Very elementary help in using Python on Windows 98

[Jeff Melvaine]

I have begun to experiment with Python on Win98 on my personal laptop.  When
I set up a script xxx.py and double click the icon to run it, I get a window
(presumably some kind of debugging console)which lasts for a few seconds,
flashes a message and dies instantly so I can't read it.  There is evidently
a problem in my script somewhere, but how can I get the window to hang
around long enough to see what it is?

When I start up the Python interpreter in its own window, it doesn't seem to
know where my script is.  Do I need to set a path variable somewhere to tell
it?  Pasting the code from my script into the window helped uncover a few
problems but is laborious.  I have looked through the FAQ, and although some
of it seems to touch on this area, I get the feeling that it is addressed to
people who have already got beyond where I am.

I would probably find this much easier in Linux (given my experience on Unix
stations at work, where writing much more complex scripts (even in Perl :)
poses no real problems), but for an application running on this machine and
reading data dumped from Excel and other Windows based applications, that is
not an easy way for me to go.

All help greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff