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Spyder was unable to retrieve the value depends on how module is imported
Issue Report Checklist
- [x] Searched the issues page for similar reports
- [x] Read the relevant sections of the Spyder Troubleshooting Guide and followed its advice
- [x] Reproduced the issue after updating with
conda update spyder
(orpip
, if not using Anaconda) - [ ] Could not reproduce inside
jupyter qtconsole
(if console-related) - [x] Tried basic troubleshooting (if a bug/error)
- [x] Restarted Spyder
- [x] Reset preferences with
spyder --reset
- [x] Reinstalled the latest version of Anaconda
- [x] Tried the other applicable steps from the Troubleshooting Guide
- [x] Completed the Problem Description, Steps to Reproduce and Version sections below
Problem Description
In the variable explorer I get the error message "Spyder was unable to retrieve the value of this variable from the console." when double clicking on a class instance, but only when the module containing the class is imported in certain ways. When imported in other ways the same class will display as expected.
Furthermore, there seems to be an oddity where the error will show for a class when first run, yet when the same script is run again the variable will sometimes display as expected.
Specifically this seems to occur if a module is imported from outside the directory tree in which the main python script is located after adding a folder to the path using sys.path.append().
I've tested this on Windows on an Anaconda installation and on Linux using a miniconda installation and get exactly the same behaviour in both situations.
The error message shown in the error popup is " The Error message was: An error occurred, see the console..." however there is no error or traceback in the console.
What steps reproduce the problem?
Consider the following folder structure (I've attached a zip file with these file included): spyder_import.zip
/home/tom/spyder_import
|--testclass_folder
| |--testclass_outside.py
|--testscript_folder
| |--testscript.py
| |--testclass_subfolder
| |--testclass_inside.py
Where testclass_outside.py and testclass_inside.py contain identical class definitions (except varying names):
testclass_inside.py:
class tc_inside():
def __init__(self):
self.var = 123
def printvar(self):
print(self.var)
testclass_outside.py:
class tc_outside():
def __init__(self):
self.var = 123
def printvar(self):
print(self.var)
testscript.py imports these two classes in three different ways:
import sys
sys.path.append(r"/home/tom/spyder_import")
from testclass_subfolder import testclass_inside
from testclass_folder import testclass_outside
import testclass_folder.testclass_outside as testclass_outside_direct
tc_inside_instance = testclass_inside.tc_inside()
tc_outside_instance = testclass_outside.tc_outside()
tc_outside_direct_instance = testclass_outside_direct.tc_outside()
What is the expected output? What do you see instead?
When running testscript.py in Spyder, I expect to be able to view all three class instances in the object explorer.
What I actually see is the first time I run the script only tc_inside_instance
shows properly in the object explorer, the other two classes produce the "Spyder was unable to retrieve the value of this variable from the console." error. If I immediately run the script again tc_outside_instance
will sometimes show, but sometimes not. tc_outside_direct_instance
will never show properly
Paste Traceback/Error Below (if applicable)
There is no error or traceback in the console
Versions
- Spyder version: 5.0.3
- Python version: 3.9.1
- Qt version: 5.9.7
- PyQt version: 5.9.2
- Operating System name/version: Ubuntu 20.10 / Windows 10
Dependencies
Mandatory:
