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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">webbrowser – Displays web pages</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#simple-example">Simple Example</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#windows-vs-tabs">Windows vs. Tabs</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#using-a-specific-browser">Using a specific browser</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#browser-variable"><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">BROWSER</span></tt> variable</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#command-line-interface">Command Line Interface</a></li>
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<div class="section" id="module-webbrowser">
<span id="webbrowser-displays-web-pages"></span><h1>webbrowser – Displays web pages<a class="headerlink" href="#module-webbrowser" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<table class="docutils field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Purpose:</th><td class="field-body">Use the <cite>webbrowser</cite> module to display web pages to your users.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Python Version:</th><td class="field-body">2.1.3 and later</td>
</tr>
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<p>The <a class="reference internal" href="#module-webbrowser" title="webbrowser: Displays web pages"><tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">webbrowser</span></tt></a> module includes functions to open URLs in interactive
browser applications. The module includes a registry of available
browsers, in case multiple options are available on the system. It can
also be controlled with the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">BROWSER</span></tt> environment variable.</p>
<div class="section" id="simple-example">
<h2>Simple Example<a class="headerlink" href="#simple-example" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>To open a page in the browser, use the <tt class="xref py py-func docutils literal"><span class="pre">open()</span></tt> function.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">webbrowser</span>
<span class="n">webbrowser</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'http://docs.python.org/lib/module-webbrowser.html'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The URL is opened in a browser window, and that window is raised to
the top of the window stack. The documentation says that an existing
window will be reused, if possible, but the actual behavior may depend
on your browser’s settings. Using Firefox on my Mac, a new window was
always created.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="windows-vs-tabs">
<h2>Windows vs. Tabs<a class="headerlink" href="#windows-vs-tabs" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>If you always want a new window used, use <tt class="xref py py-func docutils literal"><span class="pre">open_new()</span></tt>.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">webbrowser</span>
<span class="n">webbrowser</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">open_new</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'http://docs.python.org/lib/module-webbrowser.html'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>If you would rather create a new tab, use <tt class="xref py py-func docutils literal"><span class="pre">open_new_tab()</span></tt> instead.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="using-a-specific-browser">
<h2>Using a specific browser<a class="headerlink" href="#using-a-specific-browser" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>If for some reason your application needs to use a specific browser,
you can access the set of registered browser controllers using the
<tt class="xref py py-func docutils literal"><span class="pre">get()</span></tt> function. The browser controller has methods to
<tt class="xref py py-func docutils literal"><span class="pre">open()</span></tt>, <tt class="xref py py-func docutils literal"><span class="pre">open_new()</span></tt>, and <tt class="xref py py-func docutils literal"><span class="pre">open_new_tab()</span></tt>. This
example forces the use of the lynx browser:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">webbrowser</span>
<span class="n">b</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">webbrowser</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">get</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'lynx'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">b</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'http://docs.python.org/lib/module-webbrowser.html'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Refer to the module documentation for a list of available browser
types.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="browser-variable">
<h2><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">BROWSER</span></tt> variable<a class="headerlink" href="#browser-variable" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Users can control the module from outside your application by setting
the environment variable <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">BROWSER</span></tt> to the browser names or commands
to try. The value should consist of a series of browser names
separated by <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">os.pathsep</span></tt>. If the name includes <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">%s</span></tt>, the name is
interpreted as a literal command and executed directly with the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">%s</span></tt>
replaced by the URL. Otherwise, the name is passed to <tt class="xref py py-func docutils literal"><span class="pre">get()</span></tt> to
obtain a controller object from the registry.</p>
<p>For example, this command opens the web page in lynx, assuming it is
available, no matter what other browsers are registered.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ BROWSER=lynx python webbrowser_open.py</pre>
</div>
<p>If none of the names in <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">BROWSER</span></tt> work, <a class="reference internal" href="#module-webbrowser" title="webbrowser: Displays web pages"><tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">webbrowser</span></tt></a> falls back
to its default behavior.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="command-line-interface">
<h2>Command Line Interface<a class="headerlink" href="#command-line-interface" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>All of the features of the <a class="reference internal" href="#module-webbrowser" title="webbrowser: Displays web pages"><tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">webbrowser</span></tt></a> module are available via
the command line as well as from within your Python program.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python -m webbrowser
Usage: /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.5/lib/python2.5/webbrowser.py [-n | -t] url
-n: open new window
-t: open new tab</pre>
</div>
<div class="admonition-see-also admonition seealso">
<p class="first admonition-title">See also</p>
<dl class="last docutils">
<dt><a class="reference external" href="http://docs.python.org/lib/module-webbrowser.html">webbrowser</a></dt>
<dd>Standard library documentation for this module.</dd>
</dl>
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