Develop Reference

is python usable in MS Access without linking to the database

New here with a problem I am trying to work out.
I was wondering if I had to connect python to my Access database for it to run a python file.
Basically, I want to click a button in Access and have it fire a python code to open a file dialog.
I would also like for the following to work:
Situation 1: can copy a path into an Access form
Situation 2: can open a merge which is is already linked to access
So, can I do something like that without connecting my python code to access?

If the python code does not need to pull information from the Access tables then you don't need the script to connect to the Access database via pyodbc (or anything else). Given a test script ...
# C:\__tmp\get_path.py
print(r"C:\Users\Gord\Desktop\foo.pdf")
... the following VBA code ...
Sub getPathFromPython()
Const pyInterpreter = "C:\Users\Gord\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python.exe"
Const pyScript = "C:\__tmp\get_path.py"
Dim objShell As New WshShell, objExec As Object
Set objExec = objShell.Exec(pythonPath & " " & pyScript)
Dim stdout As String
stdout = objExec.stdout.ReadAll
Debug.Print "Python code returned:" & vbCrLf & stdout
End Sub
... prints this in the Immediate Window of the VBA editor:
Python code returned:
C:\Users\Gord\Desktop\foo.pdf

Python script suddenly no longer running when being called by VBA

EDIT: I made an error when posting below in saying that it worked when running from terminal (I must have tested earlier.) This problem was solved by using the python.exe program in the environment (env) folder pycharm installed instead of the stand alone installation I made originally.
EDIT #2: The problem is persisting again without having changed any of the VBA or python script. (still using the pycharm environment folder python.exe)
I have a VBA sub that creates a WScript.Shell object and then executes a python script which was working fine for the last few weeks. After continuing to build on the code in the python script (salesHist.py) the python script no longer runs correctly and produces an exit code "1". When running the script through pyCharm or console the script fully executes correctly with exit code 0.
I've tried some different variations of the code which are included below. Directories for python.exe and salesHist.py are both correct and do not contain any spaces (which I know is a common error.)
Also references added:
Visual Basic for Applications,
Microsoft Excel 16.0 Object Library,
OLE Automation,
Microsoft Office 16.0 Object Library,
Microsoft HTML Object Library,
Microsoft Scripting Runtime,
Microsoft XML, v3.0,
Windows Script Host Object Model
Sub RunPythonScript(pyScript As String)
'Declare varables
Dim objShell As Object
Dim PythonExe, PythonScript As String
Dim waitOnReturn As Boolean, windowStyle As Integer, retVal As Long
waitOnReturn = True
windowStyle = 0
'Create new object shell
Set objShell = VBA.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
'Tried Set objShell CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
'Provide the file path to the Python Exe
PythonExe = "C:\Users\steve.levy\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\python.exe"
'PC1: C:\Users\Steven\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\python.exe
'PC2: C:\Users\steve.levy\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\python.exe
'make sure you use triple quotes if there is a space in the file path name. single quotes are ok if not
'Procide the file path to the Python Script
PythonScript = "C:\Users\steve.levy\Documents\elberon\api\" & pyScript
'PC1: C:\Users\Steven\Documents\api\
'PC2: C:\Users\steve.levy\Documents\elberon\api\
Debug.Print (PythonExe)
Debug.Print (PythonScript)
'Run the Python Script
'Tried: Call objShell.Run(PythonExe & " " & PythonScript, 0, True)
'Tried: retVal = objShell.Run(PythonExe & " " & PythonScript, 0, True)
retVal = objShell.Run("C:\Users\steve.levy\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\python.exe C:\Users\steve.levy\Documents\elberon\api\salesHist.py", 0, True)
If retVal = 0 Then
'Do Nothing
Else
MsgBox "Script could not run. Program exited with error code " & retVal & "."
End If
End Sub
Sub pyscr()
Call executePython.RunPythonScript("salesHist.py")
End Sub
Program exists and message box appears:
"Script could not run. Program exited with error code 1."

