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101
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102 <div class="section" id="idle">
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103 <span id="id1"></span><h1>IDLE<a class="headerlink" href="#idle" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
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104 <p><strong>Source code:</strong> <a class="reference external" href="https://github.com/python/cpython/tree/master/Lib/idlelib/">Lib/idlelib/</a></p>
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105 <hr class="docutils" id="index-0" />
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106 <p>IDLE is Python’s Integrated Development and Learning Environment.</p>
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107 <p>IDLE has the following features:</p>
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108 <ul class="simple">
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109 <li><p>coded in 100% pure Python, using the <a class="reference internal" href="tkinter.html#module-tkinter" title="tkinter: Interface to Tcl/Tk for graphical user interfaces"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tkinter</span></code></a> GUI toolkit</p></li>
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110 <li><p>cross-platform: works mostly the same on Windows, Unix, and macOS</p></li>
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111 <li><p>Python shell window (interactive interpreter) with colorizing
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112 of code input, output, and error messages</p></li>
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113 <li><p>multi-window text editor with multiple undo, Python colorizing,
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114 smart indent, call tips, auto completion, and other features</p></li>
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115 <li><p>search within any window, replace within editor windows, and search
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116 through multiple files (grep)</p></li>
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117 <li><p>debugger with persistent breakpoints, stepping, and viewing
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118 of global and local namespaces</p></li>
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119 <li><p>configuration, browsers, and other dialogs</p></li>
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120 </ul>
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121 <div class="section" id="menus">
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122 <h2>Menus<a class="headerlink" href="#menus" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
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123 <p>IDLE has two main window types, the Shell window and the Editor window. It is
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124 possible to have multiple editor windows simultaneously. On Windows and
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125 Linux, each has its own top menu. Each menu documented below indicates
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126 which window type it is associated with.</p>
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127 <p>Output windows, such as used for Edit => Find in Files, are a subtype of editor
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128 window. They currently have the same top menu but a different
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129 default title and context menu.</p>
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130 <p>On macOS, there is one application menu. It dynamically changes according
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131 to the window currently selected. It has an IDLE menu, and some entries
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132 described below are moved around to conform to Apple guidelines.</p>
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133 <div class="section" id="file-menu-shell-and-editor">
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134 <h3>File menu (Shell and Editor)<a class="headerlink" href="#file-menu-shell-and-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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135 <dl class="simple">
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136 <dt>New File</dt><dd><p>Create a new file editing window.</p>
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137 </dd>
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138 <dt>Open…</dt><dd><p>Open an existing file with an Open dialog.</p>
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139 </dd>
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140 <dt>Recent Files</dt><dd><p>Open a list of recent files. Click one to open it.</p>
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141 </dd>
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142 <dt>Open Module…</dt><dd><p>Open an existing module (searches sys.path).</p>
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143 </dd>
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144 </dl>
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145 <dl class="simple" id="index-1">
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146 <dt>Class Browser</dt><dd><p>Show functions, classes, and methods in the current Editor file in a
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147 tree structure. In the shell, open a module first.</p>
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148 </dd>
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149 <dt>Path Browser</dt><dd><p>Show sys.path directories, modules, functions, classes and methods in a
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150 tree structure.</p>
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151 </dd>
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152 <dt>Save</dt><dd><p>Save the current window to the associated file, if there is one. Windows
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153 that have been changed since being opened or last saved have a * before
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154 and after the window title. If there is no associated file,
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155 do Save As instead.</p>
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156 </dd>
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157 <dt>Save As…</dt><dd><p>Save the current window with a Save As dialog. The file saved becomes the
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158 new associated file for the window.</p>
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159 </dd>
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160 <dt>Save Copy As…</dt><dd><p>Save the current window to different file without changing the associated
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161 file.</p>
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162 </dd>
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163 <dt>Print Window</dt><dd><p>Print the current window to the default printer.</p>
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164 </dd>
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165 <dt>Close</dt><dd><p>Close the current window (ask to save if unsaved).</p>
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166 </dd>
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167 <dt>Exit</dt><dd><p>Close all windows and quit IDLE (ask to save unsaved windows).</p>
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168 </dd>
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169 </dl>
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170 </div>
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171 <div class="section" id="edit-menu-shell-and-editor">
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172 <h3>Edit menu (Shell and Editor)<a class="headerlink" href="#edit-menu-shell-and-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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173 <dl class="simple">
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174 <dt>Undo</dt><dd><p>Undo the last change to the current window. A maximum of 1000 changes may
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175 be undone.</p>
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176 </dd>
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177 <dt>Redo</dt><dd><p>Redo the last undone change to the current window.</p>
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178 </dd>
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179 <dt>Cut</dt><dd><p>Copy selection into the system-wide clipboard; then delete the selection.</p>
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180 </dd>
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181 <dt>Copy</dt><dd><p>Copy selection into the system-wide clipboard.</p>
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182 </dd>
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183 <dt>Paste</dt><dd><p>Insert contents of the system-wide clipboard into the current window.</p>
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184 </dd>
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185 </dl>
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186 <p>The clipboard functions are also available in context menus.</p>
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187 <dl class="simple">
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188 <dt>Select All</dt><dd><p>Select the entire contents of the current window.</p>
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189 </dd>
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190 <dt>Find…</dt><dd><p>Open a search dialog with many options</p>
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191 </dd>
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192 <dt>Find Again</dt><dd><p>Repeat the last search, if there is one.</p>
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193 </dd>
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194 <dt>Find Selection</dt><dd><p>Search for the currently selected string, if there is one.</p>
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195 </dd>
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196 <dt>Find in Files…</dt><dd><p>Open a file search dialog. Put results in a new output window.</p>
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197 </dd>
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198 <dt>Replace…</dt><dd><p>Open a search-and-replace dialog.</p>
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199 </dd>
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200 <dt>Go to Line</dt><dd><p>Move cursor to the line number requested and make that line visible.</p>
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201 </dd>
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202 <dt>Show Completions</dt><dd><p>Open a scrollable list allowing selection of keywords and attributes. See
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203 <a class="reference internal" href="#completions"><span class="std std-ref">Completions</span></a> in the Editing and navigation section below.</p>
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204 </dd>
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205 <dt>Expand Word</dt><dd><p>Expand a prefix you have typed to match a full word in the same window;
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206 repeat to get a different expansion.</p>
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207 </dd>
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208 <dt>Show call tip</dt><dd><p>After an unclosed parenthesis for a function, open a small window with
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209 function parameter hints. See <a class="reference internal" href="#calltips"><span class="std std-ref">Calltips</span></a> in the
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210 Editing and navigation section below.</p>
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211 </dd>
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212 <dt>Show surrounding parens</dt><dd><p>Highlight the surrounding parenthesis.</p>
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213 </dd>
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214 </dl>
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215 </div>
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216 <div class="section" id="format-menu-editor-window-only">
