1 2<!DOCTYPE html> 3 4<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> 5 <head> 6 <meta charset="utf-8" /> 7 <title>IDLE — Python 3.9.0a1 documentation</title> 8 <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pydoctheme.css" type="text/css" /> 9 <link rel="stylesheet" href="../_static/pygments.css" type="text/css" /> 10 11 <script type="text/javascript" id="documentation_options" data-url_root="../" src="../_static/documentation_options.js"></script> 12 <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/jquery.js"></script> 13 <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/underscore.js"></script> 14 <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/doctools.js"></script> 15 <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/language_data.js"></script> 16 17 <script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/sidebar.js"></script> 18 19 <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" 20 title="Search within Python 3.9.0a1 documentation" 21 href="../_static/opensearch.xml"/> 22 <link rel="author" title="About these documents" href="../about.html" /> 23 <link rel="index" title="Index" href="../genindex.html" /> 24 <link rel="search" title="Search" href="../search.html" /> 25 <link rel="copyright" title="Copyright" href="../copyright.html" /> 26 <link rel="next" title="Other Graphical User Interface Packages" href="othergui.html" /> 27 <link rel="prev" title="tkinter.tix — Extension widgets for Tk" href="tkinter.tix.html" /> 28 <link rel="canonical" href="https://docs.python.org/3/library/idle.html" /> 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 <style> 36 @media only screen { 37 table.full-width-table { 38 width: 100%; 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It is 124possible to have multiple editor windows simultaneously. On Windows and 125Linux, each has its own top menu. Each menu documented below indicates 126which window type it is associated with.</p> 127<p>Output windows, such as used for Edit => Find in Files, are a subtype of editor 128window. They currently have the same top menu but a different 129default title and context menu.</p> 130<p>On macOS, there is one application menu. It dynamically changes according 131to the window currently selected. It has an IDLE menu, and some entries 132described below are moved around to conform to Apple guidelines.</p> 133<div class="section" id="file-menu-shell-and-editor"> 134<h3>File menu (Shell and Editor)<a class="headerlink" href="#file-menu-shell-and-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 135<dl class="simple"> 136<dt>New File</dt><dd><p>Create a new file editing window.</p> 137</dd> 138<dt>Open…</dt><dd><p>Open an existing file with an Open dialog.</p> 139</dd> 140<dt>Recent Files</dt><dd><p>Open a list of recent files. Click one to open it.</p> 141</dd> 142<dt>Open Module…</dt><dd><p>Open an existing module (searches sys.path).</p> 143</dd> 144</dl> 145<dl class="simple" id="index-1"> 146<dt>Class Browser</dt><dd><p>Show functions, classes, and methods in the current Editor file in a 147tree structure. In the shell, open a module first.</p> 148</dd> 149<dt>Path Browser</dt><dd><p>Show sys.path directories, modules, functions, classes and methods in a 150tree structure.</p> 151</dd> 152<dt>Save</dt><dd><p>Save the current window to the associated file, if there is one. Windows 153that have been changed since being opened or last saved have a * before 154and after the window title. If there is no associated file, 155do Save As instead.</p> 156</dd> 157<dt>Save As…</dt><dd><p>Save the current window with a Save As dialog. The file saved becomes the 158new associated file for the window.</p> 159</dd> 160<dt>Save Copy As…</dt><dd><p>Save the current window to different file without changing the associated 161file.</p> 162</dd> 163<dt>Print Window</dt><dd><p>Print the current window to the default printer.</p> 164</dd> 165<dt>Close</dt><dd><p>Close the current window (ask to save if unsaved).</p> 166</dd> 167<dt>Exit</dt><dd><p>Close all windows and quit IDLE (ask to save unsaved windows).</p> 168</dd> 169</dl> 170</div> 171<div class="section" id="edit-menu-shell-and-editor"> 172<h3>Edit menu (Shell and Editor)<a class="headerlink" href="#edit-menu-shell-and-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 173<dl class="simple"> 174<dt>Undo</dt><dd><p>Undo the last change to the current window. A maximum of 1000 changes may 175be undone.</p> 176</dd> 177<dt>Redo</dt><dd><p>Redo the last undone change to the current window.</p> 178</dd> 179<dt>Cut</dt><dd><p>Copy selection into the system-wide clipboard; then delete the selection.</p> 180</dd> 181<dt>Copy</dt><dd><p>Copy selection into the system-wide clipboard.</p> 182</dd> 183<dt>Paste</dt><dd><p>Insert contents of the system-wide clipboard into the current window.</p> 184</dd> 185</dl> 186<p>The clipboard functions are also available in context menus.</p> 187<dl class="simple"> 188<dt>Select All</dt><dd><p>Select the entire contents of the current window.</p> 189</dd> 190<dt>Find…</dt><dd><p>Open a search dialog with many options</p> 191</dd> 192<dt>Find Again</dt><dd><p>Repeat the last search, if there is one.</p> 193</dd> 194<dt>Find Selection</dt><dd><p>Search for the currently selected string, if there is one.</p> 195</dd> 196<dt>Find in Files…</dt><dd><p>Open a file search dialog. Put results in a new output window.</p> 197</dd> 198<dt>Replace…</dt><dd><p>Open a search-and-replace dialog.</p> 199</dd> 200<dt>Go to Line</dt><dd><p>Move cursor to the line number requested and make that line visible.</p> 201</dd> 202<dt>Show Completions</dt><dd><p>Open a scrollable list allowing selection of keywords and attributes. See 203<a class="reference internal" href="#completions"><span class="std std-ref">Completions</span></a> in the Editing and navigation section below.</p> 204</dd> 205<dt>Expand Word</dt><dd><p>Expand a prefix you have typed to match a full word in the same window; 206repeat to get a different expansion.</p> 207</dd> 208<dt>Show call tip</dt><dd><p>After an unclosed parenthesis for a function, open a small window with 209function parameter hints. See <a class="reference internal" href="#calltips"><span class="std std-ref">Calltips</span></a> in the 210Editing and navigation section below.