Exposure of %qtconsole like behaviour within JupyterQ

[cmccarthy1]

External Request

The following email was received via fusion@kx.com (edited for anonymity)

One of the features I like about running JupyterQ in Jupyter Lab, is the “open console for kernel” functionality. 
This allows you to get a terminal-like input window which looks & feels like a normal KDB session, but with the ability to draw charts etc. 
The main reason this is useful, is when you are diving into a function which you want to run line-by-line for debugging.

In Jupyter Notebook, this is supported when running a Python Kernel by typing a cell magic “%qtconsole”.
This launches a console for the running kernel. I tried this and “/%qtconsole” but neither work. 
Is this feature supported in jupyterq?

Within the current implementation of the Jupyter kernel this is not supported behaviour. Its addition would be welcomed but will need to be technically scoped before any timelines assurances of its addition can be made.

To do:

• Scope out how Python handles the exposure of an interactive python console from the notebook
• Scope out how JupyterLab provides the "open console for kernel" functionality
• Highlight potential issues with providing an option similar to %qtconsole from a JupyterQ jupyter notebook
• Implement or outline the reasoning behind why this will not be a feasible addition

Initial scoping work will dictate if this can be provided as a feature. Timeline on potential addition will be subject to this work.