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217 <span id="format-menu"></span><h3>Format menu (Editor window only)<a class="headerlink" href="#format-menu-editor-window-only" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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218 <dl class="simple">
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219 <dt>Indent Region</dt><dd><p>Shift selected lines right by the indent width (default 4 spaces).</p>
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220 </dd>
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221 <dt>Dedent Region</dt><dd><p>Shift selected lines left by the indent width (default 4 spaces).</p>
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222 </dd>
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223 <dt>Comment Out Region</dt><dd><p>Insert ## in front of selected lines.</p>
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224 </dd>
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225 <dt>Uncomment Region</dt><dd><p>Remove leading # or ## from selected lines.</p>
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226 </dd>
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227 <dt>Tabify Region</dt><dd><p>Turn <em>leading</em> stretches of spaces into tabs. (Note: We recommend using
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228 4 space blocks to indent Python code.)</p>
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229 </dd>
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230 <dt>Untabify Region</dt><dd><p>Turn <em>all</em> tabs into the correct number of spaces.</p>
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231 </dd>
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232 <dt>Toggle Tabs</dt><dd><p>Open a dialog to switch between indenting with spaces and tabs.</p>
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233 </dd>
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234 <dt>New Indent Width</dt><dd><p>Open a dialog to change indent width. The accepted default by the Python
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235 community is 4 spaces.</p>
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236 </dd>
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237 <dt>Format Paragraph</dt><dd><p>Reformat the current blank-line-delimited paragraph in comment block or
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238 multiline string or selected line in a string. All lines in the
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239 paragraph will be formatted to less than N columns, where N defaults to 72.</p>
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240 </dd>
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241 <dt>Strip trailing whitespace</dt><dd><p>Remove trailing space and other whitespace characters after the last
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242 non-whitespace character of a line by applying str.rstrip to each line,
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243 including lines within multiline strings. Except for Shell windows,
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244 remove extra newlines at the end of the file.</p>
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245 </dd>
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246 </dl>
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247 </div>
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248 <div class="section" id="run-menu-editor-window-only">
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249 <span id="index-2"></span><h3>Run menu (Editor window only)<a class="headerlink" href="#run-menu-editor-window-only" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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250 <dl class="simple" id="run-module">
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251 <dt>Run Module</dt><dd><p>Do <a class="reference internal" href="#check-module"><span class="std std-ref">Check Module</span></a>. If no error, restart the shell to clean the
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252 environment, then execute the module. Output is displayed in the Shell
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253 window. Note that output requires use of <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">print</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">write</span></code>.
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254 When execution is complete, the Shell retains focus and displays a prompt.
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255 At this point, one may interactively explore the result of execution.
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256 This is similar to executing a file with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">python</span> <span class="pre">-i</span> <span class="pre">file</span></code> at a command
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257 line.</p>
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258 </dd>
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259 </dl>
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260 <dl class="simple" id="run-custom">
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261 <dt>Run… Customized</dt><dd><p>Same as <a class="reference internal" href="#run-module"><span class="std std-ref">Run Module</span></a>, but run the module with customized
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262 settings. <em>Command Line Arguments</em> extend <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.argv" title="sys.argv"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.argv</span></code></a> as if passed
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263 on a command line. The module can be run in the Shell without restarting.</p>
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264 </dd>
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265 </dl>
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266 <dl class="simple" id="check-module">
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267 <dt>Check Module</dt><dd><p>Check the syntax of the module currently open in the Editor window. If the
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268 module has not been saved IDLE will either prompt the user to save or
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269 autosave, as selected in the General tab of the Idle Settings dialog. If
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270 there is a syntax error, the approximate location is indicated in the
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271 Editor window.</p>
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272 </dd>
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273 </dl>
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274 <dl class="simple" id="python-shell">
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275 <dt>Python Shell</dt><dd><p>Open or wake up the Python Shell window.</p>
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276 </dd>
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277 </dl>
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278 </div>
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279 <div class="section" id="shell-menu-shell-window-only">
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280 <h3>Shell menu (Shell window only)<a class="headerlink" href="#shell-menu-shell-window-only" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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281 <dl class="simple">
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282 <dt>View Last Restart</dt><dd><p>Scroll the shell window to the last Shell restart.</p>
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283 </dd>
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284 <dt>Restart Shell</dt><dd><p>Restart the shell to clean the environment.</p>
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285 </dd>
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286 <dt>Previous History</dt><dd><p>Cycle through earlier commands in history which match the current entry.</p>
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287 </dd>
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288 <dt>Next History</dt><dd><p>Cycle through later commands in history which match the current entry.</p>
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289 </dd>
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290 <dt>Interrupt Execution</dt><dd><p>Stop a running program.</p>
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291 </dd>
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292 </dl>
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293 </div>
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294 <div class="section" id="debug-menu-shell-window-only">
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295 <h3>Debug menu (Shell window only)<a class="headerlink" href="#debug-menu-shell-window-only" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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296 <dl class="simple">
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297 <dt>Go to File/Line</dt><dd><p>Look on the current line. with the cursor, and the line above for a filename
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298 and line number. If found, open the file if not already open, and show the
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299 line. Use this to view source lines referenced in an exception traceback
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300 and lines found by Find in Files. Also available in the context menu of
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301 the Shell window and Output windows.</p>
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302 </dd>
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303 </dl>
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304 <dl class="simple" id="index-3">
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305 <dt>Debugger (toggle)</dt><dd><p>When activated, code entered in the Shell or run from an Editor will run
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306 under the debugger. In the Editor, breakpoints can be set with the context
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307 menu. This feature is still incomplete and somewhat experimental.</p>
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308 </dd>
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309 <dt>Stack Viewer</dt><dd><p>Show the stack traceback of the last exception in a tree widget, with
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310 access to locals and globals.</p>
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311 </dd>
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312 <dt>Auto-open Stack Viewer</dt><dd><p>Toggle automatically opening the stack viewer on an unhandled exception.</p>
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313 </dd>
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314 </dl>
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315 </div>
|
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316 <div class="section" id="options-menu-shell-and-editor">
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317 <h3>Options menu (Shell and Editor)<a class="headerlink" href="#options-menu-shell-and-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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318 <dl class="simple">
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319 <dt>Configure IDLE</dt><dd><p>Open a configuration dialog and change preferences for the following:
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320 fonts, indentation, keybindings, text color themes, startup windows and
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321 size, additional help sources, and extensions. On macOS, open the
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322 configuration dialog by selecting Preferences in the application
|
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323 menu. For more details, see
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324 <a class="reference internal" href="#preferences"><span class="std std-ref">Setting preferences</span></a> under Help and preferences.</p>
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325 </dd>
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326 </dl>
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327 <p>Most configuration options apply to all windows or all future windows.