</p> 211</dd> 212<dt>Show surrounding parens</dt><dd><p>Highlight the surrounding parenthesis.</p> 213</dd> 214</dl> 215</div> 216<div class="section" id="format-menu-editor-window-only"> 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> 218<dl class="simple"> 219<dt>Indent Region</dt><dd><p>Shift selected lines right by the indent width (default 4 spaces).</p> 220</dd> 221<dt>Dedent Region</dt><dd><p>Shift selected lines left by the indent width (default 4 spaces).</p> 222</dd> 223<dt>Comment Out Region</dt><dd><p>Insert ## in front of selected lines.</p> 224</dd> 225<dt>Uncomment Region</dt><dd><p>Remove leading # or ## from selected lines.</p> 226</dd> 227<dt>Tabify Region</dt><dd><p>Turn <em>leading</em> stretches of spaces into tabs. (Note: We recommend using 2284 space blocks to indent Python code.)</p> 229</dd> 230<dt>Untabify Region</dt><dd><p>Turn <em>all</em> tabs into the correct number of spaces.</p> 231</dd> 232<dt>Toggle Tabs</dt><dd><p>Open a dialog to switch between indenting with spaces and tabs.</p> 233</dd> 234<dt>New Indent Width</dt><dd><p>Open a dialog to change indent width. The accepted default by the Python 235community is 4 spaces.</p> 236</dd> 237<dt>Format Paragraph</dt><dd><p>Reformat the current blank-line-delimited paragraph in comment block or 238multiline string or selected line in a string. All lines in the 239paragraph will be formatted to less than N columns, where N defaults to 72.</p> 240</dd> 241<dt>Strip trailing whitespace</dt><dd><p>Remove trailing space and other whitespace characters after the last 242non-whitespace character of a line by applying str.rstrip to each line, 243including lines within multiline strings. Except for Shell windows, 244remove extra newlines at the end of the file.</p> 245</dd> 246</dl> 247</div> 248<div class="section" id="run-menu-editor-window-only"> 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> 250<dl class="simple" id="run-module"> 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 252environment, then execute the module. Output is displayed in the Shell 253window. 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>. 254When execution is complete, the Shell retains focus and displays a prompt. 255At this point, one may interactively explore the result of execution. 256This 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 257line.</p> 258</dd> 259</dl> 260<dl class="simple" id="run-custom"> 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 262settings. <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 263on a command line. The module can be run in the Shell without restarting.</p> 264</dd> 265</dl> 266<dl class="simple" id="check-module"> 267<dt>Check Module</dt><dd><p>Check the syntax of the module currently open in the Editor window. If the 268module has not been saved IDLE will either prompt the user to save or 269autosave, as selected in the General tab of the Idle Settings dialog. If 270there is a syntax error, the approximate location is indicated in the 271Editor window.</p> 272</dd> 273</dl> 274<dl class="simple" id="python-shell"> 275<dt>Python Shell</dt><dd><p>Open or wake up the Python Shell window.</p> 276</dd> 277</dl> 278</div> 279<div class="section" id="shell-menu-shell-window-only"> 280<h3>Shell menu (Shell window only)<a class="headerlink" href="#shell-menu-shell-window-only" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 281<dl class="simple"> 282<dt>View Last Restart</dt><dd><p>Scroll the shell window to the last Shell restart.</p> 283</dd> 284<dt>Restart Shell</dt><dd><p>Restart the shell to clean the environment.</p> 285</dd> 286<dt>Previous History</dt><dd><p>Cycle through earlier commands in history which match the current entry.</p> 287</dd> 288<dt>Next History</dt><dd><p>Cycle through later commands in history which match the current entry.</p> 289</dd> 290<dt>Interrupt Execution</dt><dd><p>Stop a running program.</p> 291</dd> 292</dl> 293</div> 294<div class="section" id="debug-menu-shell-window-only"> 295<h3>Debug menu (Shell window only)<a class="headerlink" href="#debug-menu-shell-window-only" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 296<dl class="simple"> 297<dt>Go to File/Line</dt><dd><p>Look on the current line. with the cursor, and the line above for a filename 298and line number. If found, open the file if not already open, and show the 299line. Use this to view source lines referenced in an exception traceback 300and lines found by Find in Files. Also available in the context menu of 301the Shell window and Output windows.</p> 302</dd> 303</dl> 304<dl class="simple" id="index-3"> 305<dt>Debugger (toggle)</dt><dd><p>When activated, code entered in the Shell or run from an Editor will run 306under the debugger. In the Editor, breakpoints can be set with the context 307menu. This feature is still incomplete and somewhat experimental.</p> 308</dd> 309<dt>Stack Viewer</dt><dd><p>Show the stack traceback of the last exception in a tree widget, with 310access to locals and globals.</p> 311</dd> 312<dt>Auto-open Stack Viewer</dt><dd><p>Toggle automatically opening the stack viewer on an unhandled exception.</p> 313</dd> 314</dl> 315</div> 316<div class="section" id="options-menu-shell-and-editor"> 317<h3>Options menu (Shell and Editor)<a class="headerlink" href="#options-menu-shell-and-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 318<dl class="simple"> 319<dt>Configure IDLE</dt><dd><p>Open a configuration dialog and change preferences for the following: 320fonts, indentation, keybindings, text color themes, startup windows and 321size, additional help sources, and extensions. On macOS, open the 322configuration dialog by selecting Preferences in the application 323menu. For more details, see 324<a class="reference internal" href="#preferences"><span class="std std-ref">Setting preferences</span></a> under Help and preferences.</p> 325</dd> 326</dl> 327<p>Most configuration options apply to all windows or all future windows. 328The option items below only apply to the active window.</p> 329<dl class="simple"> 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 331of the code which has scrolled above the top of the window. See 332<a class="reference internal" href="#code-context"><span class="std std-ref">Code Context</span></a> in the Editing and Navigation section 333below.