atomicwrites >=1.2.0 : 1.4.0 (OK) chardet >=2.0.0 : 4.0.0 (OK) cloudpickle >=0.5.0 : 1.6.0 (OK) cookiecutter >=1.6.0 : 1.7.2 (OK) diff_match_patch >=20181111 : 20200713 (OK) intervaltree >=3.0.2 : 3.1.0 (OK) IPython >=7.6.0 : 7.22.0 (OK) jedi =0.17.2 : 0.17.2 (OK) jsonschema >=3.2.0 : 3.2.0 (OK) keyring >=17.0.0 : 23.0.1 (OK) nbconvert >=4.0 : 6.0.7 (OK) numpydoc >=0.6.0 : 1.1.0 (OK) parso =0.7.0 : 0.7.0 (OK) pexpect >=4.4.0 : 4.8.0 (OK) pickleshare >=0.4 : 0.7.5 (OK) psutil >=5.3 : 5.8.0 (OK) pygments >=2.0 : 2.9.0 (OK) pylint >=1.0 : 2.8.3 (OK) pyls >=0.36.2;<1.0.0 : 0.36.2 (OK) pyls_black >=0.4.6 : 0.4.6 (OK) pyls_spyder >=0.3.2;<0.4.0 : 0.3.2 (OK) qdarkstyle =3.0.2 : 3.0.2 (OK) qstylizer >=0.1.10 : 0.1.10 (OK) qtawesome >=1.0.2 : 1.0.2 (OK) qtconsole >=5.1.0 : 5.1.0 (OK) qtpy >=1.5.0 : 1.9.0 (OK) rtree >=0.9.7 : 0.9.7 (OK) setuptools >=39.0.0 : 52.0.0.post20210125 (OK) sphinx >=0.6.6 : 4.0.1 (OK) spyder_kernels >=2.0.3;<2.1.0 : 2.0.3 (OK) textdistance >=4.2.0 : 4.2.1 (OK) three_merge >=0.1.1 : 0.1.1 (OK) watchdog >=0.10.3;<2.0.0 : 1.0.2 (OK) xdg >=0.26 : 0.27 (OK) zmq >=17 : 20.0.0 (OK)
Optional:
cython >=0.21 : None (NOK) matplotlib >=2.0.0 : None (NOK) numpy >=1.7 : 1.20.2 (OK) pandas >=1.1.1 : 1.2.3 (OK) scipy >=0.17.0 : None (NOK) sympy >=0.7.3 : None (NOK)
Hey @thunderbolt-tom, thanks for reporting. I think the problem is that you're adding your path to import code dynamically, like this
sys.path.append(r"/home/tom/spyder_import")
So, even if that allows you to run your code as expected, the Spyder interface (which runs in a different process) doesn't know about it. Hence, it's unable to find your classes and to display them through the Variable Explorer.
The problem should be solved if you add that path through our PYTHONPATH manager:
because that will add that path to the Python process in which Spyder is running. By the way, it'll also add it to your console, so you could avoid doing that sys.path
manipulation (which is usually not recommended).
Your other option is to create a Spyder project in the location you're trying to import code.
Hi @ccordoba12 , thanks. That does make sense, I didn't appreciate that there was a difference between the paths that my code and Spyder were using. or that Spyder needed access to the original class definition to show the variables. Indeed when I add the path to the PYTHONPATH manager and remove the sys.path
line it works as expected.
Is it possible for Spyder to detect when this is the cause of it not being able to show the variable so that it can show a more descriptive error message? What threw me off here was the only message was "an error occurred, see the console" but there was nothing displayed in the console.
Is it possible for Spyder to detect when this is the cause of it not being able to show the variable so that it can show a more descriptive error message?
Could you post a screenshot of what you're seeing to understand what you mean? Thanks!
Hello,
Yes, see below. I presume "An error occurred, see the console.." is a generic catch-all error message, but in this case it's confusing because there is no output in the console. I have on occasions seen more descriptive messages here when Spyder cannot show the variable, such as when the variable is too big, so if it's possible to detect that the error is caused by Spyder not being able to find the class definition then a message such as "Cannot find class definition file, ensure it is in the Spyder PYTHONPATH" would be useful.
I presume "An error occurred, see the console.." is a generic catch-all error message, but in this case it's confusing because there is no output in the console
I see. We're catching your error with a generic Exception
, assuming it will show up in the console.
I have on occasions seen more descriptive messages here when Spyder cannot show the variable
I'll see what I can do about it, but I can't make promises because your error could still be too generic for a more specific message.
I'll see what I can do about it, but I can't make promises because your error could still be too generic for a more specific message.
Understood. I appreciate your help, thanks for taking the time to look into it.