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328 The option items below only apply to the active window.</p>
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329 <dl class="simple">
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330 <dt>Show/Hide Code Context (Editor Window only)</dt><dd><p>Open a pane at the top of the edit window which shows the block context
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331 of the code which has scrolled above the top of the window. See
|
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332 <a class="reference internal" href="#code-context"><span class="std std-ref">Code Context</span></a> in the Editing and Navigation section
|
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333 below.</p>
|
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334 </dd>
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335 <dt>Show/Hide Line Numbers (Editor Window only)</dt><dd><p>Open a column to the left of the edit window which shows the number
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336 of each line of text. The default is off, which may be changed in the
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337 preferences (see <a class="reference internal" href="#preferences"><span class="std std-ref">Setting preferences</span></a>).</p>
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338 </dd>
|
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339 <dt>Zoom/Restore Height</dt><dd><p>Toggles the window between normal size and maximum height. The initial size
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340 defaults to 40 lines by 80 chars unless changed on the General tab of the
|
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341 Configure IDLE dialog. The maximum height for a screen is determined by
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342 momentarily maximizing a window the first time one is zoomed on the screen.
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343 Changing screen settings may invalidate the saved height. This toggle has
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344 no effect when a window is maximized.</p>
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345 </dd>
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346 </dl>
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347 </div>
|
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348 <div class="section" id="window-menu-shell-and-editor">
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349 <h3>Window menu (Shell and Editor)<a class="headerlink" href="#window-menu-shell-and-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
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350 <p>Lists the names of all open windows; select one to bring it to the foreground
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351 (deiconifying it if necessary).</p>
|
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352 </div>
|
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353 <div class="section" id="help-menu-shell-and-editor">
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354 <h3>Help menu (Shell and Editor)<a class="headerlink" href="#help-menu-shell-and-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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355 <dl class="simple">
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356 <dt>About IDLE</dt><dd><p>Display version, copyright, license, credits, and more.</p>
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357 </dd>
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358 <dt>IDLE Help</dt><dd><p>Display this IDLE document, detailing the menu options, basic editing and
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359 navigation, and other tips.</p>
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360 </dd>
|
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361 <dt>Python Docs</dt><dd><p>Access local Python documentation, if installed, or start a web browser
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362 and open docs.python.org showing the latest Python documentation.</p>
|
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363 </dd>
|
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364 <dt>Turtle Demo</dt><dd><p>Run the turtledemo module with example Python code and turtle drawings.</p>
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365 </dd>
|
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366 </dl>
|
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367 <p>Additional help sources may be added here with the Configure IDLE dialog under
|
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368 the General tab. See the <a class="reference internal" href="#help-sources"><span class="std std-ref">Help sources</span></a> subsection below
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369 for more on Help menu choices.</p>
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370 </div>
|
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371 <div class="section" id="context-menus">
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372 <span id="index-4"></span><h3>Context Menus<a class="headerlink" href="#context-menus" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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373 <p>Open a context menu by right-clicking in a window (Control-click on macOS).
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374 Context menus have the standard clipboard functions also on the Edit menu.</p>
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375 <dl class="simple">
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376 <dt>Cut</dt><dd><p>Copy selection into the system-wide clipboard; then delete the selection.</p>
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377 </dd>
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378 <dt>Copy</dt><dd><p>Copy selection into the system-wide clipboard.</p>
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379 </dd>
|
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380 <dt>Paste</dt><dd><p>Insert contents of the system-wide clipboard into the current window.</p>
|
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381 </dd>
|
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382 </dl>
|
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383 <p>Editor windows also have breakpoint functions. Lines with a breakpoint set are
|
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384 specially marked. Breakpoints only have an effect when running under the
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385 debugger. Breakpoints for a file are saved in the user’s .idlerc directory.</p>
|
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386 <dl class="simple">
|
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387 <dt>Set Breakpoint</dt><dd><p>Set a breakpoint on the current line.</p>
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388 </dd>
|
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389 <dt>Clear Breakpoint</dt><dd><p>Clear the breakpoint on that line.</p>
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390 </dd>
|
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391 </dl>
|
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392 <p>Shell and Output windows also have the following.</p>
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393 <dl class="simple">
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394 <dt>Go to file/line</dt><dd><p>Same as in Debug menu.</p>
|
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395 </dd>
|
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396 </dl>
|
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397 <p>The Shell window also has an output squeezing facility explained in the <em>Python
|
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398 Shell window</em> subsection below.</p>
|
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399 <dl class="simple">
|
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400 <dt>Squeeze</dt><dd><p>If the cursor is over an output line, squeeze all the output between
|
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401 the code above and the prompt below down to a ‘Squeezed text’ label.</p>
|
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402 </dd>
|
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403 </dl>
|
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404 </div>
|
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405 </div>
|
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406 <div class="section" id="editing-and-navigation">
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407 <span id="id2"></span><h2>Editing and navigation<a class="headerlink" href="#editing-and-navigation" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
|
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408 <div class="section" id="editor-windows">
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409 <h3>Editor windows<a class="headerlink" href="#editor-windows" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
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410 <p>IDLE may open editor windows when it starts, depending on settings
|
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411 and how you start IDLE. Thereafter, use the File menu. There can be only
|
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412 one open editor window for a given file.</p>
|
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413 <p>The title bar contains the name of the file, the full path, and the version
|
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414 of Python and IDLE running the window. The status bar contains the line
|
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415 number (‘Ln’) and column number (‘Col’). Line numbers start with 1;
|
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416 column numbers with 0.</p>
|
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417 <p>IDLE assumes that files with a known .py* extension contain Python code
|
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418 and that other files do not. Run Python code with the Run menu.</p>
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419 </div>
|
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420 <div class="section" id="key-bindings">
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421 <h3>Key bindings<a class="headerlink" href="#key-bindings" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
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422 <p>In this section, ‘C’ refers to the <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Control</kbd> key on Windows and Unix and
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423 the <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Command</kbd> key on macOS.</p>
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424 <ul>
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425 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Backspace</kbd> deletes to the left; <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Del</kbd> deletes to the right</p></li>
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426 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-Backspace</kbd> delete word left; <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-Del</kbd> delete word to the right</p></li>
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427 <li><p>Arrow keys and <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Page Up</kbd>/<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Page Down</kbd> to move around</p></li>
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428 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-LeftArrow</kbd> and <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-RightArrow</kbd> moves by words</p></li>
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429 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Home</kbd>/<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">End</kbd> go to begin/end of line</p></li>
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430 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-Home</kbd>/<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-End</kbd> go to begin/end of file</p></li>
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431 <li><p>Some useful Emacs bindings are inherited from Tcl/Tk:</p>
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432 <blockquote>
|
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433 <div><ul class="simple">
|
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434 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-a</kbd> beginning of line</p></li>
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435 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-e</kbd> end of line</p></li>
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436 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-k</kbd> kill line (but doesn’t put it in clipboard)</p></li>
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437 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-l</kbd> center window around the insertion point</p></li>
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438 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-b</kbd> go backward one character without deleting (usually you can
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439 also use the cursor key for this)</p></li>
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440 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-f</kbd> go forward one character without deleting (usually you can
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441 also use the cursor key for this)</p></li>
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442 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-p</kbd> go up one line (usually you can also use the cursor key for
|
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443 this)</p></li>
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444 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-d</kbd> delete next character</p></li>
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445 </ul>
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446 </div></blockquote>
|
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447 </li>
|
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448 </ul>
|
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449 <p>Standard keybindings (like <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-c</kbd> to copy and <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-v</kbd> to paste)
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450 may work. Keybindings are selected in the Configure IDLE dialog.</p>
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451 </div>
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452 <div class="section" id="automatic-indentation">
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453 <h3>Automatic indentation<a class="headerlink" href="#automatic-indentation" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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454 <p>After a block-opening statement, the next line is indented by 4 spaces (in the
|
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455 Python Shell window by one tab). After certain keywords (break, return etc.)