</p> 334</dd> 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 336of each line of text. The default is off, which may be changed in the 337preferences (see <a class="reference internal" href="#preferences"><span class="std std-ref">Setting preferences</span></a>).</p> 338</dd> 339<dt>Zoom/Restore Height</dt><dd><p>Toggles the window between normal size and maximum height. The initial size 340defaults to 40 lines by 80 chars unless changed on the General tab of the 341Configure IDLE dialog. The maximum height for a screen is determined by 342momentarily maximizing a window the first time one is zoomed on the screen. 343Changing screen settings may invalidate the saved height. This toggle has 344no effect when a window is maximized.</p> 345</dd> 346</dl> 347</div> 348<div class="section" id="window-menu-shell-and-editor"> 349<h3>Window menu (Shell and Editor)<a class="headerlink" href="#window-menu-shell-and-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 350<p>Lists the names of all open windows; select one to bring it to the foreground 351(deiconifying it if necessary).</p> 352</div> 353<div class="section" id="help-menu-shell-and-editor"> 354<h3>Help menu (Shell and Editor)<a class="headerlink" href="#help-menu-shell-and-editor" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 355<dl class="simple"> 356<dt>About IDLE</dt><dd><p>Display version, copyright, license, credits, and more.</p> 357</dd> 358<dt>IDLE Help</dt><dd><p>Display this IDLE document, detailing the menu options, basic editing and 359navigation, and other tips.</p> 360</dd> 361<dt>Python Docs</dt><dd><p>Access local Python documentation, if installed, or start a web browser 362and open docs.python.org showing the latest Python documentation.</p> 363</dd> 364<dt>Turtle Demo</dt><dd><p>Run the turtledemo module with example Python code and turtle drawings.</p> 365</dd> 366</dl> 367<p>Additional help sources may be added here with the Configure IDLE dialog under 368the General tab. See the <a class="reference internal" href="#help-sources"><span class="std std-ref">Help sources</span></a> subsection below 369for more on Help menu choices.</p> 370</div> 371<div class="section" id="context-menus"> 372<span id="index-4"></span><h3>Context Menus<a class="headerlink" href="#context-menus" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 373<p>Open a context menu by right-clicking in a window (Control-click on macOS). 374Context menus have the standard clipboard functions also on the Edit menu.</p> 375<dl class="simple"> 376<dt>Cut</dt><dd><p>Copy selection into the system-wide clipboard; then delete the selection.</p> 377</dd> 378<dt>Copy</dt><dd><p>Copy selection into the system-wide clipboard.</p> 379</dd> 380<dt>Paste</dt><dd><p>Insert contents of the system-wide clipboard into the current window.</p> 381</dd> 382</dl> 383<p>Editor windows also have breakpoint functions. Lines with a breakpoint set are 384specially marked. Breakpoints only have an effect when running under the 385debugger. Breakpoints for a file are saved in the user’s .idlerc directory.</p> 386<dl class="simple"> 387<dt>Set Breakpoint</dt><dd><p>Set a breakpoint on the current line.</p> 388</dd> 389<dt>Clear Breakpoint</dt><dd><p>Clear the breakpoint on that line.</p> 390</dd> 391</dl> 392<p>Shell and Output windows also have the following.</p> 393<dl class="simple"> 394<dt>Go to file/line</dt><dd><p>Same as in Debug menu.</p> 395</dd> 396</dl> 397<p>The Shell window also has an output squeezing facility explained in the <em>Python 398Shell window</em> subsection below.</p> 399<dl class="simple"> 400<dt>Squeeze</dt><dd><p>If the cursor is over an output line, squeeze all the output between 401the code above and the prompt below down to a ‘Squeezed text’ label.</p> 402</dd> 403</dl> 404</div> 405</div> 406<div class="section" id="editing-and-navigation"> 407<span id="id2"></span><h2>Editing and navigation<a class="headerlink" href="#editing-and-navigation" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> 408<div class="section" id="editor-windows"> 409<h3>Editor windows<a class="headerlink" href="#editor-windows" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 410<p>IDLE may open editor windows when it starts, depending on settings 411and how you start IDLE. Thereafter, use the File menu. There can be only 412one open editor window for a given file.</p> 413<p>The title bar contains the name of the file, the full path, and the version 414of Python and IDLE running the window. The status bar contains the line 415number (‘Ln’) and column number (‘Col’). Line numbers start with 1; 416column numbers with 0.</p> 417<p>IDLE assumes that files with a known .py* extension contain Python code 418and that other files do not. Run Python code with the Run menu.</p> 419</div> 420<div class="section" id="key-bindings"> 421<h3>Key bindings<a class="headerlink" href="#key-bindings" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 422<p>In this section, ‘C’ refers to the <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Control</kbd> key on Windows and Unix and 423the <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Command</kbd> key on macOS.</p> 424<ul> 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> 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> 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> 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> 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> 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> 431<li><p>Some useful Emacs bindings are inherited from Tcl/Tk:</p> 432<blockquote> 433<div><ul class="simple"> 434<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-a</kbd> beginning of line</p></li> 435<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-e</kbd> end of line</p></li> 436<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-k</kbd> kill line (but doesn’t put it in clipboard)</p></li> 437<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-l</kbd> center window around the insertion point</p></li> 438<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-b</kbd> go backward one character without deleting (usually you can 439also use the cursor key for this)</p></li> 440<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-f</kbd> go forward one character without deleting (usually you can 441also use the cursor key for this)</p></li> 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 443this)</p></li> 444<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-d</kbd> delete next character</p></li> 445</ul> 446</div></blockquote> 447</li> 448</ul> 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) 450may work. Keybindings are selected in the Configure IDLE dialog.