Develop Reference

How can I make .py files run using Python Shell by default?

I made a Python GUI using Tkinter, but when I run it directly (double click the file) it opens the black python window but automatically closes by itself in less than half a second. I found a way to make it open the IDLE editor but it just opens the editor and doesn't run it.
I want it to run the way it runs when you open the IDLE editor and press Run Module. This runs it using Python Shell.
Is there a way I can make it automatically run using Python Shell?

Based on Mark Tolonen's comment you should do two things
rename your file to a .pyw from .py to prefer console-less runs
set your system to open .pyw files with pythonw if that's not configured already
Linux: configure xdg-open
Windows: right click and choose an application from the context menu (you may need to find where Python is installed to select the pythonw.exe executable)

Okay, one of the comments on the original question is correct.
As Terry Jan Reedy (user:722804) said,
It is possible that your mygui.py file is missing 'root.mainloop()' or the equivalent to start the GUI. IDLE lets you omit that during development so that one can interact with tkinter to retrieve values and make changes to widgets.
Adding gui.mainloop() to the end of my program worked.

Tkinter program compiled with pyinstaller crash on launch

I'm asking help today because I'm new to Tkinter and Pyinstaller (and python in general) and I'm having troubles with it.
I have a simple app working with sqlite, tkinter and pyinstaller to compile all of this in an executable program, the entrance point of my program is a file named main.py
This file calls all the dependancies (like the sqlite module for python, tkinter and my other files like classes etc...)
I made a very simple interface, with a Hello World in a tkinter label and a button to go to page 2 which displays page2 (also in a label), just to see if I'm capable of making it all run and compile all of these pieces together.
I can run it throught my shell executing it like : python main.py and everything is working fine.
But when I run pyinstaller on my linux machine, and start executing the program, nothing appears, my database.db (sqlite database file) is created but I don't have any interface like when I run it with my shell. The thing is getting even worse on windows where, once I've my .exe it just opens a shell and crash after few seconds, not even creating the database.
What I did is I created a 'log file', in which I write the steps of the program.
As you can see on the following picture, the 2 first prints are wrote in my log file (on linux), so I think it crashes when I try to create the window.
If any of you have an idea on what I do wrong, I would really appreciate help :)

General
From the PyInstaller manual:
Before you attempt to bundle to one file, make sure your app works correctly when bundled to one folder. It is is much easier to diagnose problems in one-folder mode.
As the comments suggested, use a catch-all try/except block to log all exceptions to a file. That is probably the best way to see what is really happening. Make sure that the logfile is created in an existing location where you have the necessary permissions.
I would suggest to take advantage of the built-in logging module instead of creating your own. It can e.g. automatically add from which file a log line was created.
IMHO, it is probable that the failures on Linux and ms-windows have completely different causes. You should probably treat them as different issues.
Linux
When you use single file mode, that file is unpacked into a temporary folder, probably somewhere in /tmp. Some Linux distributions mount the /tmp filesystem with the noexec flag. This is incompatible with PyInstaller.
ms-windows
On windows, there are basically two different Pythons; python.exe and pythonw.exe. Basically it is one of the quirks of windows that this is necessary. The latter is for GUI programs like tkinter programs. A tkinter script should not show a cmd window. So I'm guessing that PyInstaller calls your command with python.exe instead of pythonw.exe. From the manual:
By default the bootloader creates a command-line console (a terminal window in GNU/Linux and Mac OS, a command window in Windows). It gives this window to the Python interpreter for its standard input and output. Your script’s use of print and input() are directed here. Error messages from Python and default logging output also appear in the console window.
An option for Windows and Mac OS is to tell PyInstaller to not provide a console window. The bootloader starts Python with no target for standard output or input. Do this when your script has a graphical interface for user input and can properly report its own diagnostics.
As noted in the CPython tutorial Appendix, for Windows a file extention of .pyw suppresses the console window that normally appears. Likewise, a console window will not be provided when using a myscript.pyw script with PyInstaller.
Also, on windows it can matter which Python distribution you're using. I used to be a fan of Anaconda, but lately I've come to prefer the python.org version because it gives me less headaches. On anaconda Python I had the problem that tkinter programs would not launch without showing a cmd window, whatever I tried. Only switching to python.org Python solved that problem.

When the console is selected, how do I get the main window to come to the front?

