Interactive Utilities · The Julia Language
Description: Documentation for The Julia Language.

# Interactive Utilities

The `InteractiveUtils` module provides utilities for interactive use of Julia, such as code introspection and clipboard access. It is intended for interactive work and is loaded automatically in interactive mode.

`Base.Docs.apropos` — Function

    apropos([io::IO=stdout], pattern::Union{AbstractString,Regex})

Search available docstrings for entries containing `pattern`.

When `pattern` is a string, case is ignored. Results are printed to `io`.

`apropos` can be called from the help mode in the REPL by wrapping the query in double quotes:

    help?> "pattern"

Julia 1.11

In Julia 1.11 and newer, `apropos` requires that the `REPL` stdlib is loaded.

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`InteractiveUtils.varinfo` — Function

    varinfo(m::Module=Main, pattern::Regex=r""; all=false, imported=false, recursive=false, sortby::Symbol=:name, minsize::Int=0)

Return a markdown table giving information about public global variables in a module, optionally restricted to those matching `pattern`.

The memory consumption estimate is an approximate lower bound on the size of the internal structure of the object.

- `all` : also list non-public objects defined in the module, deprecated objects, and compiler-generated objects.
- `imported` : also list objects explicitly imported from other modules.
- `recursive` : recursively include objects in sub-modules, observing the same settings in each.
- `sortby` : the column to sort results by. Options are `:name` (default), `:size`, and `:summary`.
- `minsize` : only includes objects with size at least `minsize` bytes. Defaults to `0`.

The output of `varinfo` is intended for display purposes only. See also `names` to get an array of symbols defined in a module, which is suitable for more general manipulations.

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`InteractiveUtils.versioninfo` — Function

    versioninfo(io::IO=stdout; verbose::Bool=false)

Print information about the version of Julia in use. The output is controlled with boolean keyword arguments:

- `verbose`: print all additional information

Warning

The output of this function may contain sensitive information. Before sharing the output, please review the output and remove any data that should not be shared publicly.

See also: `VERSION`.

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`InteractiveUtils.methodswith` — Function

    methodswith(typ[, module or function]; supertypes::Bool=false)

Return an array of methods with an argument of type `typ`.

The optional second argument restricts the search to a particular module or function (the default is all top-level modules).

If keyword `supertypes` is `true`, also return arguments with a parent type of `typ`, excluding type `Any`.

See also: `methods`.

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`InteractiveUtils.subtypes` — Function

    subtypes(T::DataType)

Return a list of immediate subtypes of DataType `T`. Note that all currently loaded subtypes are included, including those not visible in the current module.

See also `supertype`, `supertypes`, `methodswith`.

Examples

    julia> subtypes(Integer)
    3-element Vector{Any}:
     Bool
     Signed
     Unsigned

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`InteractiveUtils.supertypes` — Function

    supertypes(T::Type)

Return a tuple `(T, ..., Any)` of `T` and all its supertypes, as determined by successive calls to the `supertype` function, listed in order of `<:` and terminated by `Any`.

See also `subtypes`.

Examples

    julia> supertypes(Int)
    (Int64, Signed, Integer, Real, Number, Any)

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`InteractiveUtils.edit` — Method

    edit(path::AbstractString, line::Integer=0, column::Integer=0)

Edit a file or directory optionally providing a line number to edit the file at. Return to the `julia` prompt when you quit the editor. The editor can be changed by setting `JULIA_EDITOR`, `VISUAL` or `EDITOR` as an environment variable.

Julia 1.9

The `column` argument requires at least Julia 1.9.

See also `InteractiveUtils.define_editor`.

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`InteractiveUtils.edit` — Method

    edit(function, [types])
    edit(module)

Edit the definition of a function, optionally specifying a tuple of types to indicate which method to edit. For modules, open the main source file. The module needs to be loaded with `using` or `import` first.

Julia 1.1

`edit` on modules requires at least Julia 1.1.