</p> 451</div> 452<div class="section" id="automatic-indentation"> 453<h3>Automatic indentation<a class="headerlink" href="#automatic-indentation" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 454<p>After a block-opening statement, the next line is indented by 4 spaces (in the 455Python Shell window by one tab). After certain keywords (break, return etc.) 456the next line is dedented. In leading indentation, <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Backspace</kbd> deletes up 457to 4 spaces if they are there. <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Tab</kbd> inserts spaces (in the Python 458Shell window one tab), number depends on Indent width. Currently, tabs 459are restricted to four spaces due to Tcl/Tk limitations.</p> 460<p>See also the indent/dedent region commands on the 461<a class="reference internal" href="#format-menu"><span class="std std-ref">Format menu</span></a>.</p> 462</div> 463<div class="section" id="completions"> 464<span id="id3"></span><h3>Completions<a class="headerlink" href="#completions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 465<p>Completions are supplied for functions, classes, and attributes of classes, 466both built-in and user-defined. Completions are also provided for 467filenames.</p> 468<p>The AutoCompleteWindow (ACW) will open after a predefined delay (default is 469two seconds) after a ‘.’ or (in a string) an os.sep is typed. If after one 470of those characters (plus zero or more other characters) a tab is typed 471the ACW will open immediately if a possible continuation is found.</p> 472<p>If there is only one possible completion for the characters entered, a 473<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Tab</kbd> will supply that completion without opening the ACW.</p> 474<p>‘Show Completions’ will force open a completions window, by default the 475<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-space</kbd> will open a completions window. In an empty 476string, this will contain the files in the current directory. On a 477blank line, it will contain the built-in and user-defined functions and 478classes in the current namespaces, plus any modules imported. If some 479characters have been entered, the ACW will attempt to be more specific.</p> 480<p>If a string of characters is typed, the ACW selection will jump to the 481entry most closely matching those characters. Entering a <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">tab</kbd> will 482cause the longest non-ambiguous match to be entered in the Editor window or 483Shell. Two <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">tab</kbd> in a row will supply the current ACW selection, as 484will return or a double click. Cursor keys, Page Up/Down, mouse selection, 485and the scroll wheel all operate on the ACW.</p> 486<p>“Hidden” attributes can be accessed by typing the beginning of hidden 487name after a ‘.’, e.g. ‘_’. This allows access to modules with 488<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">__all__</span></code> set, or to class-private attributes.</p> 489<p>Completions and the ‘Expand Word’ facility can save a lot of typing!</p> 490<p>Completions are currently limited to those in the namespaces. Names in 491an 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 492not be found. Run the module once with your imports to correct this situation. 493Note that IDLE itself places quite a few modules in sys.modules, so 494much can be found by default, e.g. the re module.</p> 495<p>If you don’t like the ACW popping up unbidden, simply make the delay 496longer or disable the extension.</p> 497</div> 498<div class="section" id="calltips"> 499<span id="id4"></span><h3>Calltips<a class="headerlink" href="#calltips" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 500<p>A calltip is shown when one types <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">(</kbd> after the name of an <em>accessible</em> 501function. A name expression may include dots and subscripts. A calltip 502remains until it is clicked, the cursor is moved out of the argument area, 503or <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">)</kbd> is typed. When the cursor is in the argument part of a definition, 504the menu or shortcut display a calltip.</p> 505<p>A calltip consists of the function signature and the first line of the 506docstring. For builtins without an accessible signature, the calltip 507consists of all lines up the fifth line or the first blank line. These 508details may change.</p> 509<p>The set of <em>accessible</em> functions depends on what modules have been imported 510into the user process, including those imported by Idle itself, 511and what definitions have been run, all since the last restart.</p> 512<p>For example, restart the Shell and enter <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">itertools.count(</span></code>. A calltip 513appears because Idle imports itertools into the user process for its own use. 514(This could change.) Enter <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">turtle.write(</span></code> and nothing appears. Idle does 515not import turtle. The menu or shortcut do nothing either. Enter 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> 517<p>In an editor, import statements have no effect until one runs the file. One 518might want to run a file after writing the import statements at the top, 519or immediately run an existing file before editing.