[IPython-user] ipython won't take >b< from the keyboard

[Robert Kern]

On 2009-01-30 15:03, Glenn wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm running python 2.5.4 on os-x 10.5.6 (PPC). I just downloaded and
> installed ipython 0.9.1.
>
> I've played with ipython a bit, and most behavior is as expected,
> except when I type a 'b', the computer makes a sound just like when I
> try to delete past the beginning of a line, and it doesn't display the
> 'b'. So things like 'from pylab import *' fail.
>
> Has anyone seen this before? What can I do to fix it?

Yes, we've seen this before deep in the bowels of this thread:

   http://www.mail-archive.com/pythonmac-sig@python.org/msg06997.html

When you start up IPython, do you see this line?

   Leopard libedit detected.

Which Python distribution are you using? Do you know which readline module you 
are using? Can you show us the output of the following (note: *not* from inside 
IPython)?

 >>> import readline
 >>> import commands
 >>> (s,r) = commands.getstatusoutput('otool -L %s' % readline.__file__)
 >>> print r
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/lib/python2.5/lib-dynload/readline.so:
 
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/lib/libncurses.5.dylib 
(compatibility version 5.0.0, current version 5.0.0)
         /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib (compatibility version 1.0.0, current 
version 88.3.3)

-- 
Robert Kern

"I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma
  that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had
  an underlying truth."
   -- Umberto Eco