Question

Is it possible for python to accept input like this:

Folder name: Download

But instead of the user typing “Download” it is already there as a initial value. If the user wants to edit it as “Downloads” all he has to do is add a ‘s’ and press enter.

Using normal input command:

folder=input('Folder name: ')

all I can get is a blank prompt:

Folder name:

Is there a simple way to do this that I’m missing?

Answer 1

The standard library functions input() and raw_input() don’t have this functionality. If you’re using Linux you can use the readline module to define an input function that uses a prefill value and advanced line editing:

import readline

def rlinput(prompt, prefill=''):
   readline.set_startup_hook(lambda: readline.insert_text(prefill))
   try:
      return input(prompt)  # or raw_input in Python 2
   finally:
      readline.set_startup_hook()