IceBreakerSours, yes thats right, there is a few reasons I would like to do this.
1) I have had issues with opening text files and writing to text files (even though I use close file commmands. There I have had to use a sys.exit() command at the end of script to make sure all the files close. Python experts tell me that this is a problem with the way that Windows handles files opened from python. Anyways, what this means for me is that when I run a script from Abaqus CAE or the command line in Abaqus, then abaqus shuts down once the script has finished. Therefore everytime I want to re run the script I have to reopen abaqus, find the script in the file directory, etc etc.
2) Speed and convenience, I like using an IDE and running python code directly from it, I find it helps save time when I am developing and debugging.
I hope that makes sense, I look forward to further discussion.
Thanks.