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py list doesn't show the executable path #86
Description
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
One thing I often need to know is the executable name of the Python interpreter (although to be fair, with the new pythonX.Y aliases, that need might not be as great any more). It would be nice if this was part of the default output of py list.
Describe the solution you'd like
Add the executable path (or sys.prefix, it's not critical which) to the default display of py list.
Describe alternatives you've considered
Given that there's limited screen space, removing the "aliases" column in favour of "executable" might be worthwhile. The aliases are fairly easy to deduce from the version, so seem less helpful to have available by default.
It's possible to get the data via py list --format=json | jq, but the schema is rather complex (and undocumented?) and jq isn't the easiest language to use.
Activity
pfmoore commentedon May 9, 2025
Actually, I just found
--format=prefix. This addresses at last part of my request. My confusion arose because the "Some columns were truncated" message in a plainpy listcommand mentions JSON format, but nothing else. I'm not convinced the JSON suggestion is of much use there, aspy list --format=jsonis hardly a good way of seeing the remainder of the truncated "alias" column.Maybe just say "Some columns were truncated. See py list --help for information on other ways to display this data." The key thing being to direct people to the actual help information rather than trying to guess what would be useful to them.
pfmoore commentedon May 10, 2025
I'd still prefer it if the executable path (or prefix) were displayed rather than the list of aliases in the default output. Should this issue be reopened to cover that, or should I take the fact that you've closed it as meaning that you disagree and have rejected the suggestion? (It's not a major matter to me, so I'm more interested in getting a clear resolution than insisting that this needs to be done).
zooba commentedon May 11, 2025
I think consider it gently rejected. Using the full path ought to be rare, and the aliases are intentionally preferred (to try and match how POSIX systems work, so that docs can be compatible).
For CPython (anything with a recent enough
python3.dllanyway) the aliases will just load and run it directly, so they aren't doing an extra subprocess like the current venv redirector does - there's no loss in launching them compared to the "original" executable. But if possible I do want to try and move Windows users to think about eitherpy -V:...or (to match POSIX)pythonX.Y. Everything in between is to smooth out muscle memory.py list: When columns are truncated, direct the user to --help for mo…