Can read files in command prompt but not IDE

[Exsul]

Why does writing files work in both the command prompt and PyCharm (IDE)...

a = open("workfile.txt", "w")

a.close()

but reading them only works in the command prompt?

a = open("workfile.txt", "r")

a.read()

a.close()

[scidam]

but reading them only works in the command prompt?

Are you sure that a.read() does not work? Try print(a.read()). Is workfile.txt empty?

[jsira2003]

Do you have the correct path to locate the file? If have an incorrect path and it will try to open the file in the default path. If your data file is not in this directory, the file cannot be opened.

default path in idle
C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37>