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456 the next line is dedented. In leading indentation, <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Backspace</kbd> deletes up
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457 to 4 spaces if they are there. <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Tab</kbd> inserts spaces (in the Python
|
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458 Shell window one tab), number depends on Indent width. Currently, tabs
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459 are restricted to four spaces due to Tcl/Tk limitations.</p>
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460 <p>See also the indent/dedent region commands on the
|
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461 <a class="reference internal" href="#format-menu"><span class="std std-ref">Format menu</span></a>.</p>
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462 </div>
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463 <div class="section" id="completions">
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464 <span id="id3"></span><h3>Completions<a class="headerlink" href="#completions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
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465 <p>Completions are supplied for functions, classes, and attributes of classes,
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466 both built-in and user-defined. Completions are also provided for
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467 filenames.</p>
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468 <p>The AutoCompleteWindow (ACW) will open after a predefined delay (default is
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469 two seconds) after a ‘.’ or (in a string) an os.sep is typed. If after one
|
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470 of those characters (plus zero or more other characters) a tab is typed
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471 the ACW will open immediately if a possible continuation is found.</p>
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472 <p>If there is only one possible completion for the characters entered, a
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473 <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Tab</kbd> will supply that completion without opening the ACW.</p>
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474 <p>‘Show Completions’ will force open a completions window, by default the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
475 <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-space</kbd> will open a completions window. In an empty
|
|
jpayne@68
|
476 string, this will contain the files in the current directory. On a
|
|
jpayne@68
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477 blank line, it will contain the built-in and user-defined functions and
|
|
jpayne@68
|
478 classes in the current namespaces, plus any modules imported. If some
|
|
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|
479 characters have been entered, the ACW will attempt to be more specific.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
480 <p>If a string of characters is typed, the ACW selection will jump to the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
481 entry most closely matching those characters. Entering a <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">tab</kbd> will
|
|
jpayne@68
|
482 cause the longest non-ambiguous match to be entered in the Editor window or
|
|
jpayne@68
|
483 Shell. Two <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">tab</kbd> in a row will supply the current ACW selection, as
|
|
jpayne@68
|
484 will return or a double click. Cursor keys, Page Up/Down, mouse selection,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
485 and the scroll wheel all operate on the ACW.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
486 <p>“Hidden” attributes can be accessed by typing the beginning of hidden
|
|
jpayne@68
|
487 name after a ‘.’, e.g. ‘_’. This allows access to modules with
|
|
jpayne@68
|
488 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__all__</span></code> set, or to class-private attributes.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
489 <p>Completions and the ‘Expand Word’ facility can save a lot of typing!</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
490 <p>Completions are currently limited to those in the namespaces. Names in
|
|
jpayne@68
|
491 an Editor window which are not via <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__main__</span></code> and <a class="reference internal" href="sys.html#sys.modules" title="sys.modules"><code class="xref py py-data docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.modules</span></code></a> will
|
|
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492 not be found. Run the module once with your imports to correct this situation.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
493 Note that IDLE itself places quite a few modules in sys.modules, so
|
|
jpayne@68
|
494 much can be found by default, e.g. the re module.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
495 <p>If you don’t like the ACW popping up unbidden, simply make the delay
|
|
jpayne@68
|
496 longer or disable the extension.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
497 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
498 <div class="section" id="calltips">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
499 <span id="id4"></span><h3>Calltips<a class="headerlink" href="#calltips" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
500 <p>A calltip is shown when one types <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">(</kbd> after the name of an <em>accessible</em>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
501 function. A name expression may include dots and subscripts. A calltip
|
|
jpayne@68
|
502 remains until it is clicked, the cursor is moved out of the argument area,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
503 or <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">)</kbd> is typed. When the cursor is in the argument part of a definition,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
504 the menu or shortcut display a calltip.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
505 <p>A calltip consists of the function signature and the first line of the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
506 docstring. For builtins without an accessible signature, the calltip
|
|
jpayne@68
|
507 consists of all lines up the fifth line or the first blank line. These
|
|
jpayne@68
|
508 details may change.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
509 <p>The set of <em>accessible</em> functions depends on what modules have been imported
|
|
jpayne@68
|
510 into the user process, including those imported by Idle itself,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
511 and what definitions have been run, all since the last restart.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
512 <p>For example, restart the Shell and enter <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">itertools.count(</span></code>. A calltip
|
|
jpayne@68
|
513 appears because Idle imports itertools into the user process for its own use.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
514 (This could change.) Enter <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">turtle.write(</span></code> and nothing appears. Idle does
|
|
jpayne@68
|
515 not import turtle. The menu or shortcut do nothing either. Enter
|
|
jpayne@68
|
516 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">turtle</span></code> and then <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">turtle.write(</span></code> will work.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
517 <p>In an editor, import statements have no effect until one runs the file. One
|
|
jpayne@68
|
518 might want to run a file after writing the import statements at the top,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
519 or immediately run an existing file before editing.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
520 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
521 <div class="section" id="code-context">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
522 <span id="id5"></span><h3>Code Context<a class="headerlink" href="#code-context" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