batch file to convert .mp4 to .mp3 crashes half the times

I am using a batch file to access my portable VLC executable to convert an mp4 to an mp3:
set arg1=%1 REM -> arg1={my_mp4_full_path}
set arg2=%2 REM -> arg2={my_mp3_full_path}
echo %arg1%
echo %arg2%
REM batch file is in the same directory as "VLCPlayer" folder
"%~dp0\VLCPlayer\VLCPortable.exe" -I dummy %arg1% --sout=#transcode{acodec=mp3,ab=128,vcodec=dummy}:std{access="file",mux="raw",dst=%arg2%} vlc://quit
When I run this script the first time, vlc crashes and I get an unplayable mp3 file, however when I run the script again the script works and I get a playable mp3. Is there a way to remedy this, or make it consistent? I don't see why running it twice would yield different outcomes.
No I don't have ffmpeg on my computer it is unrecognizable internal or external command.
Note that I face the same problem when using powershell to perform the same task, when I import my function from a .psm1 script:
function ConvertToMp3(
[switch] $inputObject,
[string] $vlc = '{PAth_TO_PORTABLE_VLC}\VLCPortable.exe')
{
PROCESS {
$codec = 'mp3';
$oldFile = $_;
$newFile = $oldFile.FullName.Replace($oldFile.Extension, ".$codec").Replace("'","");
&"$vlc" -I dummy "$oldFile" ":sout=#transcode{acodec=$codec,
vcodec=dummy}:standard{access=file,mux=raw,dst=`'$newFile`'}" vlc://quit | out-null;
# delete the original file
Remove-Item $oldFile;
}
}
I get the same random output that sometimes works, sometimes crashes.
Update:
I feel like I should add more info of how I use the batch file:
I have a python script Convert.py and I call my batch file inside using os.system():
mp4_to_convert = arguments.file
full_path_mp4 = os.path.join(outdir,mp4_to_convert)
mp3_to_convert_to = mp4_to_convert.replace(".mp4",".mp3")
full_path_mp3 = os.path.join(outdir,mp3_to_convert_to)
command_string = """Convert_Script.bat \"{}\" \"{}\"""".format(full_path_mp4, full_path_mp3)
os.system(command_string)
This is the documentation of os.system():
os.system(command)
Execute the command (a string) in a subshell. This
is implemented by calling the Standard C function system(), and has
the same limitations. Changes to sys.stdin, etc. are not reflected in
the environment of the executed command. If command generates any
output, it will be sent to the interpreter standard output stream.
On Unix, the return value is the exit status of the process encoded in
the format specified for wait(). Note that POSIX does not specify the
meaning of the return value of the C system() function, so the return
value of the Python function is system-dependent.
On Windows, the return value is that returned by the system shell
after running command. The shell is given by the Windows environment
variable COMSPEC: it is usually cmd.exe, which returns the exit status
of the command run; on systems using a non-native shell, consult your
shell documentation.
Any pointers or suggestions would be helpful, thank you in advance for your help.

Why are os.system and subprocess.call spawning so many processes?

import os
import subprocess
import sys
import re
## fname_ext=sys.argv[1]
fname_ext=r"C:\mine\.cs\test.cs"
exe=os.path.splitext(fname_ext)[0]+".exe" # Executable
fdir=os.path.split(fname_ext)[0]
fcontent=open(fname_ext).read()
p_using=re.compile("\s*using\s+((\w+[.]*)+)")
p_namespace=re.compile("\s*namespace\s+(\w+)")
usings=p_using.findall(fcontent)
usings=[x[0] for x in usings]
references=[]
for i in os.listdir(fdir):
path=fdir+"\\"+i
try:
if os.path.isdir(path) or (not path.endswith('cs')):continue
with open(path) as fp:
content=fp.read()
namespaces=p_namespace.findall(content)
for n in namespaces:
if n in usings and 'System' not in n:
references+=[path]
except:
pass
command="csc /nologo "+" ".join(references)+" "+fname_ext
## command=" ".join(references)
#~ ---------------------------------------------------------
# Build:
option=1
if option==0:
# using os.system
print ">>",command
if os.system(command)==0:
os.system(exe)
else:
#~ Using subprocess module
## print type(references)
command=['csc']
## print command,references
command.extend(["/nologo","/out:"+exe])
command.extend(references)
command.append(fname_ext)
## print command
if subprocess.call(command,shell=True)==0:
## print "running %s"%exe
subprocess.call([exe],shell=True)
else:
pass
## print "Failed to run"
#~ ---------------------------------------------------------
I have this code above that is supposed to run a Csharp program from SciTE. It searches
every .cs file in the directory and finds the file with the namespace that the current
file has included. The command to run the file in SciTE is:
command.go.*.cs=python C:\mine\.py\csc.py $(FilePath)
command.go.subsystem.*.cs=0
That program logic part is okay.
The issue is that when hit F5 with sample Csharp code like this:
using System;
using System.Collections;
using MyNamespace;
class Test{
public static void Main(String[] args){
MyObject inst=new MyObject();
MyObject.self_destruct(inst);
}
}
it runs ok. But when I uncomment the second fname_ext and comment the first one
and run the csc.py file, a window opens and keeps running, printing command(this happens
using the os.system option). When you use the subprocess.call option, the same thing
happens but this time only when shell=True. It ran for only 15 seconds and there were 800+
cmd.exe and python.exe processes.I had to wait almost 5 minutes after killing cmd.exe
for the mouse to start responding and 2 minutes more for desktop peek to work.
When shell=False, it runs ok, the same way as when you hit the F5 key from the file.
What is happening here?
What is shell=True doing that makes it behave that way?

