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- This file, idlelib/help.txt is out-of-date and no longer used by Idle.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