</p> 520</div> 521<div class="section" id="code-context"> 522<span id="id5"></span><h3>Code Context<a class="headerlink" href="#code-context" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 523<p>Within an editor window containing Python code, code context can be toggled 524in order to show or hide a pane at the top of the window. When shown, this 525pane freezes the opening lines for block code, such as those beginning with 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 527out of view. The size of the pane will be expanded and contracted as needed 528to show the all current levels of context, up to the maximum number of 529lines defined in the Configure IDLE dialog (which defaults to 15). If there 530are no current context lines and the feature is toggled on, a single blank 531line will display. Clicking on a line in the context pane will move that 532line to the top of the editor.</p> 533<p>The text and background colors for the context pane can be configured under 534the Highlights tab in the Configure IDLE dialog.</p> 535</div> 536<div class="section" id="python-shell-window"> 537<h3>Python Shell window<a class="headerlink" href="#python-shell-window" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 538<p>With IDLE’s Shell, one enters, edits, and recalls complete statements. 539Most consoles and terminals only work with a single physical line at a time.</p> 540<p>When one pastes code into Shell, it is not compiled and possibly executed 541until one hits <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Return</kbd>. One may edit pasted code first. 542If one pastes more that one statement into Shell, the result will be a 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> 544<p>The editing features described in previous subsections work when entering 545code interactively. IDLE’s Shell window also responds to the following keys.</p> 546<ul> 547<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-c</kbd> interrupts executing command</p></li> 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> 549<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Alt-/</kbd> (Expand word) is also useful to reduce typing</p> 550<p>Command history</p> 551<ul class="simple"> 552<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Alt-p</kbd> retrieves previous command matching what you have typed. On 553macOS use <kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">C-p</kbd>.</p></li> 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> 555<li><p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Return</kbd> while on any previous command retrieves that command</p></li> 556</ul> 557</li> 558</ul> 559</div> 560<div class="section" id="text-colors"> 561<h3>Text colors<a class="headerlink" href="#text-colors" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 562<p>Idle defaults to black on white text, but colors text with special meanings. 563For the shell, these are shell output, shell error, user output, and 564user error. For Python code, at the shell prompt or in an editor, these are 565keywords, builtin class and function names, names following <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">class</span></code> and 566<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">def</span></code>, strings, and comments. For any text window, these are the cursor (when 567present), found text (when possible), and selected text.</p> 568<p>Text coloring is done in the background, so uncolorized text is occasionally 569visible. To change the color scheme, use the Configure IDLE dialog 570Highlighting tab. The marking of debugger breakpoint lines in the editor and 571text in popups and dialogs is not user-configurable.</p> 572</div> 573</div> 574<div class="section" id="startup-and-code-execution"> 575<h2>Startup and code execution<a class="headerlink" href="#startup-and-code-execution" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> 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 577the 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>. 578IDLE 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 579referenced is run. If <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">IDLESTARTUP</span></code> is not present, IDLE checks for 580<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PYTHONSTARTUP</span></code>. Files referenced by these environment variables are 581convenient places to store functions that are used frequently from the IDLE 582shell, or for executing import statements to import common modules.</p> 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 584Tk file is loaded unconditionally. This additional file is <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">.Idle.py</span></code> and is 585looked for in the user’s home directory. Statements in this file will be 586executed in the Tk namespace, so this file is not useful for importing 587functions to be used from IDLE’s Python shell.</p> 588<div class="section" id="command-line-usage"> 589<h3>Command line usage<a class="headerlink" href="#command-line-usage" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 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] ... 591 592-c command run command in the shell window 593-d enable debugger and open shell window 594-e open editor window 595-h print help message with legal combinations and exit 596-i open shell window 597-r file run file in shell window 598-s run $IDLESTARTUP or $PYTHONSTARTUP first, in shell window 599-t title set title of shell window 600- run stdin in shell (- must be last option before args) 601</pre></div> 602</div> 603<p>If there are arguments:</p> 604<ul class="simple"> 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 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>, 607or <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">'-r'</span></code>. No editor window is opened, even if that is the default 608set in the Options dialog.</p></li> 609<li><p>Otherwise, arguments are files opened for editing and 610<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.argv</span></code> reflects the arguments passed to IDLE itself.</p></li> 611</ul> 612</div> 613<div class="section" id="startup-failure"> 614<h3>Startup failure<a class="headerlink" href="#startup-failure" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 615<p>IDLE uses a socket to communicate between the IDLE GUI process and the user 616code execution process. A connection must be established whenever the Shell 617starts or restarts. (The latter is indicated by a divider line that says 618‘RESTART’). If the user process fails to connect to the GUI process, it 619displays a <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">Tk</span></code> error box with a ‘cannot connect’ message that directs the 620user here. It then exits.