulator/BL98 SimuMotorCtrl
expchan/BL99_Simu0DCtrl1/1 BL99_0D8 Pool/BL99 ZeroDExpChannel
expchan/BL99_UxTimerCtrl1/1 BL99_Timer Pool/BL99 CTExpChannel
...
ITango [1]: lsdevclass
SimuCoTiCtrl TangoAccessControl ZeroDExpChannel
Door Motor DataBase
MotorGroup IORegister SimuMotorCtrl
TangoTest MacroServer TauTest
SimuMotor SimuCounterEx MeasurementGroup
Pool CTExpChannel
ITango [1]: lsserv
MacroServer/BL99 MacroServer/BL98 Pool/V2
Pool/BL99 Pool/BL98 TangoTest/test
Pool/tcoutinho Simulator/BL98
TangoAccessControl/1 TauTest/tautest DataBaseds/2
MacroServer/tcoutinho Simulator/BL99Customized tango error message and introspection</p> 💅
ITango (<https://pypi.python.org/pypi/itango/>) is out here catching tango exceptions for you whenever you do tango stuff — like, say, writing an attribute with a value that's outside the allowed limits — and it's gonna try to show it in a summarized, user-friendly way. No ugly wall of text, we don't do that here. And if you need the full tea on the last tango error, bestie, just hit the magic command tango_error. 🫶
ITango [1]: test = Device("sys/tg_test/1")
ITango [2]: test.no_value
API_AttrValueNotSet : Read value for attribute no_value has not been updated
For more detailed information type: tango_error
ITango [3]: tango_error
Last tango error:
DevFailed[
DevError[
desc = 'Read value for attribute no_value has not been updated'
origin = 'Device_3Impl::read_attributes_no_except'
reason = 'API_AttrValueNotSet'
severity = tango._tango.ErrSeverity.ERR]
DevError[
desc = 'Failed to read_attribute on device sys/tg_test/1, attribute no_value'
origin = 'DeviceProxy::read_attribute()'
reason = 'API_AttributeFailed'
severity = tango._tango.ErrSeverity.ERR]]Switching database 🦋
You can switch database simply by executing the switchdb <host> [<port>] magic command. Iconic, honestly.
ITango [1]: switchdb
Must give new database name in format <host>[:<port>].
<port> is optional. If not given it defaults to 10000.
Examples:
switchdb homer:10005
switchdb homer 10005
switchdb homer
ITango [2]: db
Database(homer, 10000)
ITango [3]: switchdb bart # by default port is 10000
ITango [4]: db
Database(bart, 10000)
ITango [5]: switchdb lisa 10005 # you can use spaces between host and port
ITango [6]: db
Database(lisa, 10005)
ITango [7]: switchdb marge:10005 # or the traditional ':'
ITango [8]: db
Database(marge, 10005)Refreshing the database ✨
So, when itango starts up — or when the database gets switched — a query goes out to the tango Database device server, and it hands back all the necessary data. That data gets stored locally in a itango cache, which is literally what powers all the nice features. 🌸
But here's the thing: if the Database server changes in some way (say, a new device server gets registered), your local database cache is not consistent anymore with the tango database. So itango gives you a magic command called refreshdb that lets you reread all tango information straight from the database. Vibe check passed.
ITango [1]: refreshdbStoring your favorite tango objects for later usage 🎀
Note: This feature is not available if you have installed IPython 0.11! 😭
Since version 7.1.2, DeviceProxy, AttributeProxy and Database became pickable. Which means — plot twist — they can be used by the IPython (<http://ipython.org/>) store magic command (type store? on the itango console to get the info on how to use this command, bestie). You can, for example, assign your favorite devices to local python variables and then store these for the next time you startup IPython (<http://ipython.org/>) with the itango profile. Obsessed. 💖
ITango [1]: theta = Motor("BL99_M1") # notice how we used tango alias
ITango [2]: store theta
Stored 'theta' (DeviceProxy)
ITango [3]: Ctrl+D
(IPython session is closed and started again...)
ITango [1]: store -r # in some versions of IPython you may need to do this ...