Getting the same error. No error appears in the console I can view the object(dataframe) in the console but not via the variable explorer :( python 3.85 spyder 5.1.5 mac Catalina 10.15.7
All good issue was same as above
Unfortunately I see the same problem. Does anyone knows if there is a solution already?
Facing the same problem for quite some time. Any solutions to this please?
I got the same problem, Jesus help us :(
- Spyder version: 5.1.5 None
- Python version: 3.8.12 64-bit
- Qt version: 5.12.9
- PyQt5 version: 5.12.3
- Operating System: Windows 10
I had the same problem but found a work-around. For me the problem was that I has Spyder installed in the base environment of Anaconda but was using a python interpreter from a different environment. When I instead installed and launched Spyder from the same environment as the interpreter I was using, the problem went away.
Yeah, I have miniconda installed and spyder in the base environment, in my other environments I installed the spypder-kernels, like it is recommended for environment use. I consider moving to pycharm... each month I face a problem in spyder, the debugger needs hours to start if I wanna debug plotly dash, the variable explorer isnt working correcty, pycharrm doesn't have these problems, however in my heart I'm a spyderino. I'm very sad.
Sounds very similar to my problems in #17065
I uninstalled spyder kernels from my environment and installed complete new spyder with "conda install spyder". I use miniconda so conda equals conda-forge here. Now the variable explorer works again and I can jump to code lines over the traceback again. I noticed that geopandas got downgraded to 0.9.. maybe that has influence.
Iam still confused that guides recommend my initial behaviour:
https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder/wiki/Working-with-packages-and-environments-in-Spyder
Install just the spyder-kernels package into the myenv environment, and set your Python interpreter path in Spyder's Preferences to point to myenv's Python executable (see the [final section](https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder/wiki/Working-with-packages-and-environments-in-Spyder#the-modular-approach). This requires one more initial step, but requires less maintenance in the long run and avoids duplicate Spyder installs.
I have a similar configuration as guido: base environment with Spyder 5.1.5
and other environments with spypder-kernels 2.1.3
. All environments with python 3.9.7
. Spyder (using the Python interpreter from the working environment) could not retrieve the value of a pandas dataframe.
My working environment had pandas 1.4.1
. When I downgraded it to version 1.3.5, the Spyder variable explorer worked again.
Thanks lwbaqueros, your suggestion of downgardging pandas to 1.3.5 worked for me as well.
I had : Spyder 5.2.2 spyder-kernels 2.2.1 python 3.8.12 pandas 1.4.1
which was leading me to the following error message :
I don't even have pandas in my base environment, is that important that you have certain packages in your base environment where spyder is installed?
However I solved the problem by completely installing spyder in my working environment and not only the spyder-kernels.
Hi everyone, I just updated pandas to 1.4.0
version today using cmd
, and even though Spyder recognizes pandas classes when calling them through the console, as some of you, it doesn't display the information from the df
s stored in the memory anymore as in 1.3.5
version.
I open a post here in stackoverflow to request some help from god tier spyder devs to solve this issue, I hope to know if there's a better solution different than downgrading pandas version to 1.3.5
again.
My working environment had pandas 1.4.1. When I downgraded it to version 1.3.5, the Spyder variable explorer worked again.
Thanks lwbaqueros! This workaround fixed it for me as well on a standalone Spyder install on Windows 10 and a conda environment with python 3.10.2.
I uninstalled spyder kernels from my environment and installed complete new spyder with "conda install spyder". I use miniconda so conda equals conda-forge here. Now the variable explorer works again and I can jump to code lines over the traceback again. I noticed that geopandas got downgraded to 0.9.. maybe that has influence.
Iam still confused that guides recommend my initial behaviour:
https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder/wiki/Working-with-packages-and-environments-in-Spyder
Install just the spyder-kernels package into the myenv environment, and set your Python interpreter path in Spyder's Preferences to point to myenv's Python executable (see the [final section](https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder/wiki/Working-with-packages-and-environments-in-Spyder#the-modular-approach). This requires one more initial step, but requires less maintenance in the long run and avoids duplicate Spyder installs.
