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Discovery

The arguments and optionally the description of any Python function or class can be displayed with phelp. For example, we can quickly determine which inputs, outputs, and parameters does the indicator's run() function accept.

Print the specification of the TA-Lib's ATR
vbt.phelp(vbt.talib("atr").run)

Note

This is not the same as calling the Python's help command - it only works on functions.

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The attributes of any Python object can be listed with pdir. This can become handy when trying to determine whether an object contains a specific attribute without having to search the API documentation.

Print the properties and methods of the Portfolio class
vbt.pdir(vbt.PF)

Tip

We can even apply it on third-party objects such as packages!

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Most VBT objects can be expanded and pretty-formatted to quickly unveil their contents with pprint. For example, it's a simple way to visually confirm whether the object has a correct shape and grouping.

Print the configuration of a Data instance
vbt.pprint(data)
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Most VBT objects can be connected to the API reference on the website and the source code on GitHub with open_api_ref. The function takes an actual VBT object, its name, or its absolute path inside the package. It can also take third-party objects; in this case, it will search for them with DuckDuckGo and open the first link.

How to open the online API reference
vbt.open_api_ref(vbt.nb)  # (1)!
vbt.open_api_ref(vbt.nb.rolling_mean_nb)  # (2)!
vbt.open_api_ref(vbt.PF)  # (3)!
vbt.open_api_ref(vbt.Data.run)  # (4)!
vbt.open_api_ref(vbt.Data.features)  # (5)!
vbt.open_api_ref(vbt.ADX.adx_crossed_above)  # (6)!
vbt.open_api_ref(vbt.settings)  # (7)!
vbt.open_api_ref(pf.get_sharpe_ratio)  # (8)!
vbt.open_api_ref((pf, "sharpe_ratio"))  # (9)!
vbt.open_api_ref(pd.DataFrame)  # (10)!
vbt.open_api_ref("vbt.PF")  # (11)!
vbt.open_api_ref("SizeType")  # (12)!
vbt.open_api_ref("DataFrame", module="pandas")  # (13)!
vbt.open_api_ref("numpy.char.find", resolve=False)  # (14)!
  1. Module
  2. Function
  3. Class
  4. Method
  5. Property
  6. Generated method or property
  7. Instance
  8. Method of an instance
  9. Any attribute of an instance (you cannot use pf.sharpe_ratio here)
  10. Third-party objects work too!
  11. Shortcut
  12. Find an object across the package
  13. Find an object across a third-party package
  14. Use the reference without checking its validity

Tip

To get the link without opening it, use get_api_ref, which takes the same arguments.

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To open the first result to an arbitrary search query, use imlucky.

Ask a question if you feel lucky
vbt.imlucky("How to create a structured NumPy array?")  # (1)!
  1. Opens https://numpy.org/doc/stable/user/basics.rec.html