How to give the Python console in PyCharm access to the variable space of a script?

Question

I'm looking for a way to give the Python console in PyCharm (available from Tools -> Run Python Console...) access to the variables that were defined by a script that I'm currently working with.

For instance, say that my script (part of a PyCharm project) contains the line

aa = 4

I then want to go straight to the console and manipulate the variable that was just defined by the script, e.g.

>>> aa*2
8

I can't find a way to do this, and the related question Is there a Variable Explorer for PyCharm doesn't help me: the accepted answer there seems to imply that the console in fact should have access to the variable space of the current workspace/script, but that isn't true in my case.

(As a side note: The above was possible in the only other IDE that I've tried other than PyCharm: PyScripter. It is also how I'm used to work in MATLAB.)

Answer 1

The way to do this, if you don't have ipython:

1. Go to Run > Edit Configurations
2. In the interpreter options dialog, type -i nameoffile.py, where nameoffile.py is the name of the file you want to have available to you.
3. Click Apply, then OK.

Next, go to Run > Run 'nameoffile.py' or SHIFT+F10

This will create a Python interpreter, which will already have your file's variables available. Its the "normal" way to do the %run magic command.

You can also do this from the command line, python -i somefile.py will cause the Python interpreter to load with the file somefile.py already loaded.

Answer 2

PyCharm can make use of an IPython console if you have it installed, what this means is that you can use the IPython magic functions such as %run my_filename.py to run Python code.

The only way I know of doing what you want is to manually run the Python code in the console yourself, using the %run command, which will run the file and also give you access to any variables, functions, etc that have been defined inside your code.