523 <p>Within an editor window containing Python code, code context can be toggled
|
|
jpayne@68
|
524 in order to show or hide a pane at the top of the window. When shown, this
|
|
jpayne@68
|
525 pane freezes the opening lines for block code, such as those beginning with
|
|
jpayne@68
|
526 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">class</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">def</span></code>, or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">if</span></code> keywords, that would have otherwise scrolled
|
|
jpayne@68
|
527 out of view. The size of the pane will be expanded and contracted as needed
|
|
jpayne@68
|
528 to show the all current levels of context, up to the maximum number of
|
|
jpayne@68
|
529 lines defined in the Configure IDLE dialog (which defaults to 15). If there
|
|
jpayne@68
|
530 are no current context lines and the feature is toggled on, a single blank
|
|
jpayne@68
|
531 line will display. Clicking on a line in the context pane will move that
|
|
jpayne@68
|
532 line to the top of the editor.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
533 <p>The text and background colors for the context pane can be configured under
|
|
jpayne@68
|
534 the Highlights tab in the Configure IDLE dialog.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
535 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
536 <div class="section" id="python-shell-window">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
537 <h3>Python Shell window<a class="headerlink" href="#python-shell-window" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
538 <p>With IDLE’s Shell, one enters, edits, and recalls complete statements.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
539 Most consoles and terminals only work with a single physical line at a time.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
540 <p>When one pastes code into Shell, it is not compiled and possibly executed
|
|
jpayne@68
|
541 until one hits <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Return</kbd>. One may edit pasted code first.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
542 If one pastes more that one statement into Shell, the result will be a
|
|
jpayne@68
|
543 <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#SyntaxError" title="SyntaxError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">SyntaxError</span></code></a> when multiple statements are compiled as if they were one.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
544 <p>The editing features described in previous subsections work when entering
|
|
jpayne@68
|
545 code interactively. IDLE’s Shell window also responds to the following keys.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
546 <ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
547 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-c</kbd> interrupts executing command</p></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
548 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-d</kbd> sends end-of-file; closes window if typed at a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">>>></span></code> prompt</p></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
549 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Alt-/</kbd> (Expand word) is also useful to reduce typing</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
550 <p>Command history</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
551 <ul class="simple">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
552 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Alt-p</kbd> retrieves previous command matching what you have typed. On
|
|
jpayne@68
|
553 macOS use <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-p</kbd>.</p></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
554 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Alt-n</kbd> retrieves next. On macOS use <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-n</kbd>.</p></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
555 <li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Return</kbd> while on any previous command retrieves that command</p></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
556 </ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
557 </li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
558 </ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
559 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
560 <div class="section" id="text-colors">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
561 <h3>Text colors<a class="headerlink" href="#text-colors" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
562 <p>Idle defaults to black on white text, but colors text with special meanings.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
563 For the shell, these are shell output, shell error, user output, and
|
|
jpayne@68
|
564 user error. For Python code, at the shell prompt or in an editor, these are
|
|
jpayne@68
|
565 keywords, builtin class and function names, names following <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">class</span></code> and
|
|
jpayne@68
|
566 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">def</span></code>, strings, and comments. For any text window, these are the cursor (when
|
|
jpayne@68
|
567 present), found text (when possible), and selected text.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
568 <p>Text coloring is done in the background, so uncolorized text is occasionally
|
|
jpayne@68
|
569 visible. To change the color scheme, use the Configure IDLE dialog
|
|
jpayne@68
|
570 Highlighting tab. The marking of debugger breakpoint lines in the editor and
|
|
jpayne@68
|
571 text in popups and dialogs is not user-configurable.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
572 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
573 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
574 <div class="section" id="startup-and-code-execution">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
575 <h2>Startup and code execution<a class="headerlink" href="#startup-and-code-execution" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
576 <p>Upon startup with the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-s</span></code> option, IDLE will execute the file referenced by
|
|
jpayne@68
|
577 the environment variables <span class="target" id="index-5"></span><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IDLESTARTUP</span></code> or <span class="target" id="index-6"></span><a class="reference internal" href="../using/cmdline.html#envvar-PYTHONSTARTUP"><code class="xref std std-envvar docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PYTHONSTARTUP</span></code></a>.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
578 IDLE first checks for <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IDLESTARTUP</span></code>; if <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IDLESTARTUP</span></code> is present the file
|
|
jpayne@68
|
579 referenced is run. If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IDLESTARTUP</span></code> is not present, IDLE checks for
|
|
jpayne@68
|
580 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PYTHONSTARTUP</span></code>. Files referenced by these environment variables are
|
|
jpayne@68
|
581 convenient places to store functions that are used frequently from the IDLE
|
|
jpayne@68
|
582 shell, or for executing import statements to import common modules.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
583 <p>In addition, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Tk</span></code> also loads a startup file if it is present. Note that the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
584 Tk file is loaded unconditionally. This additional file is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.Idle.py</span></code> and is
|
|
jpayne@68
|
585 looked for in the user’s home directory. Statements in this file will be
|
|
jpayne@68
|
586 executed in the Tk namespace, so this file is not useful for importing
|
|
jpayne@68
|
587 functions to be used from IDLE’s Python shell.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
588 <div class="section" id="command-line-usage">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
589 <h3>Command line usage<a class="headerlink" href="#command-line-usage" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
590 <div class="highlight-none notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span>idle.py [-c command] [-d] [-e] [-h] [-i] [-r file] [-s] [-t title] [-] [arg] ...