</p> 621<p>A common cause of failure is a user-written file with the same name as a 622standard library module, such as <em>random.py</em> and <em>tkinter.py</em>. When such a 623file is located in the same directory as a file that is about to be run, 624IDLE cannot import the stdlib file. The current fix is to rename the 625user file.</p> 626<p>Though less common than in the past, an antivirus or firewall program may 627stop the connection. If the program cannot be taught to allow the 628connection, then it must be turned off for IDLE to work. It is safe to 629allow this internal connection because no data is visible on external 630ports. A similar problem is a network mis-configuration that blocks 631connections.</p> 632<p>Python installation issues occasionally stop IDLE: multiple versions can 633clash, or a single installation might need admin access. If one undo the 634clash, or cannot or does not want to run as admin, it might be easiest to 635completely remove Python and start over.</p> 636<p>A zombie pythonw.exe process could be a problem. On Windows, use Task 637Manager to detect and stop one. Sometimes a restart initiated by a program 638crash or Keyboard Interrupt (control-C) may fail to connect. Dismissing 639the error box or Restart Shell on the Shell menu may fix a temporary problem.</p> 640<p>When IDLE first starts, it attempts to read user configuration files in 641~/.idlerc/ (~ is one’s home directory). If there is a problem, an error 642message should be displayed. Leaving aside random disk glitches, this can 643be prevented by never editing the files by hand, using the configuration 644dialog, under Options, instead Options. Once it happens, the solution may 645be to delete one or more of the configuration files.</p> 646<p>If IDLE quits with no message, and it was not started from a console, try 647starting 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> 648</div> 649<div class="section" id="running-user-code"> 650<h3>Running user code<a class="headerlink" href="#running-user-code" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 651<p>With rare exceptions, the result of executing Python code with IDLE is 652intended to be the same as executing the same code by the default method, 653directly with Python in a text-mode system console or terminal window. 654However, the different interface and operation occasionally affect 655visible results. For instance, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.modules</span></code> starts with more entries, 656and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">threading.activeCount()</span></code> returns 2 instead of 1.</p> 657<p>By default, IDLE runs user code in a separate OS process rather than in 658the user interface process that runs the shell and editor. In the execution 659process, 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> 660with objects that get input from and send output to the Shell window. 661The 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 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> 663<p>When Shell has the focus, it controls the keyboard and screen. This is 664normally transparent, but functions that directly access the keyboard 665and screen will not work. These include system-specific functions that 666determine whether a key has been pressed and if so, which.</p> 667<p>IDLE’s standard stream replacements are not inherited by subprocesses 668created in the execution process, whether directly by user code or by modules 669such as multiprocessing. If such subprocess use <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">input</span></code> from sys.stdin 670or <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, 671IDLE should be started in a command line window. The secondary subprocess 672will then be attached to that window for input and output.</p> 673<p>The IDLE code running in the execution process adds frames to the call stack 674that would not be there otherwise. IDLE wraps <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.getrecursionlimit</span></code> and 675<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.setrecursionlimit</span></code> to reduce the effect of the additional stack frames.</p> 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>, 677IDLE’s changes are lost and input from the keyboard and output to the screen 678will not work correctly.</p> 679<p>When user code raises SystemExit either directly or by calling sys.exit, IDLE 680returns to a Shell prompt instead of exiting.</p> 681</div> 682<div class="section" id="user-output-in-shell"> 683<h3>User output in Shell<a class="headerlink" href="#user-output-in-shell" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 684<p>When a program outputs text, the result is determined by the 685corresponding output device. When IDLE executes user code, <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stdout</span></code> 686and <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sys.stderr</span></code> are connected to the display area of IDLE’s Shell. Some of 687its features are inherited from the underlying Tk Text widget. Others 688are programmed additions. Where it matters, Shell is designed for development 689rather than production runs.</p> 690<p>For instance, Shell never throws away output. A program that sends unlimited 691output to Shell will eventually fill memory, resulting in a memory error. 692In contrast, some system text windows only keep the last n lines of output. 693A Windows console, for instance, keeps a user-settable 1 to 9999 lines, 694with 300 the default.</p> 695<p>A Tk Text widget, and hence IDLE’s Shell, displays characters (codepoints) in 696the BMP (Basic Multilingual Plane) subset of Unicode. Which characters are 697displayed with a proper glyph and which with a replacement box depends on the 698operating system and installed fonts. Tab characters cause the following text 699to begin after the next tab stop. (They occur every 8 ‘characters’). Newline 700characters cause following text to appear on a new line. Other control 701characters are ignored or displayed as a space, box, or something else, 702depending on the operating system and font. (Moving the text cursor through 703such output with arrow keys may exhibit some surprising spacing behavior.)