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| -rw-r--r-- | Doc/using/windows.rst | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | Doc/whatsnew/3.3.rst | 37 |
2 files changed, 39 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Doc/using/windows.rst b/Doc/using/windows.rst index 51152dfdd5..5f01b77a88 100644 --- a/Doc/using/windows.rst +++ b/Doc/using/windows.rst @@ -132,6 +132,8 @@ Consult :command:`set /?` for details on this behaviour. Setting Environment variables, Louis J. Farrugia +.. _windows-path-mod: + Finding the Python executable ----------------------------- diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/3.3.rst b/Doc/whatsnew/3.3.rst index b84d7b63c7..8d434dbe11 100644 --- a/Doc/whatsnew/3.3.rst +++ b/Doc/whatsnew/3.3.rst @@ -289,6 +289,43 @@ details). and Martin von Löwis. +.. _pep-397: + +PEP 397: Python Launcher for Windows +==================================== + +The Python 3.3 Windows installer now includes a ``py`` launcher application +that can be used to launch Python applications in a version independent +fashion. + +This launcher is invoked implicitly when double-clicking ``*.py`` files. +If only a single Python version is installed on the system, that version +will be used to run the file. If multiple versions are installed, the most +recent version is used by default, but this can be overridden by including +a Unix-style "shebang line" in the Python script. + +The launcher can also be used explicitly from the command line as the ``py`` +application. Running ``py`` follows the same version selection rules as +implicitly launching scripts, but a more specific version can be selected +by passing appropriate arguments (such as ``-3`` to request Python 3 when +Python 2 is also installed, or ``-2.6`` to specifclly request an earlier +Python version when a more recent version is installed). + +In addition to the launcher, the Windows installer now includes an +option to add the newly installed Python to the system PATH (contributed +by Brian Curtain in :issue:`3561`). + +.. seealso:: + + :pep:`397` - Python Launcher for Windows + PEP written by Mark Hammond and Martin v. Löwis; implementation by + Vinay Sajip. + + Launcher documentation: :ref:`launcher` + + Installer PATH modification: :ref:`windows-path-mod` + + .. _pep-3151: PEP 3151: Reworking the OS and IO exception hierarchy |