|
|
jpayne@68
|
591
|
|
jpayne@68
|
592 -c command run command in the shell window
|
|
jpayne@68
|
593 -d enable debugger and open shell window
|
|
jpayne@68
|
594 -e open editor window
|
|
jpayne@68
|
595 -h print help message with legal combinations and exit
|
|
jpayne@68
|
596 -i open shell window
|
|
jpayne@68
|
597 -r file run file in shell window
|
|
jpayne@68
|
598 -s run $IDLESTARTUP or $PYTHONSTARTUP first, in shell window
|
|
jpayne@68
|
599 -t title set title of shell window
|
|
jpayne@68
|
600 - run stdin in shell (- must be last option before args)
|
|
jpayne@68
|
601 </pre></div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
602 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
603 <p>If there are arguments:</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
604 <ul class="simple">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
605 <li><p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">-c</span></code>, or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">r</span></code> is used, all arguments are placed in
|
|
jpayne@68
|
606 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.argv[1:...]</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.argv[0]</span></code> is set to <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">''</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'-c'</span></code>,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
607 or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'-r'</span></code>. No editor window is opened, even if that is the default
|
|
jpayne@68
|
608 set in the Options dialog.</p></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
609 <li><p>Otherwise, arguments are files opened for editing and
|
|
jpayne@68
|
610 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.argv</span></code> reflects the arguments passed to IDLE itself.</p></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
611 </ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
612 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
613 <div class="section" id="startup-failure">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
614 <h3>Startup failure<a class="headerlink" href="#startup-failure" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
615 <p>IDLE uses a socket to communicate between the IDLE GUI process and the user
|
|
jpayne@68
|
616 code execution process. A connection must be established whenever the Shell
|
|
jpayne@68
|
617 starts or restarts. (The latter is indicated by a divider line that says
|
|
jpayne@68
|
618 ‘RESTART’). If the user process fails to connect to the GUI process, it
|
|
jpayne@68
|
619 displays a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Tk</span></code> error box with a ‘cannot connect’ message that directs the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
620 user here. It then exits.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
621 <p>A common cause of failure is a user-written file with the same name as a
|
|
jpayne@68
|
622 standard library module, such as <em>random.py</em> and <em>tkinter.py</em>. When such a
|
|
jpayne@68
|
623 file is located in the same directory as a file that is about to be run,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
624 IDLE cannot import the stdlib file. The current fix is to rename the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
625 user file.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
626 <p>Though less common than in the past, an antivirus or firewall program may
|
|
jpayne@68
|
627 stop the connection. If the program cannot be taught to allow the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
628 connection, then it must be turned off for IDLE to work. It is safe to
|
|
jpayne@68
|
629 allow this internal connection because no data is visible on external
|
|
jpayne@68
|
630 ports. A similar problem is a network mis-configuration that blocks
|
|
jpayne@68
|
631 connections.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
632 <p>Python installation issues occasionally stop IDLE: multiple versions can
|
|
jpayne@68
|
633 clash, or a single installation might need admin access. If one undo the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
634 clash, or cannot or does not want to run as admin, it might be easiest to
|
|
jpayne@68
|
635 completely remove Python and start over.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
636 <p>A zombie pythonw.exe process could be a problem. On Windows, use Task
|
|
jpayne@68
|
637 Manager to detect and stop one. Sometimes a restart initiated by a program
|
|
jpayne@68
|
638 crash or Keyboard Interrupt (control-C) may fail to connect. Dismissing
|
|
jpayne@68
|
639 the error box or Restart Shell on the Shell menu may fix a temporary problem.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
640 <p>When IDLE first starts, it attempts to read user configuration files in
|
|
jpayne@68
|
641 ~/.idlerc/ (~ is one’s home directory). If there is a problem, an error
|
|
jpayne@68
|
642 message should be displayed. Leaving aside random disk glitches, this can
|
|
jpayne@68
|
643 be prevented by never editing the files by hand, using the configuration
|
|
jpayne@68
|
644 dialog, under Options, instead Options. Once it happens, the solution may
|
|
jpayne@68
|
645 be to delete one or more of the configuration files.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
646 <p>If IDLE quits with no message, and it was not started from a console, try
|
|
jpayne@68
|
647 starting from a console (<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">python</span> <span class="pre">-m</span> <span class="pre">idlelib)</span></code> and see if a message appears.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
648 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
649 <div class="section" id="running-user-code">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
650 <h3>Running user code<a class="headerlink" href="#running-user-code" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
651 <p>With rare exceptions, the result of executing Python code with IDLE is
|
|
jpayne@68
|
652 intended to be the same as executing the same code by the default method,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
653 directly with Python in a text-mode system console or terminal window.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
654 However, the different interface and operation occasionally affect
|
|
jpayne@68
|
655 visible results. For instance, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.modules</span></code> starts with more entries,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
656 and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">threading.activeCount()</span></code> returns 2 instead of 1.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
657 <p>By default, IDLE runs user code in a separate OS process rather than in
|
|
jpayne@68
|
658 the user interface process that runs the shell and editor. In the execution
|
|
jpayne@68
|
659 process, it replaces <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdin</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdout</span></code>, and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stderr</span></code>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
660 with objects that get input from and send output to the Shell window.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
661 The original values stored in <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.__stdin__</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.__stdout__</span></code>, and
|
|
jpayne@68
|
662 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.__stderr__</span></code> are not touched, but may be <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">None</span></code>.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
663 <p>When Shell has the focus, it controls the keyboard and screen. This is
|
|
jpayne@68
|
664 normally transparent, but functions that directly access the keyboard
|
|
jpayne@68
|
665 and screen will not work. These include system-specific functions that
|
|
jpayne@68
|
666 determine whether a key has been pressed and if so, which.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
667 <p>IDLE’s standard stream replacements are not inherited by subprocesses
|
|
jpayne@68
|
668 created in the execution process, whether directly by user code or by modules
|
|
jpayne@68
|
669 such as multiprocessing. If such subprocess use <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">input</span></code> from sys.stdin
|
|
jpayne@68
|
670 or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">print</span></code> or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">write</span></code> to sys.stdout or sys.stderr,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
671 IDLE should be started in a command line window. The secondary subprocess
|
|
jpayne@68
|
672 will then be attached to that window for input and output.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
673 <p>The IDLE code running in the execution process adds frames to the call stack
|
|
jpayne@68
|
674 that would not be there otherwise. IDLE wraps <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.getrecursionlimit</span></code> and
|
|
jpayne@68
|
675 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.setrecursionlimit</span></code> to reduce the effect of the additional stack frames.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
676 <p>If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys</span></code> is reset by user code, such as with <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">importlib.reload(sys)</span></code>,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
677 IDLE’s changes are lost and input from the keyboard and output to the screen
|
|
jpayne@68
|
678 will not work correctly.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
679 <p>When user code raises SystemExit either directly or by calling sys.exit, IDLE
|
|
jpayne@68
|
680 returns to a Shell prompt instead of exiting.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
681 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
682 <div class="section" id="user-output-in-shell">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
683 <h3>User output in Shell<a class="headerlink" href="#user-output-in-shell" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
684 <p>When a program outputs text, the result is determined by the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
685 corresponding output device. When IDLE executes user code, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdout</span></code>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
686 and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stderr</span></code> are connected to the display area of IDLE’s Shell. Some of
|
|
jpayne@68
|
