While many operations can be performed using Pyplan’s wizards, more advanced tasks sometimes require editing the code of individual nodes. For this purpose, Pyplan provides a full code editor, available through the Code+Result view.
¶ Code Editor
To open the editor, we select a node in the influence diagram and then choose the Code+Result view. This displays:
- The coding window at the top, where we write the node Definition in Python.
- The result panel at the bottom, where we see the output of that Definition.
In the example below, the code definition creates two new columns, win and dblfaults, from the original DataFrame:
In the code definition (Code Window) you can see how two new columns “win” and “dblfaults” are created from the original Dataframe according to the following instructions:
# Assign dataframe to the variable '_df'.
_df = data
# Create new column that checks if Federer won.
_df['win'] = _df['winner'] == 'Roger Federer'
# Create new column that calculates the % of double faults in each match.
_df['dblfaults'] = _df['player1 double faults'] / _df['player1 total points total']
result = _dfWe can freely modify the code in the coding window and then re‑run the node to immediately see how those changes affect the result. This interactive workflow lets us refine calculations, test alternatives, and validate our logic directly within the node.
¶ Coding assistance
¶ Tooltip
When we are viewing a node’s code, we can hover the cursor over a variable or function name to see a tooltip. After a short delay, Pyplan shows a small preview with helpful information about the selected element, such as its current value (when available) or a brief description. This lets us inspect variables and functions without leaving the coding window or adding extra print statements.
¶
Intellisense
IntelliSense is Pyplan’s code‑completion assistant. It provides several features—member list, parameter information, quick info, and full‑word completion—that help us write Python code faster and with fewer errors.
Key behaviors:
- After typing a trigger character (for example, a dot
.), IntelliSense shows a list of valid members (attributes, methods, or properties) for the current object or namespace. - As we continue typing, the list is filtered to include only members that match what we have written—either at the start of the name or at the start of any word within a camel‑case name.
- IntelliSense supports camel‑case matching: we can type the first letter of each word in a camel‑case name to filter the list (for example,
NPforNetProfit). - Once we select an item from the list, we can insert it into the code by pressing Tab or adding a space. If we type a period after the inserted item, IntelliSense immediately shows the members of that new object.
- When we highlight an item in the list, IntelliSense shows quick info about it (for example, a short description or signature), so we can confirm that we are choosing the correct member before inserting it.
Together, Tooltip and IntelliSense make the coding window more informative and help us understand and write node definitions more efficiently.
¶ Pyplan Assistant (powered by GPT)
The Pyplan Assistant is an integrated code helper that we can use directly from the coding window to generate or modify node definitions.
When we click the Show/hide code assistant icon in the top‑right corner of the coding window, a text bar appears above the code with the message “Enter your code generation request”.
In this bar we can:
- Describe in natural language what we want the node to do (for example: “Group matches by country and count how many times
winis true”). - Optionally, provide context from other nodes by selecting them with Alt + Click while we write the question. In that case, the Assistant reads the structure (not the data) of those nodes and uses it as a reference.
After we send the request, the Assistant returns Python code adapted to the current node. We can review this proposal and, if we agree, apply it so that the node definition is updated automatically to perform the requested operation. If we want to go back to a previous version of the code or move forward again, we can use the circular arrow icons in the coding window (Undo / Redo) to navigate between code changes made before and after using the Assistant.
