IPython Notebook: how to display() multiple objects without newline

Question

Currently when I use display() function in the IPython notebook I get newlines inserted between objects:

>>> display('first line', 'second line') 
first line
second line

But I would like the print() function's behaviour where everything is kept on the same line, e.g.:

>>> print("all on", "one line")
all on one line 

Is there a method of changing display behaviour to do this?

Answer 1

No, display cannot prevent newlines, in part because there are no newlines to prevent. Each displayed object gets its own div to sit in, and these are arranged vertically. You might be able to adjust this by futzing with CSS, but I wouldn't recommend that.

The only way you could really get two objects to display side-by-side is to build your own object which encapsulates multiple displayed objects, and display that instead.

For instance, your simple string case:

class ListOfStrings(object):
    def __init__(self, *strings):
        self.strings = strings

    def _repr_html_(self):
        return ''.join( [
           "<span class='listofstr'>%s</span>" % s
           for s in self.strings
           ])

display(ListOfStrings("hi", "hello", "hello there"))

example notebook