Newbie question - Python mode in SciTE ? (NOT solved)

[Henri Chorand]

>> My question is, what should I do in order to specify Python as my 
>> source language, or does SciTE recognize the source language from
 >> the file extension, or else...
> 
> I went back to SciTE documentation, which explicitly says highlighting 
> is based on source file's extension.

Well, EXCEPT I can't make it happen and I've got a weird problem.
I only hope it's the right N.G. for this question.


So, I strictly followed the instructions provided at:
http://www.scintilla.org:

 > A full download (450K) includes the SciTE executable, configuration
 > files and documentation. After downloading the file, gunzip and
 > untar it, and run SciTE.
 > The files required to run SciTE are SciTE which is best located on
 > the path (I put it in /usr/local/bin) and 27 properties files which
 > should be located in the /usr/local/share/scite directory.

I did exactly follow this setup.
I created a tiny "hello world" script with SciTE and I can now run it in 
a shell with: python script_name.py

I'm trying to follow instructions provided at:
http://www.scintilla.org/SciTEDoc.html

I run SciTE via a KDE desktop shortcut which runs:
'/usr/local/bin/SciTE'

BUT in SciTE, I cannot access any of the following Options menu's items:
Open Local Options File
Open User Options File
Open Global Options File
Open Abbreviations File

Instead, when I try selecting the first one, I'm getting the following 
error message:
Could not open file '/home/henri/(my folder)/SciTE.properties'.

After that, SciTE's toolbar indicates SciTE.properties
(it tries to edit the corresponding setup file, about which I know 
nothing, and therefore creates it as an empty file)

Also, the Compile / Build / Go / Stop Executing items in Tools menu are 
disabled.

Something very basic must have gone wrong but I can't tell what.

Any help greatly appreciated!

Henri