687 its features are inherited from the underlying Tk Text widget. Others
|
|
jpayne@68
|
688 are programmed additions. Where it matters, Shell is designed for development
|
|
jpayne@68
|
689 rather than production runs.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
690 <p>For instance, Shell never throws away output. A program that sends unlimited
|
|
jpayne@68
|
691 output to Shell will eventually fill memory, resulting in a memory error.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
692 In contrast, some system text windows only keep the last n lines of output.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
693 A Windows console, for instance, keeps a user-settable 1 to 9999 lines,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
694 with 300 the default.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
695 <p>A Tk Text widget, and hence IDLE’s Shell, displays characters (codepoints) in
|
|
jpayne@68
|
696 the BMP (Basic Multilingual Plane) subset of Unicode. Which characters are
|
|
jpayne@68
|
697 displayed with a proper glyph and which with a replacement box depends on the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
698 operating system and installed fonts. Tab characters cause the following text
|
|
jpayne@68
|
699 to begin after the next tab stop. (They occur every 8 ‘characters’). Newline
|
|
jpayne@68
|
700 characters cause following text to appear on a new line. Other control
|
|
jpayne@68
|
701 characters are ignored or displayed as a space, box, or something else,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
702 depending on the operating system and font. (Moving the text cursor through
|
|
jpayne@68
|
703 such output with arrow keys may exhibit some surprising spacing behavior.)</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
704 <div class="highlight-python3 notranslate"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">s</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="s1">'a</span><span class="se">\t</span><span class="s1">b</span><span class="se">\a</span><span class="s1"><</span><span class="se">\x02</span><span class="s1">><</span><span class="se">\r</span><span class="s1">></span><span class="se">\b</span><span class="s1">c</span><span class="se">\n</span><span class="s1">d'</span> <span class="c1"># Enter 22 chars.</span>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
705 <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="nb">len</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="p">)</span>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
706 <span class="go">14</span>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
707 <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">s</span> <span class="c1"># Display repr(s)</span>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
708 <span class="go">'a\tb\x07<\x02><\r>\x08c\nd'</span>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
709 <span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="nb">print</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">end</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="s1">''</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="c1"># Display s as is.</span>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
710 <span class="go"># Result varies by OS and font. Try it.</span>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
711 </pre></div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
712 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
713 <p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">repr</span></code> function is used for interactive echo of expression
|
|
jpayne@68
|
714 values. It returns an altered version of the input string in which
|
|
jpayne@68
|
715 control codes, some BMP codepoints, and all non-BMP codepoints are
|
|
jpayne@68
|
716 replaced with escape codes. As demonstrated above, it allows one to
|
|
jpayne@68
|
717 identify the characters in a string, regardless of how they are displayed.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
718 <p>Normal and error output are generally kept separate (on separate lines)
|
|
jpayne@68
|
719 from code input and each other. They each get different highlight colors.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
720 <p>For SyntaxError tracebacks, the normal ‘^’ marking where the error was
|
|
jpayne@68
|
721 detected is replaced by coloring the text with an error highlight.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
722 When code run from a file causes other exceptions, one may right click
|
|
jpayne@68
|
723 on a traceback line to jump to the corresponding line in an IDLE editor.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
724 The file will be opened if necessary.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
725 <p>Shell has a special facility for squeezing output lines down to a
|
|
jpayne@68
|
726 ‘Squeezed text’ label. This is done automatically
|
|
jpayne@68
|
727 for output over N lines (N = 50 by default).
|
|
jpayne@68
|
728 N can be changed in the PyShell section of the General
|
|
jpayne@68
|
729 page of the Settings dialog. Output with fewer lines can be squeezed by
|
|
jpayne@68
|
730 right clicking on the output. This can be useful lines long enough to slow
|
|
jpayne@68
|
731 down scrolling.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
732 <p>Squeezed output is expanded in place by double-clicking the label.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
733 It can also be sent to the clipboard or a separate view window by
|
|
jpayne@68
|
734 right-clicking the label.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
735 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
736 <div class="section" id="developing-tkinter-applications">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
737 <h3>Developing tkinter applications<a class="headerlink" href="#developing-tkinter-applications" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
738 <p>IDLE is intentionally different from standard Python in order to
|
|
jpayne@68
|
739 facilitate development of tkinter programs. Enter <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">import</span> <span class="pre">tkinter</span> <span class="pre">as</span> <span class="pre">tk;</span>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
740 <span class="pre">root</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">tk.Tk()</span></code> in standard Python and nothing appears. Enter the same
|
|
jpayne@68
|
741 in IDLE and a tk window appears. In standard Python, one must also enter
|
|
jpayne@68
|
742 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">root.update()</span></code> to see the window. IDLE does the equivalent in the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
743 background, about 20 times a second, which is about every 50 milliseconds.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
744 Next enter <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">b</span> <span class="pre">=</span> <span class="pre">tk.Button(root,</span> <span class="pre">text='button');</span> <span class="pre">b.pack()</span></code>. Again,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
745 nothing visibly changes in standard Python until one enters <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">root.update()</span></code>.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
746 <p>Most tkinter programs run <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">root.mainloop()</span></code>, which usually does not
|
|
jpayne@68
|
747 return until the tk app is destroyed. If the program is run with
|
|
jpayne@68
|
748 <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">python</span> <span class="pre">-i</span></code> or from an IDLE editor, a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">>>></span></code> shell prompt does not
|
|
jpayne@68
|
749 appear until <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mainloop()</span></code> returns, at which time there is nothing left
|
|
jpayne@68
|
750 to interact with.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
751 <p>When running a tkinter program from an IDLE editor, one can comment out
|
|
jpayne@68
|
752 the mainloop call. One then gets a shell prompt immediately and can
|
|
jpayne@68
|
753 interact with the live application. One just has to remember to
|
|
jpayne@68
|
754 re-enable the mainloop call when running in standard Python.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
755 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
756 <div class="section" id="running-without-a-subprocess">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
757 <h3>Running without a subprocess<a class="headerlink" href="#running-without-a-subprocess" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
758 <p>By default, IDLE executes user code in a separate subprocess via a socket,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
759 which uses the internal loopback interface. This connection is not
|
|
jpayne@68
|
760 externally visible and no data is sent to or received from the Internet.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
761 If firewall software complains anyway, you can ignore it.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
762 <p>If the attempt to make the socket connection fails, Idle will notify you.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
763 Such failures are sometimes transient, but if persistent, the problem
|
|
jpayne@68
|
764 may be either a firewall blocking the connection or misconfiguration of
|
|
jpayne@68
|
765 a particular system. Until the problem is fixed, one can run Idle with
|
|
jpayne@68
|
766 the -n command line switch.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
767 <p>If IDLE is started with the -n command line switch it will run in a
|
|
jpayne@68
|
768 single process and will not create the subprocess which runs the RPC
|
|
jpayne@68
|
769 Python execution server. This can be useful if Python cannot create
|
|
jpayne@68
|
770 the subprocess or the RPC socket interface on your platform. However,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
771 in this mode user code is not isolated from IDLE itself. Also, the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
772 environment is not restarted when Run/Run Module (F5) is selected. If
|
|
jpayne@68
|
773 your code has been modified, you must reload() the affected modules and
|
|
jpayne@68
|
774 re-import any specific items (e.g. from foo import baz) if the changes
|
|
jpayne@68
|
775 are to take effect. For these reasons, it is preferable to run IDLE
|
|
jpayne@68
|
776 with the default subprocess if at all possible.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
777 <div class="deprecated">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
778 <p><span class="versionmodified deprecated">Deprecated since version 3.4.</span></p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