The problem is that your sys.argv looks something like this:
['python', r'C:\mine\.py\csc.py', 'whatever.cs']
So, with the fname_ext line uncommented, you set fname_ext to r'C:\mine\.py\csc.py'. Which means your script ends up just running itself—which again runs itself, etc., as fast as possible until your system chokes.
The reason it doesn't happen with shell=False is that you can't actually exec a Python script. Ultimately you end up calling CreateProcess with your script, which tries to interpret it as a .exe file, fails, and returns an error. But with shell=True, you pass your script to cmd.exe to run as a program, and it does the same thing an interactive prompt or Explorer would do: finds the right mapping to execute .py files and uses it. (And os.system does effectively the same thing as shell=True, but with a couple extra layers tossed in for good measure.)

Okay, I'll take a stab at this. If I understand the situation, this script is called csc.py and you want to call the csc c# compiler. When you run csc /nologo (etc...) through cmd.exe, it starts looking for something called 'csc' with a known extension. It finds csc.py in the current directory and since .py is a registered extension, that's what gets executed.
The solution is to rename your python file or call out 'csc.exe' explicitly.

Using IPython as an effective debugger

How can I embed an IPython shell in my code and have it automatically display the line number and function in which it was invoked?
I currently have the following setup to embed IPython shells in my code:
from IPython.frontend.terminal.embed import InteractiveShellEmbed
from IPython.config.loader import Config
# Configure the prompt so that I know I am in a nested (embedded) shell
cfg = Config()
prompt_config = cfg.PromptManager
prompt_config.in_template = 'N.In <\\#>: '
prompt_config.in2_template = ' .\\D.: '
prompt_config.out_template = 'N.Out<\\#>: '
# Messages displayed when I drop into and exit the shell.
banner_msg = ("\n**Nested Interpreter:\n"
"Hit Ctrl-D to exit interpreter and continue program.\n"
"Note that if you use %kill_embedded, you can fully deactivate\n"
"This embedded instance so it will never turn on again")
exit_msg = '**Leaving Nested interpreter'
# Put ipshell() anywhere in your code where you want it to open.
ipshell = InteractiveShellEmbed(config=cfg, banner1=banner_msg, exit_msg=exit_msg)
This allows me to start a full IPython shell anywhere in my code by just using ipshell(). For example, the following code:
a = 2
b = a
ipshell()
starts an IPython shell in the scope of the caller that allows me inspect the values of a and b.
What I would like to do is to automatically run the following code whenever I call ipshell():
frameinfo = getframeinfo(currentframe())
print 'Stopped at: ' + frameinfo.filename + ' ' + str(frameinfo.lineno)
This would always show the context where the IPython shell starts so that I know what file/function, etc. I am debugging.
Perhaps I could do this with a decorator, but all my attemps so far have failed, since I need ipshell() to run within the original context (so that I have access to a and b from the IPython shell).
How can I accomplish this?

You can call ipshell() from within another user-defined function, e.g. ipsh()
from inspect import currentframe
def ipsh():
frame = currentframe().f_back
msg = 'Stopped at {0.f_code.co_filename} and line {0.f_lineno}'.format(frame)
ipshell(msg,stack_depth=2) # Go back one level!
Then use ipsh() whenever you want to drop into the IPython shell.
Explanation:
stack_depth=2 asks ipshell to go up one level when retrieving the namespace for the new IPython shell (the default is 1).
currentframe().f_back() retrieves the previous frame so that you can print the line number and file of the location where ipsh() is called.