Pictures cannot be shown in JES

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What steps will reproduce the problem?
1.pickAFile()
2.if print file is entered this will come up: <type 'file'>
3. When I do picture = makePicture(file) this comes up: The error was:isabs() 
argument must be a str or unicode object, not type object 'file'
Inappropriate argument type.
An attempt was made to call a function with a parameter of an invalid type. 
This means that you did something such as trying to pass a string to a method 
that is expecting an integer.

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?
Thye expected output should be the showing of a picture. Instead this comes up:
The error was:isabs() argument must be a str or unicode object, not type object 
'file'
Inappropriate argument type.
An attempt was made to call a function with a parameter of an invalid type. 
This means that you did something such as trying to pass a string to a method 
that is expecting an integer. 

What version of the product are you using? On what operating system?
I am using JES 4.3 with Java included on a Lenovo Thinkpad with Windows 7 
professional. 

Please provide any additional information below.
This problems happens quite often and so far the only way to fix it is to wait 
a few days. 

Original issue reported on code.google.com by djsimend...@verizon.net on 3 Mar 2013 at 10:17

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I am having the same issue with two Mac laptops, running 10.6.8.  The line pic 
= makePicture(pickAFile()) brings up the dialog box to pick the file just fine, 
but then makePicture gives the error message:

The error was: expected 1-2 args; got 0
Inappropriate argument type.
An attempt was made to call a function with a parameter of an invalid type. 
This means that you did something such as trying to pass a string to a method 
that is expecting an integer.

Additionally, the turtle code  t = makeTurtle(makeWorld())  does not give an 
error, but no turtle is displayed on the screen.  

This error only occurs on my two personal laptops, not the 20 Macs which I have 
in a cart for student use.  I have installed different versions of Python and 
Tcl/Tk on these machines than the standard OS X ones--could this be the culprit?

Original comment by sgr...@headroyce.org on 16 May 2013 at 8:03