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pythonstartup

PYTHONSTARTUP doesn't seem to work

I'm trying to use the PYTHONSTARTUP environmental variable. I set it to be "c:\python25\pythonstartup.py" in My Computer --> Advanced etc., and it doesn't seem to work.

Opening IDLE doesn't run the script, although it recognized the variable:

>>> import os
>>> os.environ['PYTHONSTARTUP']
'c:\\python25\\pythonstartup.py'
>>>

I'm using XP and Python 2.5.2. I do not wish to upgrade to 3.0 yet.

Thanks

Solution

  • The documentation says that PYTHONSTARTUP is only run for interactive sessions. I'm not sure how IDLE runs the Python interpreter, but it could be interfering.

    Instead, try running python directly from a command prompt, rather than from clicking on an icon.