On Jan 15, 2005, at 21:43, Kirk Durston wrote:
I'm just starting to learn Python. When I write a module in one of my text programs (MSWord, or Textedit) and save it as a text file in on my harddrive, and then go to the terminal window to import it, I get a message saying it either can't find the file or can't open it. I do put the .py suffix on when I save the module, but no success. I have been saving my modules in different places, the last of which was in library/python/2.3/sitepackages ... no success. The test module I’ve written is called bogus.py
If I start python in the terminal window and then type 'import bogus' I get a message saying 'Import error: No module named bogus'
If I try and launch the python module by typing 'python bogus.py' I get a message "python: can't open file 'bogus.py' "
Question: Can I use TextEdit or MS Word to write modules just so long as I put a .py suffix on the file?
If and only if the file is saved as plain text.
I wouldn't recommend using either of these editors as they don't have any built-in support for programming (syntax highlighting, completion, indentation, etc.) and you will probably have the tabs vs. spaces problem. You should ideally use a text editor more suitable for programming, such as Xcode. If you use Xcode, make sure to uncheck "Editor uses tabs" in the Text Editing preference pane before writing any code.
Question: How can I save a module such that Python can find and open it?
There is some useful information about how Python modules are located in the Python tutorial <http://docs.python.org/tut/node8.html>.
The global location where add-on modules should be placed is dependent on which Python you are using. If you are using the Python 2.3.0 that comes with Mac OS X 10.3.x, then this location is <file:///Library/Python/2.3>. Otherwise, it depends on which distribution of Python you installed and how you installed it.
If you would like to place your modules somewhere else, you can create a plain-text pth file that points to this other desired location. Documentation for this feature is described in the site module documentation <http://www.python.org/doc/lib/module-site.html>.
Running Python files from the command line is like running anything else from the command line. When you say "python bogus.py", bogus.py MUST be in the current directory, or else it won't work. Either you need to change to the directory that bogus.py is in, or pass in the complete path to bogus.py. A quick way to do this is to just type "python ", drag bogus.py to your Terminal window to paste the file's full path, and press return.
-bob _______________________________________________ Pythonmac-SIG maillist - Pythonmac-SIG@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/pythonmac-sig
