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15. Scripting and Extending Wing IDE

Wing IDE provides an API that can be used to extend and enhance the IDE's functionality with scripts written in Python.

Simple scripts can be written without any extra tools -- Wing will find and load scripts at startup and reload them if they change on disk. The API Wing provides allows scripts access to the editor, debugger, project, and a range of application-level functionality. Scripts may also access all documented preferences and can issue any number of documented commands which implement functionality not duplicated in the formal Python API.

Scripts can be executed like any other command provided by Wing IDE. Scripts can add themselves to the editor and project context menus, or to new menus in the menu bar, and they can also register code for periodic execution as an idle event. They can also be bound to a key combination, or can be invoked by name using the Command by Name item in the Edit menu.

Errors encountered while loading or executing scripts are displayed in the Scripts channel of the Messages tool.

More advanced scripting, including the ability to add tool panels, is also available but generally requires running a copy of Wing IDE from source code, so that scripts can be debugged more efficiently.

Section Contents

15.0. Scripting Example
15.1. Getting Started
15.2. Script Syntax
15.3. Scripting API
15.4. Advanced Scripting