Predefined code cell in template is not shown up in new file

[phineas-pta]

Issue Report Checklist

• Searched the issues page for similar reports
• Read the relevant sections of the Spyder Troubleshooting Guide and followed its advice
• Reproduced the issue after updating with conda update spyder (or pip, if not using Anaconda)
• Could not reproduce inside jupyter qtconsole (if console-related)
• Tried basic troubleshooting (if a bug/error)
  • Restarted Spyder
  • Reset preferences with spyder --reset
  • Reinstalled the latest version of Anaconda
  • Tried the other applicable steps from the Troubleshooting Guide
• Completed the Problem Description, Steps to Reproduce and Version sections below

Problem Description

I use code cells a lot so I predefine code cells in template using #%% or # %%. But when I create new file, the code cells aren't here, there's only #% or # %

What steps reproduce the problem? What do you see instead?

1. menu: Tools > Preferences > Editor > Advanced settings > Edit templates for new modules
2. add a code cell:
   
3. create new file: the code cell definition disappears!
   

workaround I found: add an additional % or use # <codecell>

Versions

• Spyder version: 3.3.6
• Python version: 3.6.8 64-bit
• Qt version: 5.9.6
• PyQt version: 5.9.2
• Operating System name/version: Windows 10

Dependencies

IPython >=4.0     :  7.6.1 (OK)
cython >=0.21     :  None (NOK)
jedi >=0.9.0      :  0.13.3 (OK)
matplotlib >=2.0.0:  3.0.3 (OK)
nbconvert >=4.0   :  5.5.0 (OK)
numpy >=1.7       :  1.16.4 (OK)
pandas >=0.13.1   :  0.24.2 (OK)
pycodestyle >=2.3 :  2.5.0 (OK)
pyflakes >=0.6.0  :  2.1.1 (OK)
pygments >=2.0    :  2.4.2 (OK)
pylint >=0.25     :  2.3.1 (OK)
qtconsole >=4.2.0 :  4.5.2 (OK)
rope >=0.9.4      :  0.14.0 (OK)
sphinx >=0.6.6    :  2.1.2 (OK)
sympy >=0.7.3     :  1.4 (OK)

[bcolsen]

Thank you for the bug report!

This is an issue that I have had as well. It results from using % to template the strings in the template. When #2884 gets implemented with python string templating, this problem will be solved.

I'm closing this in favor of #2884, but feel fee to join in the conversation on that thread.

It looks fairly simple to implement if you want to give it a shot. The code that does the current templating is here:

spyder/spyder/plugins/editor/plugin.py

Lines 1647 to 1678 in b67cf68

	try:
	if text is None:
	default_content = True
	text, enc = encoding.read(self.TEMPLATE_PATH)
	enc_match = re.search(r'-*- coding: ?([a-z0-9A-Z\-]*) -*-',
	text)
	if enc_match:
	enc = enc_match.group(1)
	# Initialize template variables
	# Windows
	username = encoding.to_unicode_from_fs(
	os.environ.get('USERNAME', ''))
	# Linux, Mac OS X
	if not username:
	username = encoding.to_unicode_from_fs(
	os.environ.get('USER', '-'))
	VARS = {
	'date': time.ctime(),
	'username': username,
	}
	try:
	text = text % VARS
	except Exception:
	pass
	else:
	default_content = False
	enc = encoding.read(self.TEMPLATE_PATH)[1]
	except (IOError, OSError):
	text = ''
	enc = 'utf-8'
	default_content = True
	empty = True