Doc/library/webbrowser.rst
!webbrowser --- Convenient web-browser controller.. module:: webbrowser :synopsis: Easy-to-use controller for web browsers.
Source code: :source:Lib/webbrowser.py
The :mod:!webbrowser module provides a high-level interface to allow displaying
web-based documents to users. Under most circumstances, simply calling the
:func:.open function from this module will do the right thing.
Under Unix, graphical browsers are preferred under X11, but text-mode browsers will be used if graphical browsers are not available or an X11 display isn't available. If text-mode browsers are used, the calling process will block until the user exits the browser.
If the environment variable :envvar:BROWSER exists, it is interpreted as the
:data:os.pathsep-separated list of browsers to try ahead of the platform
defaults. When the value of a list part contains the string %s, then it is
interpreted as a literal browser command line to be used with the argument URL
substituted for %s; if the value is a single word that refers to one of the
already registered browsers this browser is added to the front of the search list;
if the part does not contain %s, it is simply interpreted as the name of the
browser to launch. [1]_
.. versionchanged:: 3.14
The :envvar:BROWSER variable can now also be used to reorder the list of
platform defaults. This is particularly useful on macOS where the platform
defaults do not refer to command-line tools on :envvar:PATH.
For non-Unix platforms, or when a remote browser is available on Unix, the controlling process will not wait for the user to finish with the browser, but allow the remote browser to maintain its own windows on the display. If remote browsers are not available on Unix, the controlling process will launch a new browser and wait.
On iOS, the :envvar:BROWSER environment variable, as well as any arguments
controlling autoraise, browser preference, and new tab/window creation will be
ignored. Web pages will always be opened in the user's preferred browser, in
a new tab, with the browser being brought to the foreground. The use of the
:mod:!webbrowser module on iOS requires the :mod:ctypes module. If
:mod:ctypes isn't available, calls to :func:.open will fail.
.. _webbrowser-cli:
.. program:: webbrowser
The script :program:webbrowser can be used as a command-line interface for the
module. It accepts a URL as the argument. It accepts the following optional
parameters:
.. option:: -n, --new-window
Opens the URL in a new browser window, if possible.
.. option:: -t, --new-tab
Opens the URL in a new browser tab.
The options are, naturally, mutually exclusive. Usage example:
.. code-block:: bash
python -m webbrowser -t "https://www.python.org"
.. availability:: not WASI, not Android.
The following exception is defined:
.. exception:: Error
Exception raised when a browser control error occurs.
The following functions are defined:
.. function:: open(url, new=0, autoraise=True)
Display url using the default browser. If new is 0, the url is opened
in the same browser window if possible. If new is 1, a new browser window
is opened if possible. If new is 2, a new browser page ("tab") is opened
if possible. If autoraise is True, the window is raised if possible
(note that under many window managers this will occur regardless of the
setting of this variable).
Returns True if a browser was successfully launched, False otherwise.
Note that on some platforms, trying to open a filename using this function, may work and start the operating system's associated program. However, this is neither supported nor portable.
.. audit-event:: webbrowser.open url webbrowser.open
.. function:: open_new(url)
Open url in a new window of the default browser, if possible, otherwise, open url in the only browser window.
Returns True if a browser was successfully launched, False otherwise.
.. function:: open_new_tab(url)
Open url in a new page ("tab") of the default browser, if possible, otherwise
equivalent to :func:open_new.
Returns True if a browser was successfully launched, False otherwise.
.. function:: get(using=None)
Return a controller object for the browser type using. If using is
None, return a controller for a default browser appropriate to the
caller's environment.
.. function:: register(name, constructor, instance=None, *, preferred=False)
Register the browser type name. Once a browser type is registered, the
:func:get function can return a controller for that browser type. If
instance is not provided, or is None, constructor will be called without
parameters to create an instance when needed. If instance is provided,
constructor will never be called, and may be None.
Setting preferred to True makes this browser a preferred result for
a :func:get call with no argument. Otherwise, this entry point is only
useful if you plan to either set the :envvar:BROWSER variable or call
:func:get with a nonempty argument matching the name of a handler you
declare.
.. versionchanged:: 3.7 preferred keyword-only parameter was added.
A number of browser types are predefined. This table gives the type names that
may be passed to the :func:get function and the corresponding instantiations
for the controller classes, all defined in this module.
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| Type Name | Class Name | Notes |
+========================+=========================================+=======+
| 'mozilla' | Mozilla('mozilla') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'firefox' | Mozilla('mozilla') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'epiphany' | Epiphany('epiphany') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'kfmclient' | Konqueror() | (1) |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'konqueror' | Konqueror() | (1) |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'kfm' | Konqueror() | (1) |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'opera' | Opera() | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'links' | GenericBrowser('links') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'elinks' | Elinks('elinks') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'lynx' | GenericBrowser('lynx') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'w3m' | GenericBrowser('w3m') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'windows-default' | WindowsDefault | (2) |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'macosx' | MacOSXOSAScript('default') | (3) |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'safari' | MacOSXOSAScript('safari') | (3) |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'google-chrome' | Chrome('google-chrome') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'chrome' | Chrome('chrome') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'chromium' | Chromium('chromium') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'chromium-browser' | Chromium('chromium-browser') | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
| 'iosbrowser' | IOSBrowser | (4) |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-------+
Notes:
(1)
"Konqueror" is the file manager for the KDE desktop environment for Unix, and
only makes sense to use if KDE is running. Some way of reliably detecting KDE
would be nice; the :envvar:!KDEDIR variable is not sufficient. Note also that
the name "kfm" is used even when using the :program:konqueror command with KDE
2 --- the implementation selects the best strategy for running Konqueror.
(2) Only on Windows platforms.
(3) Only on macOS.
(4) Only on iOS.
.. versionadded:: 3.2
A new :class:!MacOSXOSAScript class has been added
and is used on Mac instead of the previous :class:!MacOSX class.
This adds support for opening browsers not currently set as the OS default.
.. versionadded:: 3.3 Support for Chrome/Chromium has been added.
.. versionchanged:: 3.12 Support for several obsolete browsers has been removed. Removed browsers include Grail, Mosaic, Netscape, Galeon, Skipstone, Iceape, and Firefox versions 35 and below.
.. versionchanged:: 3.13 Support for iOS has been added.
Here are some simple examples::
url = 'https://docs.python.org/'
webbrowser.open_new_tab(url)
webbrowser.open_new(url)
.. _browser-controllers:
Browser controllers provide the :attr:~controller.name attribute,
and the following three methods which parallel module-level convenience functions:
.. attribute:: controller.name
System-dependent name for the browser.
.. method:: controller.open(url, new=0, autoraise=True)
Display url using the browser handled by this controller. If new is 1, a new browser window is opened if possible. If new is 2, a new browser page ("tab") is opened if possible.
.. method:: controller.open_new(url)
Open url in a new window of the browser handled by this controller, if
possible, otherwise, open url in the only browser window. Alias
:func:open_new.
.. method:: controller.open_new_tab(url)
Open url in a new page ("tab") of the browser handled by this controller, if
possible, otherwise equivalent to :func:open_new.
.. rubric:: Footnotes
.. [1] Executables named here without a full path will be searched in the
directories given in the :envvar:PATH environment variable.