[See the end of this file for ** TIPS ** on using IDLE !!]



Click on the dotted line at the top of a menu to "tear it off": a

separate window containing the menu is created.



File Menu:



	New Window       -- 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 linenumber, 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 MacOS X this menu is not present, use

			  menu 'IDLE -> Preferences...' instead.

	---

	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.)



Windows 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)





** 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

		(this is Control-z on Windows).



    Command history:



	Alt-p retrieves previous command matching what you have typed.

	Alt-n retrieves next.

	      (These are Control-p, Control-n on the Mac)

	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