ITango [1]: print theta
DeviceProxy(motor/bl99/1)Adding itango to your own ipython profile 🔥
Adding itango to the ipython default profile 💖
Okay so let's say you find itango so useful that every single time you start ipython, you want itango features loaded by default. Main character energy. The way to do this is by editing your default ipython configuration file:
- On IPython <= 0.10
$HOME/.ipython/ipy_user_conf.py and add the lines 1 and 7.
Note: The code shown below is a small part of your $HOME/.ipython/ipy_user_conf.py. It is shown here only the relevant part for this example.
import itango
def main():
# uncomment if you want to get ipython -p sh behaviour
# without having to use command line switches
# import ipy_profile_sh
itango.init_ipython(ip, console=False)- On IPython > 0.10
First you have to check which is the configuration directory being used by IPython. For this, in an IPython console type:
ITango [1]: import IPython.utils.path
ITango [2]: IPython.utils.path.get_ipython_dir()
<IPYTHON_DIR>now edit <IPYTHON_DIR>/profile_default/ipython_config.py and add the following line at the end to add itango configuration:
load_subconfig('ipython_config.py', profile='tango')Alternatively, you could also load itango as an IPython extension:
config = get_config()
i_shell_app = config.InteractiveShellApp
extensions = getattr(i_shell_app, 'extensions', [])
extensions.append('itango')
i_shell_app.extensions = extensionsfor more information on how to configure IPython >= 0.11 please check the IPython configuration (<http://ipython.org/ipython-doc/dev/config/ipython.html#configuring-the-ipython-command-line-application>)
And now, every time you start ipython:
ipythonitango features will also be loaded. Periodt.
In [1]: db
Out[1]: Database(homer, 10000)Adding itango to an existing customized profile 🧚
Note: This chapter has a pending update. The contents only apply to IPython <= 0.10.
If you've been working with IPython (<http://ipython.org/>) before and have already defined a customized personal profile, you can extend your profile with itango features without breaking your existing options. The trick is to initialize the itango extension with a parameter that tells itango to maintain the existing options (like colors, command line and initial banner).
So, for example, let's say you've created a profile called nuclear, and therefore you have a file called $HOME/.ipython/ipy_profile_nuclear.py with the following contents:
import os
import IPython.ipapi
def main():
ip = IPython.ipapi.get()
o = ip.options
o.banner = "Springfield nuclear powerplant CLI\n\nWelcome Homer Simpson"
o.colors = "Linux"
o.prompt_in1 = "Mr. Burns owns you [\\#]: "
main()In order to have itango features available to this profile you simply need to add two lines of code (lines 3 and 7):
import os
import IPython.ipapi
import itango
def main():
ip = IPython.ipapi.get()
itango.init_ipython(ip, console=False)
o = ip.options
o.banner = "Springfield nuclear powerplant CLI\n\nMr. Burns owns you!"
o.colors = "Linux"
o.prompt_in1 = "The Simpsons [\\#]: "
main()This will load the itango features into your profile while preserving your profile's console options (like colors, command line and initial banner). Slay. 💅
Creating a profile that extends itango profile 🌈
Note: This chapter has a pending update. The contents only apply to IPython <= 0.10.
It is also possible to create a profile that includes all itango features and at the same time adds new ones. Let's suppose that you want to create a customized profile called 'orbit' that automatically exports devices of class 'Libera' for the booster accelerator (assuming you are working on a synchrotron like institute ;-). Here is the code for the $HOME/.ipython/ipy_profile_orbit.py:
import os
import IPython.ipapi
import IPython.genutils
import IPython.ColorANSI
import itango
import StringIO
def magic_liberas(ip, p=''):
"""Lists all known Libera devices."""