I came to this issue from using Spyder in the same environment as my normal python code. The resolution for an issue with running Spyder within the environment is to run it in a separate environment, like mentioned by @jwiemer112 above in docs, as well as in https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder/issues/17616
Is there no way to use the variable explorer when running spyder from a separate environment? I'm really liking the idea of running spyder from a separate env for stability, but it's missing the entire reason I use Spyder in the first place - the variable explorer.
@mochsner, the variable explorer should work with external environments in the same way as for the one in which Spyder is installed. Please open a new issue about your problem and provide a step by step description on how to reproduce it.
@mochsner, the variable explorer should work with external environments in the same way as for the one in which Spyder is installed. Please open a new issue about your problem and provide a step by step description on how to reproduce it.
So this prompted me to loop back, and this is limited to DataFrame in my case, which makes sense if pandas may not be installed on the spyder-cf conda env I'm running spyder from.
So, for every variable type I want to view in the spyder variable explorer, I guess I'll just need to install the library the type derives from in spyder-cf env? If this is the case (would love confirmation), I'd be happy to check places in documentation this could be missing, and add a more detailed issue to ensure it's documented across the board.
So, for every variable type I want to view in the spyder variable explorer, I guess I'll just need to install the library the type derives from in spyder-cf env?
Yes, that's correct.
I'd be happy to check places in documentation this could be missing, and add a more detailed issue to ensure it's documented across the board
Thanks for offering your help @mochsner! Our docs are on this repo:
https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder-docs
and you can view the Variable Explorer docs here:
http://docs.spyder-ide.org/current/panes/variableexplorer.html
Note: please don't report this issue on Github, there's nothing to do about it.
What is that supposed to mean? Are we SOL??
Hello team, the thread is old but I am still having the same issue: I have followed all recommendations (installing Spyder directly without going through Anaconda, downgrading pandas...etc) but neither dictionaries nor DataFrames won't open (to be more rigorous: SOME dict and SOME df won't open... with no apparent pattern).
Here is my setting:
Spyder version: 5.3.2 (standalone) Python version: 3.9.7 64-bit Qt version: 5.15.2 PyQt5 version: 5.15.7 Pandas version: 1.3.5 Numpy version: 1.23.2 Operating System: Windows 10 Any advice?
@Chentir-MT Did you try to create a new anaconda env with conda create -n py39 python=3.10
for example and then installing spyder in it with conda install spyder
?
After that I installed pandas with conda install pandas
and started spyder with the anaconda prompt from the activated new build environment. I was able to make a new dataframe and visualize that via the variable explorer.
Thats the resulting environment package list (I use conda-forge): packages in environment at C:\ProgramData\Miniconda3\envs\py310:
Note: you may need to restart the kernel to use updated packages.
@Chentir-MT, you need to install Pandas 1.4 in your external environment because our standalone version comes 1.4 as well. The problem is Pandas 1.3 and 1.4 are incompatible for the operations we need to display Dataframes.
Hello team, Thank you so much for the replies. @jwiemer112: I started having these issues through Anaconda... and on a thread it was suggested to migrate to a stand alone... TBH, I am not sure I will go back to Anaconda... I love it, but it is taking too much space on my machine.
@ccordoba12 I checked, and you were right, my custom environment had 1.3 while spyder had 1.4.3 so, I uninstalled it, and:
- installed 1.4--> didn't work
- installed 1.4.3--> didn't work
- This morning spyder invited me to install its newest version (5.3.3), I did... checked native env pandas = 1.4.3 (same is my custom env) ... but still the same problem
So far, I am pulling the data from my unreadable dictionary one entry at a time... but... you know, we code because we are lazy right?
Any help/idea will be more than welcome.
Thanks
PS: Spyder native python = 3.8.10 Custom version = 3.9.7
I put this here just in case
Ran into this issue the other day on Ubuntu 22.04, on the base env I uninstalled anaconda spyder and installed the pip version 5.4.0 then installed pandas 1.5.2 because I noticed pandas was not installed on base. Then on a second environment I use as the interpreter I installed pandas 1.5.2 and that seems to work now displaying the dataframes.