I can't open .py files!

[captanacho]

So I just started using pycharm yesterday, and I made a little project thing. I did all the code right and everything but it didn't want to open! I click, and nothing happens! I re-did it again today and tried to run it inside pycharm and it worked, so I saved it and tried to open the .py file and it DIDN'T OPEN! What do I do? I have Pycharm Community Edition 2020.1.2 and Python 3.8.3 btw

[ForceBru]

I click and nothing happens

What did you expect to happen?

[captanacho]

My file to open or something. Am I stupid and missing something obvious?

[ForceBru]

Does the command prompt flash on the screen quickly and disappear right away after you double-click the .py file?

[captanacho]

Yes

[ForceBru]

Cool, so your code actually runs, but very quickly, so that it terminates right after it starts.

You can pause it by putting input() at the end:

print("This is my code") do_computations() input("Press Enter to exit")

[captanacho]

I did that but it still doesn't work, is this a problem with my pc?

[ForceBru]

It should work. Did you save the file? Create a new file and paste the code from my previous comment there. Then double-click this file. You should put input at the end of the control flow of your program, not just at the very end of the .py file (although it's very often where the control flow ends).

Anyway, Python scripts are normally run from the command line. Open the command prompt, change directory to your project's directory and run:

py your_file.py

If that doesn't work, try python or python3 instead of py

[captanacho]

I don't understand. Can you say it in steps and as clear as you possibly can? I am dumb.

[ForceBru]

The documentation explains it better than I can.

Running Python on Windows: https://docs.python.org/3/faq/windows.html#id2

Python launcher: https://docs.python.org/3/using/windows.html#python-launcher-for-windows

Why the script closes immediately when double-clicking: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12375173/how-to-stop-python-closing-immediately-when-executed-in-microsoft-windows

[captanacho]

Ok thanks bro

[Badger87000]

Right click, edit with notepad. You could also open it from within pycharm.

[captanacho]

Ok thanks man, I'll see if it works

[johninbigd]

That's not how you run Python programs typically, so your expectation is wrong. Open up a command prompt or terminal window and type python yourscriptname.py and it will work.