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