</p> 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> 705<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="nb">len</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">s</span><span class="p">)</span> 706<span class="go">14</span> 707<span class="gp">>>> </span><span class="n">s</span> <span class="c1"># Display repr(s)</span> 708<span class="go">'a\tb\x07<\x02><\r>\x08c\nd'</span> 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> 710<span class="go"># Result varies by OS and font. Try it.</span> 711</pre></div> 712</div> 713<p>The <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">repr</span></code> function is used for interactive echo of expression 714values. It returns an altered version of the input string in which 715control codes, some BMP codepoints, and all non-BMP codepoints are 716replaced with escape codes. As demonstrated above, it allows one to 717identify the characters in a string, regardless of how they are displayed.</p> 718<p>Normal and error output are generally kept separate (on separate lines) 719from code input and each other. They each get different highlight colors.</p> 720<p>For SyntaxError tracebacks, the normal ‘^’ marking where the error was 721detected is replaced by coloring the text with an error highlight. 722When code run from a file causes other exceptions, one may right click 723on a traceback line to jump to the corresponding line in an IDLE editor. 724The file will be opened if necessary.</p> 725<p>Shell has a special facility for squeezing output lines down to a 726‘Squeezed text’ label. This is done automatically 727for output over N lines (N = 50 by default). 728N can be changed in the PyShell section of the General 729page of the Settings dialog. Output with fewer lines can be squeezed by 730right clicking on the output. This can be useful lines long enough to slow 731down scrolling.</p> 732<p>Squeezed output is expanded in place by double-clicking the label. 733It can also be sent to the clipboard or a separate view window by 734right-clicking the label.</p> 735</div> 736<div class="section" id="developing-tkinter-applications"> 737<h3>Developing tkinter applications<a class="headerlink" href="#developing-tkinter-applications" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 738<p>IDLE is intentionally different from standard Python in order to 739facilitate 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> 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 741in IDLE and a tk window appears. In standard Python, one must also enter 742<code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">root.update()</span></code> to see the window. IDLE does the equivalent in the 743background, about 20 times a second, which is about every 50 milliseconds. 744Next 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, 745nothing visibly changes in standard Python until one enters <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">root.update()</span></code>.</p> 746<p>Most tkinter programs run <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">root.mainloop()</span></code>, which usually does not 747return until the tk app is destroyed. If the program is run with 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 749appear until <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">mainloop()</span></code> returns, at which time there is nothing left 750to interact with.</p> 751<p>When running a tkinter program from an IDLE editor, one can comment out 752the mainloop call. One then gets a shell prompt immediately and can 753interact with the live application. One just has to remember to 754re-enable the mainloop call when running in standard Python.</p> 755</div> 756<div class="section" id="running-without-a-subprocess"> 757<h3>Running without a subprocess<a class="headerlink" href="#running-without-a-subprocess" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 758<p>By default, IDLE executes user code in a separate subprocess via a socket, 759which uses the internal loopback interface. This connection is not 760externally visible and no data is sent to or received from the Internet. 761If firewall software complains anyway, you can ignore it.</p> 762<p>If the attempt to make the socket connection fails, Idle will notify you. 763Such failures are sometimes transient, but if persistent, the problem 764may be either a firewall blocking the connection or misconfiguration of 765a particular system. Until the problem is fixed, one can run Idle with 766the -n command line switch.</p> 767<p>If IDLE is started with the -n command line switch it will run in a 768single process and will not create the subprocess which runs the RPC 769Python execution server. This can be useful if Python cannot create 770the subprocess or the RPC socket interface on your platform. However, 771in this mode user code is not isolated from IDLE itself. Also, the 772environment is not restarted when Run/Run Module (F5) is selected. If 773your code has been modified, you must reload() the affected modules and 774re-import any specific items (e.g. from foo import baz) if the changes 775are to take effect. For these reasons, it is preferable to run IDLE 776with the default subprocess if at all possible.</p> 777<div class="deprecated"> 778<p><span class="versionmodified deprecated">Deprecated since version 3.4.</span></p> 779</div> 780</div> 781</div> 782<div class="section" id="help-and-preferences"> 783<h2>Help and preferences<a class="headerlink" href="#help-and-preferences" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2> 784<div class="section" id="help-sources"> 785<span id="id6"></span><h3>Help sources<a class="headerlink" href="#help-sources" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 786<p>Help menu entry “IDLE Help” displays a formatted html version of the 787IDLE chapter of the Library Reference. The result, in a read-only 788tkinter text window, is close to what one sees in a web browser. 789Navigate through the text with a mousewheel, 790the scrollbar, or up and down arrow keys held down. 791Or click the TOC (Table of Contents) button and select a section 792header in the opened box.