| 1 | [See the end of this file for ** TIPS ** on using IDLE !!]
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| 2 |
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| 3 | Click on the dotted line at the top of a menu to "tear it off": a
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| 4 | separate window containing the menu is created.
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| 5 |
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| 6 | File Menu:
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| 7 |
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| 8 | New Window -- Create a new editing window
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| 9 | Open... -- Open an existing file
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| 10 | Recent Files... -- Open a list of recent files
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| 11 | Open Module... -- Open an existing module (searches sys.path)
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| 12 | Class Browser -- Show classes and methods in current file
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| 13 | Path Browser -- Show sys.path directories, modules, classes
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| 14 | and methods
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| 15 | ---
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| 16 | Save -- Save current window to the associated file (unsaved
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| 17 | windows have a * before and after the window title)
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| 18 |
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| 19 | Save As... -- Save current window to new file, which becomes
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| 20 | the associated file
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| 21 | Save Copy As... -- Save current window to different file
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| 22 | without changing the associated file
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| 23 | ---
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| 24 | Print Window -- Print the current window
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| 25 | ---
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| 26 | Close -- Close current window (asks to save if unsaved)
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| 27 | Exit -- Close all windows, quit (asks to save if unsaved)
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| 28 |
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| 29 | Edit Menu:
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| 30 |
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| 31 | Undo -- Undo last change to current window
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| 32 | (A maximum of 1000 changes may be undone)
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| 33 | Redo -- Redo last undone change to current window
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| 34 | ---
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| 35 | Cut -- Copy a selection into system-wide clipboard,
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| 36 | then delete the selection
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| 37 | Copy -- Copy selection into system-wide clipboard
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| 38 | Paste -- Insert system-wide clipboard into window
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| 39 | Select All -- Select the entire contents of the edit buffer
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| 40 | ---
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| 41 | Find... -- Open a search dialog box with many options
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| 42 | Find Again -- Repeat last search
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| 43 | Find Selection -- Search for the string in the selection
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| 44 | Find in Files... -- Open a search dialog box for searching files
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| 45 | Replace... -- Open a search-and-replace dialog box
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| 46 | Go to Line -- Ask for a line number and show that line
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| 47 | Show Calltip -- Open a small window with function param hints
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| 48 | Show Completions -- Open a scroll window allowing selection keywords
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| 49 | and attributes. (see '*TIPS*', below)
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| 50 | Show Parens -- Highlight the surrounding parenthesis
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| 51 | Expand Word -- Expand the word you have typed to match another
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| 52 | word in the same buffer; repeat to get a
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| 53 | different expansion
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| 54 |
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| 55 | Format Menu (only in Edit window):
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| 56 |
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| 57 | Indent Region -- Shift selected lines right 4 spaces
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| 58 | Dedent Region -- Shift selected lines left 4 spaces
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| 59 | Comment Out Region -- Insert ## in front of selected lines
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| 60 | Uncomment Region -- Remove leading # or ## from selected lines
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| 61 | Tabify Region -- Turns *leading* stretches of spaces into tabs
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| 62 | (Note: We recommend using 4 space blocks to indent Python code.)
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| 63 | Untabify Region -- Turn *all* tabs into the right number of spaces
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| 64 | New Indent Width... -- Open dialog to change indent width
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| 65 | Format Paragraph -- Reformat the current blank-line-separated
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| 66 | paragraph
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| 67 |
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| 68 | Run Menu (only in Edit window):
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| 69 |
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| 70 | Python Shell -- Open or wake up the Python shell window
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| 71 | ---
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| 72 | Check Module -- Run a syntax check on the module
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| 73 | Run Module -- Execute the current file in the __main__ namespace
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| 74 |
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| 75 | Shell Menu (only in Shell window):
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| 76 |
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| 77 | View Last Restart -- Scroll the shell window to the last restart
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| 78 | Restart Shell -- Restart the interpreter with a fresh environment
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| 79 |
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| 80 | Debug Menu (only in Shell window):
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| 81 |
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| 82 | Go to File/Line -- look around the insert point for a filename
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| 83 | and linenumber, open the file, and show the line
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| 84 | Debugger (toggle) -- Run commands in the shell under the debugger
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| 85 | Stack Viewer -- Show the stack traceback of the last exception
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| 86 | Auto-open Stack Viewer (toggle) -- Open stack viewer on traceback
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| 87 |
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| 88 | Options Menu:
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| 89 |
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| 90 | Configure IDLE -- Open a configuration dialog. Fonts, indentation,
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| 91 | keybindings, and color themes may be altered.