To ensure that the file can be opened at the given line, you may need to call `InteractiveUtils.define_editor` first.

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`InteractiveUtils.@edit` — Macro

    @edit

Evaluates the arguments to the function or macro call, determines their types, and calls the `edit` function on the resulting expression.

See also: `@less`, `@which`.

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`InteractiveUtils.define_editor` — Function

    define_editor(fn, pattern; wait=false)

Define a new editor matching `pattern` that can be used to open a file (possibly at a given line number) using `fn`.

The `fn` argument is a function that determines how to open a file with the given editor. It should take four arguments, as follows:

- `cmd` - a base command object for the editor
- `path` - the path to the source file to open
- `line` - the line number to open the editor at
- `column` - the column number to open the editor at

Editors which cannot open to a specific line with a command or a specific column may ignore the `line` and/or `column` argument. The `fn` callback must return either an appropriate `Cmd` object to open a file or `nothing` to indicate that they cannot edit this file. Use `nothing` to indicate that this editor is not appropriate for the current environment and another editor should be attempted. It is possible to add more general editing hooks that need not spawn external commands by pushing a callback directly to the vector `EDITOR_CALLBACKS`.

The `pattern` argument is a string, regular expression, or an array of strings and regular expressions. For the `fn` to be called, one of the patterns must match the value of `EDITOR`, `VISUAL` or `JULIA_EDITOR`. For strings, the string must equal the `basename` of the first word of the editor command, with its extension, if any, removed. E.g. "vi" doesn't match "vim -g" but matches "/usr/bin/vi -m"; it also matches `vi.exe`. If `pattern` is a regex it is matched against all of the editor command as a shell-escaped string. An array pattern matches if any of its items match. If multiple editors match, the one added most recently is used.

By default julia does not wait for the editor to close, running it in the background. However, if the editor is terminal based, you will probably want to set `wait=true` and julia will wait for the editor to close before resuming.

If one of the editor environment variables is set, but no editor entry matches it, the default editor entry is invoked:

    (cmd, path, line, column) -> `$cmd $path`

Note that many editors are already defined. All of the following commands should already work:

- emacs
- emacsclient
- vim
- nvim
- nano
- micro
- kak
- helix
- textmate
- mate
- kate
- subl
- atom
- notepad++
- Visual Studio Code
- open
- pycharm
- bbedit

Examples

The following defines the usage of terminal-based `emacs`:

    define_editor(
        r"\bemacs\b.*\s(-nw|--no-window-system)\b", wait=true) do cmd, path, line
        `$cmd +$line $path`
    end

Julia 1.4

`define_editor` was introduced in Julia 1.4.

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`InteractiveUtils.less` — Method

    less(file::AbstractString, [line::Integer])

Show a file using the default pager, optionally providing a starting line number. Returns to the `julia` prompt when you quit the pager.

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`InteractiveUtils.less` — Method

    less(function, [types])

Show the definition of a function using the default pager, optionally specifying a tuple of types to indicate which method to see.

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`InteractiveUtils.@less` — Macro

    @less

Evaluates the arguments to the function or macro call, determines their types, and calls the `less` function on the resulting expression.

See also: `@edit`, `@which`, `@code_lowered`.

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`InteractiveUtils.@which` — Macro

    @which

Applied to a function or macro call, it evaluates the arguments to the specified call, and returns the `Method` object for the method that would be called for those arguments. Applied to a variable, it returns the module in which the variable was bound. It calls out to the `which` function.

See also: `@less`, `@edit`.

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`InteractiveUtils.@functionloc` — Macro

    @functionloc

Applied to a function or macro call, it evaluates the arguments to the specified call, and returns a tuple `(filename,line)` giving the location for the method that would be called for those arguments. It calls out to the `functionloc` function.

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`InteractiveUtils.@code_lowered` — Macro

    @code_lowered

Evaluates the arguments to the function or macro call, determines their types, and calls `code_lowered` on the resulting expression.

