python console, better than raw_input(), how to offer editable default values?

Question

raw_input (prompt_string) can prompt to input. How to offer default value? And how to make the default value user editable?

Probable duplicate: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2533120/show-default-value-for-editing-on-python-input-possible — alan, Apr 06 '12 at 13:57
That duplicate and the other answer raises an issue: are you on Windows or a Unix-like platform? — agf, Apr 06 '12 at 14:01

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 06 '12 at 13:59

8

I suggest looking into readline / pyreadline, or even possibly curses.

answered Apr 06 '12 at 13:59

John Paulett

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score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 06 '12 at 13:59

I'm not sure what you mean by user editable. If you want to provide a default they can override:

my_input = 'default value'
# user_input will be set to my_input if they just press enter
user_input = raw_input("Enter a string (default: %s):\n" % my_input) or my_input

If you want them to be able to set the default value, you either need to use two prompts -- one to set the default, and then another as above -- or else use a tool other than raw_input.

python console, better than raw_input(), how to offer editable default values?

2 Answers2