Using Windows XP and Python 2.7 I tried to run "pydoc" through the terminal. unfortunately it doesn't work.
Since I'm not allowed to post a screenshot (Newbie). Here is what it says (white on black)
What I type:
"C:\Python27>pydoc raw_input /"pydoc raw_input"
My result (It's German an it roughly translates to"The command "pydoc" is either spelled wrong or couldn't be found.):
Der Befehl "pydoc" ist entweder falsch geschrieben oder konnte nicht gefunden werden.
What am I doing wrong?
By the way, I just started to teach myself programming using Zed Shaws "Learn Python the Hard Way" and this is the first issue I really can't figure out using Google. I start to believe that it is Windows an not me... (being too broke to afford a Mac and to scared to learn Linux).
pydoc
is actually a Python script (so, on Windows, you need to look for pydoc.py
), and it's not added to the Windows %PATH% by default (so you need to give a full pathname).
Try running c:\Python27\Lib\pydoc.py
from your command line.
Edit: For a graphical interface to Python's documentation, you might want to instead run c:\Python27\Tools\Scripts\pydocgui.pyw
(from the command line or from Windows Explorer). This starts pydoc's web server on your local PC so you can access the documentation through your web browser.
for me
% python -m pydoc <params here>
worked. python will look for pydoc.py
in the right directories without further ado.
There's no pydoc
command in Windows. You'll need to specify the full path to pydoc.py
. For example to start the pydoc
GUI use:
python c:\Python26\lib\pydoc.py -g
If you want to add the pydoc
command, create a pydoc.bat
file with the following line in it:
@python c:\Python26\lib\pydoc.py %*
you can also type help()
when you are in the Python terminal which gets you to the same page...
http://docs.python.org/library/pydoc.html
In Windows,you should type python pydoc.py
in this directory(c:\Python27\lib) in the powershell,then you will see what you want.
PS: pay attention to the full path to pydoc.py
The simplest way to do this would be to change to the Python27/Lib directory and run the command from there, like so:
C:\Documents and Settings\username>cd C:\Python27\Lib
C:\Python27\Lib>python pydoc.py raw_input
Help on built-in function raw_input in module __builtin__:
Just put C:\Python27\Lib in your PATH environment variable and be done with it once and for all. Works for me.