See also: `code_lowered`, `@code_warntype`, `@code_typed`, `@code_llvm`, `@code_native`.

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`InteractiveUtils.@code_typed` — Macro

    @code_typed

Evaluates the arguments to the function or macro call, determines their types, and calls `code_typed` on the resulting expression. Use the optional argument `optimize` with

    @code_typed optimize=true foo(x)

to control whether additional optimizations, such as inlining, are also applied.

See also: `code_typed`, `@code_warntype`, `@code_lowered`, `@code_llvm`, `@code_native`.

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`InteractiveUtils.code_warntype` — Function

    code_warntype([io::IO], f, types; debuginfo=:default)

Prints lowered and type-inferred ASTs for the methods matching the given generic function and type signature to `io` which defaults to `stdout`. The ASTs are annotated in such a way as to cause non-concrete types which may be problematic for performance to be emphasized (if color is available, displayed in red). This serves as a warning of potential type instability.

Not all non-concrete types are particularly problematic for performance, and the performance characteristics of a particular type is an implementation detail of the compiler. `code_warntype` will err on the side of coloring types red if they might be a performance concern, so some types may be colored red even if they do not impact performance. Small unions of concrete types are usually not a concern, so these are highlighted in yellow.

Keyword argument `debuginfo` may be one of `:source`, `:none` or `:default`, to specify the verbosity of code comments. Unless the user changes `Base.IRShow.default_debuginfo[]`, the value `:default` is equivalent to `:source`.

See the `@code_warntype` section in the Performance Tips page of the manual for more information.

See also: `@code_warntype`, `code_typed`, `code_lowered`, `code_llvm`, `code_native`.

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`InteractiveUtils.@code_warntype` — Macro

    @code_warntype

Evaluates the arguments to the function or macro call, determines their types, and calls `code_warntype` on the resulting expression.

See also: `code_warntype`, `@code_typed`, `@code_lowered`, `@code_llvm`, `@code_native`.

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`InteractiveUtils.code_llvm` — Function

    code_llvm([io=stdout,], f, types; raw=false, dump_module=false, optimize=true, debuginfo=:default)

Prints the LLVM bitcodes generated for running the method matching the given generic function and type signature to `io`.

If the `optimize` keyword is unset, the code will be shown before LLVM optimizations. All metadata and dbg.* calls are removed from the printed bitcode. For the full IR, set the `raw` keyword to true. To dump the entire module that encapsulates the function (with declarations), set the `dump_module` keyword to true. Keyword argument `debuginfo` may be one of source (default) or none, to specify the verbosity of code comments.

See also: `@code_llvm`, `code_warntype`, `code_typed`, `code_lowered`, `code_native`.

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`InteractiveUtils.@code_llvm` — Macro

    @code_llvm

Evaluates the arguments to the function or macro call, determines their types, and calls `code_llvm` on the resulting expression. Set the optional keyword arguments `raw`, `dump_module`, `debuginfo`, `optimize` by putting them and their value before the function call, like this:

    @code_llvm raw=true dump_module=true debuginfo=:default f(x)
    @code_llvm optimize=false f(x)

`optimize` controls whether additional optimizations, such as inlining, are also applied. `raw` makes all metadata and dbg.* calls visible. `debuginfo` may be one of `:source` (default) or `:none`, to specify the verbosity of code comments. `dump_module` prints the entire module that encapsulates the function.

See also: `code_llvm`, `@code_warntype`, `@code_typed`, `@code_lowered`, `@code_native`.

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`InteractiveUtils.code_native` — Function

    code_native([io=stdout,], f, types; syntax=:intel, debuginfo=:default, binary=false, dump_module=true, raw=false)

Prints the native assembly instructions generated for running the method matching the given generic function and type signature to `io`.

