check if running under IDLE

[Steven Taschuk]

Quoth Helmut Jarausch:
  [...]
> To check a script accessing sys.argv I have to set it.
> Unfortunately the 'Run' pulldown menu of IDLE doesn't have an item
> to set sys.argv as it's common with debuggers for C.
> 
> Now in Python I can set  sys.argv within the script,
> but forgetting to comment this out afterwards makes the
> script wrong outside of IDLE

Why not write your script in something like the form
    # foo.py
    import sys
    def main(argv):
        # ...
    if __name__ == '__main__':
        main(sys.argv)
and then write a separate script for testing,
    # test_foo.py
    import foo
    foo.main(['foo.py', 'testing', 'parameters'])
and run that instead?

(In answer to the question actually asked: I have no idea how to
detect whether running in IDLE.)

-- 
Steven Taschuk                                     staschuk at telusplanet.net
Receive them ignorant; dispatch them confused.  (Weschler's Teaching Motto)