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| 92 | Startup Preferences may be set, and Additional Help
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| 93 | Sources can be specified.
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| 94 |
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| 95 | On MacOS X this menu is not present, use
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| 96 | menu 'IDLE -> Preferences...' instead.
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| 97 | ---
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| 98 | Code Context -- Open a pane at the top of the edit window which
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| 99 | shows the block context of the section of code
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| 100 | which is scrolling off the top or the window.
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| 101 | (Not present in Shell window.)
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| 102 |
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| 103 | Windows Menu:
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| 104 |
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| 105 | Zoom Height -- toggles the window between configured size
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| 106 | and maximum height.
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| 107 | ---
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| 108 | The rest of this menu lists the names of all open windows;
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| 109 | select one to bring it to the foreground (deiconifying it if
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| 110 | necessary).
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| 111 |
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| 112 | Help Menu:
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| 113 |
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| 114 | About IDLE -- Version, copyright, license, credits
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| 115 | IDLE Readme -- Background discussion and change details
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| 116 | ---
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| 117 | IDLE Help -- Display this file
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| 118 | Python Docs -- Access local Python documentation, if
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| 119 | installed. Otherwise, access www.python.org.
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| 120 | ---
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| 121 | (Additional Help Sources may be added here)
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| 122 |
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| 123 |
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| 124 | ** TIPS **
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| 125 | ==========
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| 126 |
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| 127 | Additional Help Sources:
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| 128 |
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| 129 | Windows users can Google on zopeshelf.chm to access Zope help files in
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| 130 | the Windows help format. The Additional Help Sources feature of the
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| 131 | configuration GUI supports .chm, along with any other filetypes
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| 132 | supported by your browser. Supply a Menu Item title, and enter the
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| 133 | location in the Help File Path slot of the New Help Source dialog. Use
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| 134 | http:// and/or www. to identify external URLs, or download the file and
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| 135 | browse for its path on your machine using the Browse button.
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| 136 |
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| 137 | All users can access the extensive sources of help, including
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| 138 | tutorials, available at www.python.org/doc. Selected URLs can be added
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| 139 | or removed from the Help menu at any time using Configure IDLE.
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| 140 |
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| 141 | Basic editing and navigation:
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| 142 |
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| 143 | Backspace deletes char to the left; DEL deletes char to the right.
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| 144 | Control-backspace deletes word left, Control-DEL deletes word right.
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| 145 | Arrow keys and Page Up/Down move around.
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| 146 | Control-left/right Arrow moves by words in a strange but useful way.
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| 147 | Home/End go to begin/end of line.
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| 148 | Control-Home/End go to begin/end of file.
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| 149 | Some useful Emacs bindings are inherited from Tcl/Tk:
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| 150 | Control-a beginning of line
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| 151 | Control-e end of line
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| 152 | Control-k kill line (but doesn't put it in clipboard)
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| 153 | Control-l center window around the insertion point
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| 154 | Standard Windows bindings may work on that platform.
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| 155 | Keybindings are selected in the Settings Dialog, look there.
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| 156 |
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| 157 | Automatic indentation:
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| 158 |
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| 159 | After a block-opening statement, the next line is indented by 4 spaces
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| 160 | (in the Python Shell window by one tab). After certain keywords
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| 161 | (break, return etc.) the next line is dedented. In leading
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| 162 | indentation, Backspace deletes up to 4 spaces if they are there. Tab
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| 163 | inserts spaces (in the Python Shell window one tab), number depends on
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| 164 | Indent Width. (N.B. Currently tabs are restricted to four spaces due
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| 165 | to Tcl/Tk issues.)
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| 166 |
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| 167 | See also the indent/dedent region commands in the edit menu.
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| 168 |
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| 169 | Completions:
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| 170 |
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| 171 | Completions are supplied for functions, classes, and attributes of
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| 172 | classes, both built-in and user-defined. Completions are also provided
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| 173 | for filenames.
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| 174 |
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| 175 | The AutoCompleteWindow (ACW) will open after a predefined delay
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| 176 | (default is two seconds) after a '.' or (in a string) an os.sep is
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| 177 | typed. If after one of those characters (plus zero or more other
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| 178 | characters) you type a Tab the ACW will open immediately if a possible
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| 179 | continuation is found.
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| 180 |
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| 181 | If there is only one possible completion for the characters entered, a
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| 182 | Tab will supply that completion without opening the ACW.
