IDLE has suddenly become FAWLTY - so should I be hitting it with a big stick, or what?

[Twirlip2]

On Tuesday, 26 August 2014 19:46:55 UTC+1, Terry Reedy  wrote:
> On 8/26/2014 2:01 PM, Twirlip2 wrote:
> 
> > I've been using IDLE with Python 3.4.0 on Windows XP (SP3),
> 
> ...
> 
> 
> 
> Does all non-Python stuff seem to be working?

Yes.
 
> > For a few days, I'd been frequently running a second instance of
> 
> > IDLE, to test a new version of the same script.  Today, having closed
> 
> > this instance, I tried to open one again, but I briefly saw an error
> 
> > message about not being able to create a thread, or something like
> 
> > that.
> 
> 
> 
> In Command Prompt, 'python -m idlelib' should run Idle and display 
> 
> (without disappearing) any available error messages.

See below - it's starting to become much clearer what has happened (but it's not all clear yet) - thanks muchly for this suggestion!
 
> Idle imports tkinter which imports threading. If that fails, Idle never 
> 
> visibly starts.  If the imports succeed, and Idle starts, but cannot 
> 
> connect to a subprocess, it displays a message in Shell. (I have 
> 
> occasionally seen this, but close Idle and retry always works.)  Your 
> 
> description suggests the former.
> 
> 
> 
> Does 'python' itself start. If so, and you get interactive prompt, does 
> 
> 'import threading' work?  Ditto 'import tkinter'?  If so, does 
> 
> 'tkinter.Tk()' bring up an empty tk window?

All those 4 things worked normally.

> Back at interactive prompt, what happens with 'python -m test'?  There 
> 
> are a couple of modules that may sometimes fail, but the rest should not.

I'll try this later - just out of interest - but your first suggestion has already borne fruit.

> > 3. Installed 3.4.1 (over 3.4.0). It made no difference to the
> 
> > problem. (I also had to do a hard reboot of the system, after it had
> 
> > completely ground to a halt when I tried to reboot in the normal
> 
> > way.)
> 
> 
> 
> Upgrading on top of broken Python may not work. If the tests above fail, 
> 
> re-install after un-installing.  Un-installing will leave /python34 but 
> 
> only with things you added (or separately installed). You may need to 
> 
> 're-install' 3.4.0 to un-install.

Mercifully, it looks like Python is not broken, but I have done something Silly!

The result of "python -m idlelib" in a Windows command window is a short stack of error messages, culminating in the revelation that Python is trying to execute (or at any rate syntax-check) one of the many source code I files I had just spent the entire morning and much of the afternoon editing.

Of course, they are bound to be festooned with errors; the reason I was trying to start the second IDLE instance, in the first place, was to start trying to debug all the work I had just done, but I was never able to get to it!

What I don't yet understand is why Python is trying to execute anything at all.

But I'm sure there's a simple explanation, and there'll certainly be at least a workaround, even if I have to temporarily move all my recently-edited source code files to another location!

Thanks again.