I have no idea if this problem has the solution I want but here goes.
I'm making a PyQt4 program that apparently needs the console window to run properly. However, whenever I activate another window, sending the program I'm working on to the back, the only way I can get back to it is by closing all the windows in front of said window. I can't just click on the taskbar because the only thing that comes back is the console window.
I'm curious. Is there a way to have the GUI window activate along with, or independent of, the console window without having to go through the annoying process of closing (minimizing) potentially all the rest of your windows?
Edit: I just realized my question is pretty vague. Let me elaborate.
I'm compiling said program using pyinstaller.
The reason it needs the console window to work properly (I have tried using the .pyw file as well, to no avail) is because there's another program that's the core of this one that prints out to it in a way I can only describe as violently.
Apparently it won't be happy unless it has the console to record it's outbursts.
That being said, I need the console window. However, as I mentioned before, that is the only thing that comes up when the pyinstaller icon is clicked.
There is a gui attached to the console, but there's no way to get it back even after the user would minimize it because the pyinstaller icon insists it doesn't exist.
Maybe it has something to do with how I defined the window while programming it, but I don't see why that would be the case. Is there something in particular pyinstaller doesn't like that would make it act like this?

How are you launching the PyQt application?
If you're launching it with the python executable, it will create a console.
python my_application.py
Instead, launch it with the GUI version of python -- pythonw:
pythonw my_application.py
If the python path isn't in the system path, you may need to specify the whole path to the executable:
C:\python27\pythonw.exe C:\path\to\my_application.py

Integration of console window with GUI using TkInter

I have a python script that runs the GUI which is coded using Tkinter.
Problem is when i run the script, there are 2 windows opened. One is the GUI and other is the black console window.
I need to integrate both the windows so that when I start the script only one window appears.
Any ideas are much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Rename your Python script as .pyw (not .pyc). This will tell the invoker to to instantiate a console window. Source
Note however, this will work for non-GUI based scripts too which can cause undesireqable behaviour - such as not being able to see your script.

(I am pretty sure there is a better way, but) one way is to change the .pyc object file extension to .pyw and the console will not appear when you launch your GUI using the .pyw file.

Easy way to launch Python scripts with the mouse in OS-X

I'd like to write cross platform Python scripts that are GUI frontends for command line programs. The problem is I know a few Mac users who think that using the terminal will have the same effect as throwing their computer off the top of a skyscraper. In Linux and Windows it's easy enough to setup a Python script so the user can double click an icon and the script will start without opening any extra windows. Is there an easy way to do this with OS-X? Would the user have to install a different Python than the one that comes with OS-X? I haven't been able to find a definitive answer.

You might want to look at Platypus. It's a freeware app for generating apps which wrap scripts.
Another way to do something like that is using Automator or even AppleScript Editor. Either can produce an application which just runs a script.
Update:
For Automator: Launch Automator, select the Application template, type "script" in the search field, double-click Run Shell Script, switch the shell pop-up menu to /usr/bin/python, type/paste your Python script into the text field. Or, leave the pop-menu on /bin/bash and just write an invocation of an external script in the text field. Save as an application.
You can also view help from its Help menu.
For AppleScript, launch AppleScript Editor, type the following as the script:
do shell script "/usr/bin/true"
Replace /usr/bin/true with the path to whatever script you like. Save as an application.
Again, there's help in the Help menu.

py2app does this with aplomb. You make your Python script, use whatever dependencies you need (wx, Tkinter, etc.) and py2app makes you a standalone app bundle that will run in any modern OS X environment. It bundles Python too, so you can use any Python you want (not just the system default).
The downside is that the generated apps might be large, up to 50MB if you have a lot of dependencies (though that is somewhat of an extreme).

There are two ways to do this:
Click on a script.
Press command-i to open the "get info" window.
Expand the "Open With" section (if it isn't already).
Choose "Python Launcher" from the drop-down menu.
Click "Change All" if you would like ALL Python scripts to launch when double clicked.
Possibly open Python Launcher and uncheck "Run in a Terminal window"
This will work for this machine only, so it is less portable than the following. Why? Because the default for opening a document type varies depending on what is installed (XCode and/or IDLE will both take over opening a .py file).
Method Two:
Validate the Interpreter Directive, that's the first line of the file. I suggest using /usr/bin/env python3. This will run the first python3 interpreter that is on the users path.
Make the script executable chmod a+x <script_name> from the Terminal.
Change the extension from .py to .command (this will be opened by the Terminal).
Use zip or tar for distribution so that the permissions do not get mangled.
This method will open a Terminal window, but when the Python window is closed the terminal window will also close.
If your script has dependencies outside of the standard library, then you should provide a second .command file to install those. This may make things more complicated, but using pip3 install --user <list of dependencies> should minimize complications.