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| 183 |
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| 184 | 'Show Completions' will force open a completions window. In an empty
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| 185 | string, this will contain the files in the current directory. On a
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| 186 | blank line, it will contain the built-in and user-defined functions and
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| 187 | classes in the current name spaces, plus any modules imported. If some
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| 188 | characters have been entered, the ACW will attempt to be more specific.
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| 189 |
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| 190 | If string of characters is typed, the ACW selection will jump to the
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| 191 | entry most closely matching those characters. Entering a Tab will cause
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| 192 | the longest non-ambiguous match to be entered in the Edit window or
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| 193 | Shell. Two Tabs in a row will supply the current ACW selection, as
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| 194 | will Return or a double click. Cursor keys, Page Up/Down, mouse
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| 195 | selection, and the scrollwheel all operate on the ACW.
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| 196 |
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| 197 | 'Hidden' attributes can be accessed by typing the beginning of hidden
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| 198 | name after a '.'. e.g. '_'. This allows access to modules with
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| 199 | '__all__' set, or to class-private attributes.
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| 200 |
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| 201 | Completions and the 'Expand Word' facility can save a lot of typing!
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| 202 |
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| 203 | Completions are currently limited to those in the namespaces. Names in
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| 204 | an Edit window which are not via __main__ or sys.modules will not be
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| 205 | found. Run the module once with your imports to correct this
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| 206 | situation. Note that IDLE itself places quite a few modules in
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| 207 | sys.modules, so much can be found by default, e.g. the re module.
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| 208 |
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| 209 | If you don't like the ACW popping up unbidden, simply make the delay
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| 210 | longer or disable the extension. OTOH, you could make the delay zero.
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| 211 |
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| 212 | You could also switch off the CallTips extension. (We will be adding
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| 213 | a delay to the call tip window.)
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| 214 |
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| 215 | Python Shell window:
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| 216 |
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| 217 | Control-c interrupts executing command.
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| 218 | Control-d sends end-of-file; closes window if typed at >>> prompt
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| 219 | (this is Control-z on Windows).
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| 220 |
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| 221 | Command history:
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| 222 |
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| 223 | Alt-p retrieves previous command matching what you have typed.
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| 224 | Alt-n retrieves next.
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| 225 | (These are Control-p, Control-n on the Mac)
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| 226 | Return while cursor is on a previous command retrieves that command.
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| 227 | Expand word is also useful to reduce typing.
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| 228 |
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| 229 | Syntax colors:
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| 230 |
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| 231 | The coloring is applied in a background "thread", so you may
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| 232 | occasionally see uncolorized text. To change the color
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| 233 | scheme, use the Configure IDLE / Highlighting dialog.
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| 234 |
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| 235 | Python default syntax colors:
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| 236 |
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| 237 | Keywords orange
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| 238 | Builtins royal purple
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| 239 | Strings green
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| 240 | Comments red
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| 241 | Definitions blue
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| 242 |
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| 243 | Shell default colors:
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| 244 |
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| 245 | Console output brown
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| 246 | stdout blue
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| 247 | stderr red
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| 248 | stdin black
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| 249 |
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| 250 | Other preferences:
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| 251 |
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| 252 | The font preferences, keybinding, and startup preferences can
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| 253 | be changed using the Settings dialog.
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| 254 |
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| 255 | Command line usage:
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| 256 |
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| 257 | Enter idle -h at the command prompt to get a usage message.
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| 258 |
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| 259 | Running without a subprocess:
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| 260 |
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| 261 | If IDLE is started with the -n command line switch it will run in a
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| 262 | single process and will not create the subprocess which runs the RPC
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| 263 | Python execution server. This can be useful if Python cannot create
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| 264 | the subprocess or the RPC socket interface on your platform. However,
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| 265 | in this mode user code is not isolated from IDLE itself. Also, the
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| 266 | environment is not restarted when Run/Run Module (F5) is selected. If
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| 267 | your code has been modified, you must reload() the affected modules and
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| 268 | re-import any specific items (e.g. from foo import baz) if the changes
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| 269 | are to take effect. For these reasons, it is preferable to run IDLE
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| 270 | with the default subprocess if at all possible.
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| 271 |
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| 272 | Extensions:
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| 273 |
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| 274 | IDLE contains an extension facility. See the beginning of
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| 275 | config-extensions.def in the idlelib directory for further information.
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| 276 | The default extensions are currently:
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| 277 |
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| 278 | FormatParagraph
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| 279 | AutoExpand
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| 280 | ZoomHeight
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| 281 | ScriptBinding
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| 282 | CallTips
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| 283 | ParenMatch
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| 284 | AutoComplete
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| 285 | CodeContext
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