IDLE editor window hangs when right clicking a file and
selecting "Edit with IDLE"

Steps to reproduce:
o Open IDLE
o Open explorer
o Right click on a .py file
o Choose "Edit with IDLE"

A new IDLE edit window opens but it is not responding.
The original (shell) IDLE window works fine.

If you do the above without opening an IDLE shell it
works fine.

My system is win2k on IBM T30 (LapTop).

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Assigned to Kurt.  On Win2K the steps above don't create a 
problem for me, but I get a frozen window if I repeat the last 
two steps.  The whole failing sequence for me on a Win2K 
desktop box:

o Open IDLE
o Right click on a .py file
o Choose "Edit with IDLE"
o Right click on another .py file
o Choose "Edit with IDLE"

On Win98SE, the first "Edit with IDLE" works fine.  The 
second "Edit with IDLE" opens a new shell window but not a 
window for the selected .py file.  Third and subsequent "Edit 
with IDLE" steps have no visible effect (neither a new shell 
nor a new edit window open).

Something is left in a hosed state then:  if I close all the open 
IDLE windows, and try "Edit with IDLE" again, nothing visible 
happens.  The Win98SE task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) doesn't 
show any Python processes running at that point, and neither 
does WinTop.  It's still possible to start another IDLE, though.

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When I change idle.pyw from

from idlelib.PyShell import main

to

import idlelib.PyShell
idlelib.PyShell.main()

I get a responsive IDLE edit window + a new shell window.

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Sorry, I should have used the -n switch the first time.
Hopefully this can be 2.3.

Currently on Windows IDLE can partially start multiple
instances under conditions still not fully understood.  The
comment by tebeka is interesting but not a universal
fix, I believe.

If IDLE is configured to open a shell (the default) it will
exhibit this behaviour.  If configured to open an edit
window at startup, it won't.  

The -n switch causes IDLE to not use the subprocess,
so it acts like the old IDLE and mutliple copies are not
a problem.

I'm increasingly inclined to think that the -e switch should
act like an "editor window on startup" configuration, since
opening multiple shells is ugly when configured to "open
shell on startup."

Eventually it will be possible to run multiple IDLE instances,
each with its own subprocess, but that's 2.4.

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Yup, this just snuck in for 2.3 final.  Thanks!

Misc/NEWS; new revision: 1.830
PCbuild/python20.wse; new revision: 1.133