This file, idlelib/help.txt is out-of-date and no longer used by Idle.
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It is deprecated and will be removed in the future, possibly in 3.6
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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[See the end of this file for ** TIPS ** on using IDLE !!]
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File Menu:
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New File -- Create a new editing window
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Open... -- Open an existing file
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Recent Files... -- Open a list of recent files
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Open Module... -- Open an existing module (searches sys.path)
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Class Browser -- Show classes and methods in current file
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Path Browser -- Show sys.path directories, modules, classes
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and methods
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---
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Save -- Save current window to the associated file (unsaved
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windows have a * before and after the window title)
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Save As... -- Save current window to new file, which becomes
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the associated file
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Save Copy As... -- Save current window to different file
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without changing the associated file
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---
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Print Window -- Print the current window
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---
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Close -- Close current window (asks to save if unsaved)
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Exit -- Close all windows, quit (asks to save if unsaved)
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Edit Menu:
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Undo -- Undo last change to current window
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(A maximum of 1000 changes may be undone)
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Redo -- Redo last undone change to current window
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---
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Cut -- Copy a selection into system-wide clipboard,
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then delete the selection
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Copy -- Copy selection into system-wide clipboard
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Paste -- Insert system-wide clipboard into window
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Select All -- Select the entire contents of the edit buffer
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---
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Find... -- Open a search dialog box with many options
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Find Again -- Repeat last search
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Find Selection -- Search for the string in the selection
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Find in Files... -- Open a search dialog box for searching files
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Replace... -- Open a search-and-replace dialog box
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Go to Line -- Ask for a line number and show that line
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Show Calltip -- Open a small window with function param hints
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Show Completions -- Open a scroll window allowing selection keywords
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and attributes. (see '*TIPS*', below)
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Show Parens -- Highlight the surrounding parenthesis
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Expand Word -- Expand the word you have typed to match another
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word in the same buffer; repeat to get a
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different expansion
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Format Menu (only in Edit window):
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Indent Region -- Shift selected lines right 4 spaces
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Dedent Region -- Shift selected lines left 4 spaces
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Comment Out Region -- Insert ## in front of selected lines
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Uncomment Region -- Remove leading # or ## from selected lines
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Tabify Region -- Turns *leading* stretches of spaces into tabs
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(Note: We recommend using 4 space blocks to indent Python code.)
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Untabify Region -- Turn *all* tabs into the right number of spaces
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New Indent Width... -- Open dialog to change indent width
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Format Paragraph -- Reformat the current blank-line-separated
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paragraph
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Run Menu (only in Edit window):
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Python Shell -- Open or wake up the Python shell window
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---
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Check Module -- Run a syntax check on the module
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Run Module -- Execute the current file in the __main__ namespace
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Shell Menu (only in Shell window):
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View Last Restart -- Scroll the shell window to the last restart
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Restart Shell -- Restart the interpreter with a fresh environment
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Debug Menu (only in Shell window):
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Go to File/Line -- look around the insert point for a filename
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and line number, open the file, and show the line
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Debugger (toggle) -- Run commands in the shell under the debugger
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Stack Viewer -- Show the stack traceback of the last exception
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Auto-open Stack Viewer (toggle) -- Open stack viewer on traceback
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Options Menu:
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Configure IDLE -- Open a configuration dialog. Fonts, indentation,
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keybindings, and color themes may be altered.
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Startup Preferences may be set, and Additional Help
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Sources can be specified. On OS X, open the
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configuration dialog by selecting Preferences
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in the application menu.
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---
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Code Context -- Open a pane at the top of the edit window which
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shows the block context of the section of code
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which is scrolling off the top or the window.
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(Not present in Shell window.)
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Window Menu:
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Zoom Height -- toggles the window between configured size
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and maximum height.
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---
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The rest of this menu lists the names of all open windows;
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select one to bring it to the foreground (deiconifying it if
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necessary).
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Help Menu:
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About IDLE -- Version, copyright, license, credits
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IDLE Readme -- Background discussion and change details
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---
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IDLE Help -- Display this file
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Python Docs -- Access local Python documentation, if
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installed. Otherwise, access www.python.org.
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---
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(Additional Help Sources may be added here)
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Edit context menu (Right-click / Control-click on OS X in Edit window):
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Cut -- Copy a selection into system-wide clipboard,
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then delete the selection
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Copy -- Copy selection into system-wide clipboard
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Paste -- Insert system-wide clipboard into window
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Set Breakpoint -- Sets a breakpoint (when debugger open)
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Clear Breakpoint -- Clears the breakpoint on that line
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Shell context menu (Right-click / Control-click on OS X in Shell window):
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Cut -- Copy a selection into system-wide clipboard,
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then delete the selection
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Copy -- Copy selection into system-wide clipboard
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Paste -- Insert system-wide clipboard into window
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---
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Go to file/line -- Same as in Debug menu
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** TIPS **
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==========
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Additional Help Sources:
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Windows users can Google on zopeshelf.chm to access Zope help files in
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the Windows help format. The Additional Help Sources feature of the
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configuration GUI supports .chm, along with any other filetypes
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supported by your browser. Supply a Menu Item title, and enter the
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location in the Help File Path slot of the New Help Source dialog. Use
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http:// and/or www. to identify external URLs, or download the file and
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browse for its path on your machine using the Browse button.
