programming - Control Front End in "mathlink" mode

Note: This question was already posted in the Wolfram community.

In a terminal math session, we can start a front end (FE) easily by launching it though LinkLaunch or by using functions provided in the Developer` context (thanks to Oleksandr for telling me about this). Here is a very basic example that starts a FE and opens a new notebook for you:

<lnk = Developer`InstallFrontEnd["Server"->False];
LinkWrite[lnk,FrontEndToken["New"]]

Unfortunately, the started FE starts the default kernel which is usually a good idea, but here I want to be in control of everything. This means, I would like to provide the Kernel for the FE so that it can connect to it and use it for calculation. So what I really want to have is a Mathematica MathLink program (or JLink) that starts a kernel and an FE, connects both so that the front end uses the kernel as evaluator but all communication goes through my program.

If you are familiar with LinkSnooper, then you see the difference because there, the FE starts the LinkSnooper as special kernel. What I want (not only for snooping, but for a more general problem) is similar but more problematic, because I want to control the kernel starting behavior of the FE from a link and not as user.

Question: Is there any direct way to do it? For instance by giving options to Developer`InstallFrontEnd and using specific FrontEndToken.

Appendix: One way that I haven't tested and which might work is modify the init.m of the FE (usually located it $UserBaseDirectory/FrontEnd/init.m), because there are the settings for the kernel:

EvaluatorNames->{
  "Local" -> {"AutoStartOnLaunch" -> True}, 
  "LinkSnooper" -> {...}
}

So I could theoretically alter the settings there (hopefully on the fly during startup of the FE) and force the FE to connect to my specific kernel.

Comments

front end - keyboard shortcut to invoke Insert new matrix

I frequently need to type in some matrices, and the menu command Insert > Table/Matrix > New... allows matrices with lines drawn between columns and rows, which is very helpful. I would like to make a keyboard shortcut for it, but cannot find the relevant frontend token command (4209405) for it. Since the FullForm[] and InputForm[] of matrices with lines drawn between rows and columns is the same as those without lines, it's hard to do this via 3rd party system-wide text expanders (e.g. autohotkey or atext on mac). How does one assign a keyboard shortcut for the menu item Insert > Table/Matrix > New... , preferably using only mathematica? Thanks! Answer In the MenuSetup.tr (for linux located in the $InstallationDirectory/SystemFiles/FrontEnd/TextResources/X/ directory), I changed the line MenuItem["&New...", "CreateGridBoxDialog"] to read MenuItem["&New...", "CreateGridBoxDialog", MenuKey["m", Modifiers-...

How to thread a list

I have data in format data = {{a1, a2}, {b1, b2}, {c1, c2}, {d1, d2}} Tableform: I want to thread it to : tdata = {{{a1, b1}, {a2, b2}}, {{a1, c1}, {a2, c2}}, {{a1, d1}, {a2, d2}}} Tableform: And I would like to do better then pseudofunction[n_] := Transpose[{data2[[1]], data2[[n]]}]; SetAttributes[pseudofunction, Listable]; Range[2, 4] // pseudofunction Here is my benchmark data, where data3 is normal sample of real data. data3 = Drop[ExcelWorkBook[[Column1 ;; Column4]], None, 1]; data2 = {a #, b #, c #, d #} & /@ Range[1, 10^5]; data = RandomReal[{0, 1}, {10^6, 4}]; Here is my benchmark code kptnw[list_] := Transpose[{Table[First@#, {Length@# - 1}], Rest@#}, {3, 1, 2}] &@list kptnw2[list_] := Transpose[{ConstantArray[First@#, Length@# - 1], Rest@#}, {3, 1, 2}] &@list OleksandrR[list_] := Flatten[Outer[List, List@First[list], Rest[list], 1], {{2}, {1, 4}}] paradox2[list_] := Partition[Riffle[list[[1]], #], 2] & /@ Drop[list, 1] RM[list_] := FoldList[Transpose[{First@li...

dynamic - How can I make a clickable ArrayPlot that returns input?

I would like to create a dynamic ArrayPlot so that the rectangles, when clicked, provide the input. Can I use ArrayPlot for this? Or is there something else I should have to use? Answer ArrayPlot is much more than just a simple array like Grid : it represents a ranged 2D dataset, and its visualization can be finetuned by options like DataReversed and DataRange . These features make it quite complicated to reproduce the same layout and order with Grid . Here I offer AnnotatedArrayPlot which comes in handy when your dataset is more than just a flat 2D array. The dynamic interface allows highlighting individual cells and possibly interacting with them. AnnotatedArrayPlot works the same way as ArrayPlot and accepts the same options plus Enabled , HighlightCoordinates , HighlightStyle and HighlightElementFunction . data = {{Missing["HasSomeMoreData"], GrayLevel[ 1], {RGBColor[0, 1, 1], RGBColor[0, 0, 1], GrayLevel[1]}, RGBColor[0, 1, 0]}, {GrayLevel[0], GrayLevel...

Blog

Search This Blog