</p> 793<p>Help menu entry “Python Docs” opens the extensive sources of help, 794including tutorials, available at docs.python.org/x.y, where ‘x.y’ 795is the currently running Python version. If your system 796has an off-line copy of the docs (this may be an installation option), 797that will be opened instead.</p> 798<p>Selected URLs can be added or removed from the help menu at any time using the 799General tab of the Configure IDLE dialog .</p> 800</div> 801<div class="section" id="setting-preferences"> 802<span id="preferences"></span><h3>Setting preferences<a class="headerlink" href="#setting-preferences" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 803<p>The font preferences, highlighting, keys, and general preferences can be 804changed via Configure IDLE on the Option menu. 805Non-default user settings are saved in a .idlerc directory in the user’s 806home directory. Problems caused by bad user configuration files are solved 807by editing or deleting one or more of the files in .idlerc.</p> 808<p>On the Font tab, see the text sample for the effect of font face and size 809on multiple characters in multiple languages. Edit the sample to add 810other characters of personal interest. Use the sample to select 811monospaced fonts. If particular characters have problems in Shell or an 812editor, add them to the top of the sample and try changing first size 813and then font.</p> 814<p>On the Highlights and Keys tab, select a built-in or custom color theme 815and key set. To use a newer built-in color theme or key set with older 816IDLEs, save it as a new custom theme or key set and it well be accessible 817to older IDLEs.</p> 818</div> 819<div class="section" id="idle-on-macos"> 820<h3>IDLE on macOS<a class="headerlink" href="#idle-on-macos" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 821<p>Under System Preferences: Dock, one can set “Prefer tabs when opening 822documents” to “Always”. This setting is not compatible with the tk/tkinter 823GUI framework used by IDLE, and it breaks a few IDLE features.</p> 824</div> 825<div class="section" id="extensions"> 826<h3>Extensions<a class="headerlink" href="#extensions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h3> 827<p>IDLE contains an extension facility. Preferences for extensions can be 828changed with the Extensions tab of the preferences dialog. See the 829beginning of config-extensions.def in the idlelib directory for further 830information. The only current default extension is zzdummy, an example 831also used for testing.</p> 832</div> 833</div> 834</div> 835 836 837 </div> 838 </div> 839 </div> 840 <div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation"> 841 <div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper"> 842 <h3><a href="../contents.html">Table of Contents</a></h3> 843 <ul> 844<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">IDLE</a><ul> 845<li><a class="reference internal" href="#menus">Menus</a><ul> 846<li><a class="reference internal" href="#file-menu-shell-and-editor">File menu (Shell and Editor)</a></li> 847<li><a class="reference internal" href="#edit-menu-shell-and-editor">Edit menu (Shell and Editor)</a></li> 848<li><a class="reference internal" href="#format-menu-editor-window-only">Format menu (Editor window only)</a></li> 849<li><a class="reference internal" href="#run-menu-editor-window-only">Run menu (Editor window only)</a></li> 850<li><a class="reference internal" href="#shell-menu-shell-window-only">Shell menu (Shell window only)</a></li> 851<li><a class="reference internal" href="#debug-menu-shell-window-only">Debug menu (Shell window only)</a></li> 852<li><a class="reference internal" href="#options-menu-shell-and-editor">Options menu (Shell and Editor)</a></li> 853<li><a class="reference internal" href="#window-menu-shell-and-editor">Window menu (Shell and Editor)</a></li> 854<li><a class="reference internal" href="#help-menu-shell-and-editor">Help menu (Shell and Editor)</a></li> 855<li><a class="reference internal" href="#context-menus">Context Menus</a></li> 856</ul> 857</li> 858<li><a class="reference internal" href="#editing-and-navigation">Editing and navigation</a><ul> 859<li><a class="reference internal" href="#editor-windows">Editor windows</a></li> 860<li><a class="reference internal" href="#key-bindings">Key bindings</a></li> 861<li><a class="reference internal" href="#automatic-indentation">Automatic indentation</a></li> 862<li><a class="reference internal" href="#completions">Completions</a></li> 863<li><a class="reference internal" href="#calltips">Calltips</a></li> 864<li><a class="reference internal" href="#code-context">Code Context</a></li> 865<li><a class="reference internal" href="#python-shell-window">Python Shell window</a></li> 866<li><a class="reference internal" href="#text-colors">Text colors</a></li> 867</ul> 868</li> 869<li><a class="reference internal" href="#startup-and-code-execution">Startup and code execution</a><ul> 870<li><a class="reference internal" href="#command-line-usage">Command line usage</a></li> 871<li><a class="reference internal" href="#startup-failure">Startup failure</a></li> 872<li><a class="reference internal" href="#running-user-code">Running user code</a></li> 873<li><a class="reference internal" href="#user-output-in-shell">User output in Shell</a></li> 874<li><a class="reference internal" href="#developing-tkinter-applications">Developing tkinter applications</a></li> 875<li><a class="reference internal" href="#running-without-a-subprocess">Running without a subprocess</a></li> 876</ul> 877</li> 878<li><a class="reference internal" href="#help-and-preferences">Help and preferences</a><ul> 879<li><a class="reference internal" href="#help-sources">Help sources</a></li> 880<li><a class="reference internal" href="#setting-preferences">Setting preferences</a></li> 881<li><a class="reference internal" href="#idle-on-macos">IDLE on macOS</a></li> 882<li><a class="reference internal" href="#extensions">Extensions</a></li> 883</ul> 884</li> 885</ul> 886</li> 887</ul> 888 889 <h4>Previous topic</h4> 890 <p class="topless"><a href="tkinter.tix.html" 891 title="previous chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">tkinter.tix</span></code> — Extension widgets for Tk</a></p> 892 <h4>Next topic</h4> 893 <p class="topless"><a href="othergui.html" 894 title="next chapter">Other Graphical User Interface 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