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All users can access the extensive sources of help, including
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tutorials, available at www.python.org/doc. Selected URLs can be added
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or removed from the Help menu at any time using Configure IDLE.
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Basic editing and navigation:
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Backspace deletes char to the left; DEL deletes char to the right.
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Control-backspace deletes word left, Control-DEL deletes word right.
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Arrow keys and Page Up/Down move around.
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Control-left/right Arrow moves by words in a strange but useful way.
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Home/End go to begin/end of line.
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Control-Home/End go to begin/end of file.
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Some useful Emacs bindings are inherited from Tcl/Tk:
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Control-a beginning of line
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Control-e end of line
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Control-k kill line (but doesn't put it in clipboard)
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Control-l center window around the insertion point
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Standard Windows bindings may work on that platform.
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Keybindings are selected in the Settings Dialog, look there.
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Automatic indentation:
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After a block-opening statement, the next line is indented by 4 spaces
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(in the Python Shell window by one tab). After certain keywords
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(break, return etc.) the next line is dedented. In leading
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indentation, Backspace deletes up to 4 spaces if they are there. Tab
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inserts spaces (in the Python Shell window one tab), number depends on
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Indent Width. (N.B. Currently tabs are restricted to four spaces due
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to Tcl/Tk issues.)
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See also the indent/dedent region commands in the edit menu.
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Completions:
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Completions are supplied for functions, classes, and attributes of
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classes, both built-in and user-defined. Completions are also provided
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for filenames.
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The AutoCompleteWindow (ACW) will open after a predefined delay
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(default is two seconds) after a '.' or (in a string) an os.sep is
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typed. If after one of those characters (plus zero or more other
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characters) you type a Tab the ACW will open immediately if a possible
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continuation is found.
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If there is only one possible completion for the characters entered, a
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Tab will supply that completion without opening the ACW.
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'Show Completions' will force open a completions window. In an empty
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string, this will contain the files in the current directory. On a
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blank line, it will contain the built-in and user-defined functions and
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classes in the current name spaces, plus any modules imported. If some
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characters have been entered, the ACW will attempt to be more specific.
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If string of characters is typed, the ACW selection will jump to the
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entry most closely matching those characters. Entering a Tab will cause
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the longest non-ambiguous match to be entered in the Edit window or
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Shell. Two Tabs in a row will supply the current ACW selection, as
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will Return or a double click. Cursor keys, Page Up/Down, mouse
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selection, and the scrollwheel all operate on the ACW.
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'Hidden' attributes can be accessed by typing the beginning of hidden
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name after a '.'. e.g. '_'. This allows access to modules with
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'__all__' set, or to class-private attributes.
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Completions and the 'Expand Word' facility can save a lot of typing!
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Completions are currently limited to those in the namespaces. Names in
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an Edit window which are not via __main__ or sys.modules will not be
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found. Run the module once with your imports to correct this
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situation. Note that IDLE itself places quite a few modules in
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sys.modules, so much can be found by default, e.g. the re module.
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If you don't like the ACW popping up unbidden, simply make the delay
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longer or disable the extension. OTOH, you could make the delay zero.
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You could also switch off the CallTips extension. (We will be adding
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a delay to the call tip window.)
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Python Shell window:
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Control-c interrupts executing command.
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Control-d sends end-of-file; closes window if typed at >>> prompt.
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Command history:
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Alt-p retrieves previous command matching what you have typed.
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Alt-n retrieves next.
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(These are Control-p, Control-n on OS X)
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Return while cursor is on a previous command retrieves that command.
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Expand word is also useful to reduce typing.
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Syntax colors:
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The coloring is applied in a background "thread", so you may
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occasionally see uncolorized text. To change the color
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scheme, use the Configure IDLE / Highlighting dialog.
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Python default syntax colors:
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Keywords orange
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Builtins royal purple
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Strings green
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Comments red
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Definitions blue
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Shell default colors:
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Console output brown
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stdout blue
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stderr red
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stdin black
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Other preferences:
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The font preferences, keybinding, and startup preferences can
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be changed using the Settings dialog.
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Command line usage:
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Enter idle -h at the command prompt to get a usage message.
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Running without a subprocess:
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If IDLE is started with the -n command line switch it will run in a
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single process and will not create the subprocess which runs the RPC
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Python execution server. This can be useful if Python cannot create
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the subprocess or the RPC socket interface on your platform. However,
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in this mode user code is not isolated from IDLE itself. Also, the
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environment is not restarted when Run/Run Module (F5) is selected. If
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your code has been modified, you must reload() the affected modules and
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re-import any specific items (e.g. from foo import baz) if the changes
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are to take effect. For these reasons, it is preferable to run IDLE
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with the default subprocess if at all possible.
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Extensions:
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IDLE contains an extension facility. See the beginning of
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config-extensions.def in the idlelib directory for further information.
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The default extensions are currently:
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FormatParagraph
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AutoExpand
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ZoomHeight
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ScriptBinding
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CallTips
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ParenMatch
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AutoComplete
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CodeContext
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