[Tutor] Beginners Book, Python and PyScripter

[Steven D'Aprano]

Hi James, and welcome.

On Mon, Dec 03, 2018 at 12:35:29PM +0200, James Stapleton-Cotton wrote:
[...]
> I have downloaded the latest
> version of Python from Python.org and PyScripter from a site that I am
> directed to from the original site mentioned in the beginning of this email
> - (https://sourceforge.net/projects/pyscripter/files/), however I can't
> seem to be able to run PyScripter on my Mac.
> The only file that opens is the Python Shell. I am really confused as to
> whether or not PyScripter works on Mac OS or if I'm missing a step in the
> installation process?

I don't think there are a lot of Mac experts here, but let's see what we 
can do...

You say "the only file that opens is the Python Shell", but you don't 
tell us *precisely* what you did to get it to open. Go through it step 
by step, e.g. if you were a Windows user you might say:

"I clicked on the Start Menu, click on PyScripter, the shell opens"

"I right-clicked on a .py file and choose Open from the menu"

"I double-clicked a .py file on the desktop"

etc. If any of the steps are Mac-specific, you might need to go into a 
bit more detail, but we generally understand things like double- 
clicking, control-click to get the context menu, etc.

When you say "the Python Shell", you are probably seeing a text-based 
console that starts with something similar to this:

Python 3.5.2 (default, Oct 12 2016, 10:47:40)
[GCC 4.1.2 20080704 (Red Hat 4.1.2-55)] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.


(the details will be different, of course) and then presents you with a 
prompt >>> where you can type commands. Is this correct?

If not, please explain what you get.

Don't bother with a screen shot at this stage: they're not helpful to 
those who are visually impaired or blind (screen readers can't work with 
them) and this mailing list will strip them out of your email. You ought 
to be able to copy any visible text in the shell and paste it into your 
email, if necessary.

Another test you can do is to open the Terminal from Mac OS (I think it 
is found under Applications → Utilities → Terminal) and then enter the 
command "pyscripter" (without the quotes) at the $ or % prompt. What 
happens?

(If you get an error, please copy and paste the entire error, including 
the command you entered. Don't try to summarise it or retype it from 
memory.)


P.S. when replying, reply to the list, not to me personally.


-- 
Steve