779 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
780 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
781 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
782 <div class="section" id="help-and-preferences">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
783 <h2>Help and preferences<a class="headerlink" href="#help-and-preferences" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
784 <div class="section" id="help-sources">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
785 <span id="id6"></span><h3>Help sources<a class="headerlink" href="#help-sources" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
786 <p>Help menu entry “IDLE Help” displays a formatted html version of the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
787 IDLE chapter of the Library Reference. The result, in a read-only
|
|
jpayne@68
|
788 tkinter text window, is close to what one sees in a web browser.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
789 Navigate through the text with a mousewheel,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
790 the scrollbar, or up and down arrow keys held down.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
791 Or click the TOC (Table of Contents) button and select a section
|
|
jpayne@68
|
792 header in the opened box.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
793 <p>Help menu entry “Python Docs” opens the extensive sources of help,
|
|
jpayne@68
|
794 including tutorials, available at docs.python.org/x.y, where ‘x.y’
|
|
jpayne@68
|
795 is the currently running Python version. If your system
|
|
jpayne@68
|
796 has an off-line copy of the docs (this may be an installation option),
|
|
jpayne@68
|
797 that will be opened instead.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
798 <p>Selected URLs can be added or removed from the help menu at any time using the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
799 General tab of the Configure IDLE dialog .</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
800 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
801 <div class="section" id="setting-preferences">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
802 <span id="preferences"></span><h3>Setting preferences<a class="headerlink" href="#setting-preferences" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
803 <p>The font preferences, highlighting, keys, and general preferences can be
|
|
jpayne@68
|
804 changed via Configure IDLE on the Option menu.
|
|
jpayne@68
|
805 Non-default user settings are saved in a .idlerc directory in the user’s
|
|
jpayne@68
|
806 home directory. Problems caused by bad user configuration files are solved
|
|
jpayne@68
|
807 by editing or deleting one or more of the files in .idlerc.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
808 <p>On the Font tab, see the text sample for the effect of font face and size
|
|
jpayne@68
|
809 on multiple characters in multiple languages. Edit the sample to add
|
|
jpayne@68
|
810 other characters of personal interest. Use the sample to select
|
|
jpayne@68
|
811 monospaced fonts. If particular characters have problems in Shell or an
|
|
jpayne@68
|
812 editor, add them to the top of the sample and try changing first size
|
|
jpayne@68
|
813 and then font.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
814 <p>On the Highlights and Keys tab, select a built-in or custom color theme
|
|
jpayne@68
|
815 and key set. To use a newer built-in color theme or key set with older
|
|
jpayne@68
|
816 IDLEs, save it as a new custom theme or key set and it well be accessible
|
|
jpayne@68
|
817 to older IDLEs.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
818 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
819 <div class="section" id="idle-on-macos">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
820 <h3>IDLE on macOS<a class="headerlink" href="#idle-on-macos" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
821 <p>Under System Preferences: Dock, one can set “Prefer tabs when opening
|
|
jpayne@68
|
822 documents” to “Always”. This setting is not compatible with the tk/tkinter
|
|
jpayne@68
|
823 GUI framework used by IDLE, and it breaks a few IDLE features.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
824 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
825 <div class="section" id="extensions">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
826 <h3>Extensions<a class="headerlink" href="#extensions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
827 <p>IDLE contains an extension facility. Preferences for extensions can be
|
|
jpayne@68
|
828 changed with the Extensions tab of the preferences dialog. See the
|
|
jpayne@68
|
829 beginning of config-extensions.def in the idlelib directory for further
|
|
jpayne@68
|
830 information. The only current default extension is zzdummy, an example
|
|
jpayne@68
|
831 also used for testing.</p>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
832 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
833 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
834 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
835
|
|
jpayne@68
|
836
|
|
jpayne@68
|
837 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
838 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
839 </div>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
840 <div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
841 <div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper">
|
|
jpayne@68
|
842 <h3><a href="../contents.html">Table of Contents</a></h3>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
843 <ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
844 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#">IDLE</a><ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
845 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#menus">Menus</a><ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
846 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#file-menu-shell-and-editor">File menu (Shell and Editor)</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
847 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#edit-menu-shell-and-editor">Edit menu (Shell and Editor)</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
848 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#format-menu-editor-window-only">Format menu (Editor window only)</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
849 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#run-menu-editor-window-only">Run menu (Editor window only)</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
850 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#shell-menu-shell-window-only">Shell menu (Shell window only)</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
851 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#debug-menu-shell-window-only">Debug menu (Shell window only)</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
852 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#options-menu-shell-and-editor">Options menu (Shell and Editor)</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
853 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#window-menu-shell-and-editor">Window menu (Shell and Editor)</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
854 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#help-menu-shell-and-editor">Help menu (Shell and Editor)</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
855 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#context-menus">Context Menus</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
856 </ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
857 </li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
858 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#editing-and-navigation">Editing and navigation</a><ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
859 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#editor-windows">Editor windows</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
860 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#key-bindings">Key bindings</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
861 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#automatic-indentation">Automatic indentation</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
862 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#completions">Completions</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
863 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#calltips">Calltips</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
864 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#code-context">Code Context</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
865 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#python-shell-window">Python Shell window</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
866 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#text-colors">Text colors</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
867 </ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
868 </li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
869 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#startup-and-code-execution">Startup and code execution</a><ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
870 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#command-line-usage">Command line usage</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
871 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#startup-failure">Startup failure</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
872 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#running-user-code">Running user code</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
873 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#user-output-in-shell">User output in Shell</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
874 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#developing-tkinter-applications">Developing tkinter applications</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
875 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#running-without-a-subprocess">Running without a subprocess</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
876 </ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
877 </li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
878 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#help-and-preferences">Help and preferences</a><ul>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
879 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#help-sources">Help sources</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
|
880 <li><a class="reference internal" href="#setting-preferences">Setting preferences</a></li>
|
|
jpayne@68
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