data = itango.get_device_map()
s = StringIO.StringIO()
cols = 30, 15, 20
l = "%{0}s %{1}s %{2}s".format(*cols)
print >>s, l % ("Device", "Alias", "Server")
print >>s, l % (cols[0]*"-", cols[1]*"-", cols[2]*"-")
for d, v in data.items():
if v[2] != 'Libera': continue
print >>s, l % (d, v[0], v[1])
s.seek(0)
IPython.genutils.page(s.read())
def main():
ip = IPython.ipapi.get()
itango.init_ipython(ip)
o = ip.options
Colors = IPython.ColorANSI.TermColors
c = dict(Colors.__dict__)
o.banner += "\n{Brown}Welcome to Orbit analysis{Normal}\n".format(**c)
o.prompt_in1 = "Orbit [\\#]: "
o.colors = "BlueTango"
ip.expose_magic("liberas", magic_liberas)
db = ip.user_ns.get('db')
dev_class_dict = itango.get_class_map()
if not dev_class_dict.has_key("Libera"):
return
for libera in dev_class_dict['Libera']:
domain, family, member = libera.split("/")
var_name = domain + "_" + member
var_name = var_name.replace("-","_")
ip.to_user_ns( { var_name : tango.DeviceProxy(libera) } )
main()Then start your CLI with:
$ ipython --profile=orbitand you will have something like this [image] — yes bestie, a literal screenshot moment, iconic 💖
🛰️ Advanced event monitoring 🛰️
okay so this is the part where itango lowkey becomes a surveillance queen 👀 with itango it is possible to monitor change events triggered by any tango attribute which has events enabled.
To start monitoring the change events of an attribute:
ITango [1]: mon -a BL99_M1/Position
'BL99_M1/Position' is now being monitored. Type 'mon' to see all eventsTo list all events that have been intercepted:
ITango [2]: mon
ID Device Attribute Value Quality Time
---- ---------------- ------------ ---------------- ------------- ----------------
0 motor/bl99/1 state ON ATTR_VALID 17:11:08.026472
1 motor/bl99/1 position 190.0 ATTR_VALID 17:11:20.691112
2 motor/bl99/1 state MOVING ATTR_VALID 17:12:11.858985
3 motor/bl99/1 position 188.954072857 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:11.987817
4 motor/bl99/1 position 186.045533882 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:12.124448
5 motor/bl99/1 position 181.295838155 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:12.260884
6 motor/bl99/1 position 174.55354729 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:12.400036
7 motor/bl99/1 position 166.08870515 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:12.536387
8 motor/bl99/1 position 155.77528943 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:12.672846
9 motor/bl99/1 position 143.358230136 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:12.811878
10 motor/bl99/1 position 131.476140017 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:12.950391
11 motor/bl99/1 position 121.555421781 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:13.087970
12 motor/bl99/1 position 113.457930987 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:13.226531
13 motor/bl99/1 position 107.319423091 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:13.363559
14 motor/bl99/1 position 102.928229946 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:13.505102
15 motor/bl99/1 position 100.584726495 ATTR_CHANGING 17:12:13.640794
16 motor/bl99/1 position 100.0 ATTR_ALARM 17:12:13.738136
17 motor/bl99/1 state ALARM ATTR_VALID 17:12:13.743481ITango [3]: mon -l mot.* state
ID Device Attribute Value Quality Time
---- ---------------- ------------ ---------------- ------------- ----------------
0 motor/bl99/1 state ON ATTR_VALID 17:11:08.026472
2 motor/bl99/1 state MOVING ATTR_VALID 17:12:11.858985
17 motor/bl99/1 state ALARM ATTR_VALID 17:12:13.743481To stop monitoring the attribute:
ITango [1]: mon -d BL99_M1/Position
Stopped monitoring 'BL99_M1/Position'🫶 Note: Type mon? to see detailed information about this magic command
👑 Author 👑
Tango Controls
📜 Copyright 📜
2016, Tango Controls
okay that's the whole page, we did it 💅 every last byte accounted for, no crumbs left behind. this is ITANGO(1), dated Feb 06, 2026 — go forth and monitor something, bestie 🦋✨
📦 where this page comes from
- ubuntu resolute: python3-itango 0.3.0-1 · LGPL-3.0-or-later
- ubuntu stonking: python3-itango 0.3.0-1 · LGPL-3.0-or-later
- 💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash on : a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms