is there a way to use input("Press any key to continue") on version 2.6

Question

I want the program to pause and wait until you press any key to continue, but raw_input() is going away, and input() is replacing it. So I have
var = input("Press enter to continue") and it waits until I press enter, but then it fails with SyntaxError: unexpected EOF while Parsing. This works OK on a system with Python 3, but this is linux Python 2.6 and I hate to have to code in raw_input() since it is going away. Any suggestions?

Please post the **actual** code and **actual** error messages that you're **actually** getting. — S.Lott, Nov 04 '10 at 03:07
This shouldn't be a syntax error - Python 2.6 supports the `input` function. Could you show us the rest of your code please? — Smashery, Nov 04 '10 at 03:14
@smashery: it will still cause a syntax error if the entered expression contains an syntax error, for example just pressing enter — recursive, Nov 04 '10 at 03:15
Probably useful for others: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1394956/how-to-do-hit-any-key-in-python — James Broadhead, Feb 07 '12 at 23:11

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 04 '10 at 03:10

9

Use this

try:
    input= raw_input
except NameError:
    pass

If raw_input exists, it will be used for input. If it doesn't exist, input still exists.

answered Nov 04 '10 at 03:10

S.Lott

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I like this one. Worked great. and is simple – Dag Nov 04 '10 at 03:46
+1 Although I think it would have been better if there was a `__future__` import for this, there isn't, so this is the best way – John La Rooy Nov 04 '10 at 04:17

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 04 '10 at 03:07

3

you could do something on the line of ...

def myinput(prompt):
    try:
        return raw_input(prompt)
    except NameError:
        return input(prompt)

... but don't.

Instead, just use raw_input() on your program, and then use 2to3 to convert the file to python 3.x. That will convert all the raw_input()s for you and also other stuff you might be missing.

That's the recommended way to keep a software working on both python 2 and python 3 and also keep sanity.

answered Nov 04 '10 at 03:07

nosklo

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but if I just move the file between two boxes, I hate to have to convert all the time – Dag Nov 04 '10 at 03:14
No, it does an eval of the input. You'll need to change how input is defined. http://docs.python.org/library/functions.html?highlight=input#input – dcolish Nov 04 '10 at 03:18

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 16 '16 at 07:45

1

import os
os.sys('pause')

You can use this module on Windows.

answered Jul 16 '16 at 07:45

River Mountain

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is there a way to use input("Press any key to continue") on version 2.6

3 Answers3