- Set assembly syntax by setting `syntax` to `:intel` (default) for intel syntax or `:att` for AT&T syntax.
- Specify verbosity of code comments by setting `debuginfo` to `:source` (equivalently, `:default`) or `:none`.
- If `binary` is `true`, also print the binary machine code for each instruction precedented by an abbreviated address.
- If `dump_module` is `false`, do not print metadata such as rodata or directives.
- If `raw` is `false` (default), uninteresting instructions (like the safepoint function prologue) are elided.

See also: `@code_native`, `code_warntype`, `code_typed`, `code_lowered`, `code_llvm`.

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`InteractiveUtils.@code_native` — Macro

    @code_native

Evaluates the arguments to the function or macro call, determines their types, and calls `code_native` on the resulting expression.

Set any of the optional keyword arguments `syntax`, `debuginfo`, `binary` or `dump_module` by putting it before the function call, like this:

    @code_native syntax=:intel debuginfo=:default binary=true dump_module=false f(x)

- Set assembly syntax by setting `syntax` to `:intel` (default) for Intel syntax or `:att` for AT&T syntax.
- Specify verbosity of code comments by setting `debuginfo` to `:source` (default) or `:none`.
- If `binary` is `true`, also print the binary machine code for each instruction precedented by an abbreviated address.
- If `dump_module` is `false`, do not print metadata such as rodata or directives.

See also: `code_native`, `@code_warntype`, `@code_typed`, `@code_lowered`, `@code_llvm`.

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`Base.@time_imports` — Macro

    @time_imports

A macro to execute an expression and produce a report of any time spent importing packages and their dependencies. Any compilation time will be reported as a percentage, and how much of which was recompilation, if any.

One line is printed per package or package extension. The duration shown is the time to import that package itself, not including the time to load any of its dependencies.

On Julia 1.9+ package extensions will show as Parent → Extension.

Note

During the load process a package sequentially imports all of its dependencies, not just its direct dependencies.

    julia> @time_imports using CSV
         50.7 ms  Parsers 17.52% compilation time
          0.2 ms  DataValueInterfaces
          1.6 ms  DataAPI
          0.1 ms  IteratorInterfaceExtensions
          0.1 ms  TableTraits
         17.5 ms  Tables
         26.8 ms  PooledArrays
        193.7 ms  SentinelArrays 75.12% compilation time
          8.6 ms  InlineStrings
         20.3 ms  WeakRefStrings
          2.0 ms  TranscodingStreams
          1.4 ms  Zlib_jll
          1.8 ms  CodecZlib
          0.8 ms  Compat
         13.1 ms  FilePathsBase 28.39% compilation time
       1681.2 ms  CSV 92.40% compilation time

Julia 1.8

This macro requires at least Julia 1.8

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`Base.@trace_compile` — Macro

    @trace_compile

A macro to execute an expression and show any methods that were compiled (or recompiled in yellow), like the julia args `--trace-compile=stderr --trace-compile-timing` but specifically for a call.

    julia> @trace_compile rand(2,2) * rand(2,2)
    #=   39.1 ms =# precompile(Tuple{typeof(Base.rand), Int64, Int64})
    #=  102.0 ms =# precompile(Tuple{typeof(Base.:(*)), Array{Float64, 2}, Array{Float64, 2}})
    2×2 Matrix{Float64}:
     0.421704  0.864841
     0.211262  0.444366

Julia 1.12

This macro requires at least Julia 1.12

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`Base.@trace_dispatch` — Macro

    @trace_dispatch

A macro to execute an expression and report methods that were compiled via dynamic dispatch, like the julia arg `--trace-dispatch=stderr` but specifically for a call.

Julia 1.12

This macro requires at least Julia 1.12

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`InteractiveUtils.clipboard` — Function

    clipboard(x)

Send a printed form of `x` to the operating system clipboard ("copy").

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    clipboard()::String

Return a string with the contents of the operating system clipboard ("paste").

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Theme

This document was generated with Documenter.jl version 1.17.0 on Monday 27 April 2026. Using Julia version 1.13.0-rc1.