I have some code here trying to open up the cmd.exe from Python and input some lines for the command to use.
Here it is:
PDF= "myPDF"
output= "my output TIF"
def my_subprocess(command,c='C:\here'):
process = subprocess.Popen(command,stdout=subprocess.PIPE,shell=True,cwd=c)
communicate = process.communicate()[0].strip()
my_subprocess('"cmd.exe" && "C:\\here\\myinfamous.bat" && "C:\\my directory and lines telling cmd to do stuff"'+ PDF + " " + output)
When run with the rest of my script, the command prompt does not even open up and there seems to be no output or errors at all. My thought is that it has not even run the cmd.exe command so none of this code is going in to create the final output.
Is there something I am not doing properly?
Thank you.
You need to replace subprocess.Popen with subprocess.call
Here is a working code on windows 8 that opens a text file using notepad. First field is the command itself and second field is argument.
You can modify these and test with your files.
import subprocess
subprocess.call(['C:\\Windows\\System32\\Notepad.exe', 'C:\\openThisfile.txt'])
Related
I have a Python script that needs to execute an external program, but for some reason fails.
If I have the following script:
import os;
os.system("C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe");
raw_input();
Then it fails with the following error:
'C:\Temp\a' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
If I escape the program with quotes:
import os;
os.system('"C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe"');
raw_input();
Then it works. However, if I add a parameter, it stops working again:
import os;
os.system('"C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe" "C:\\test.txt"');
raw_input();
What is the right way to execute a program and wait for it to complete? I do not need to read output from it, as it is a visual program that does a job and then just exits, but I need to wait for it to complete.
Also note, moving the program to a non-spaced path is not an option either.
This does not work either:
import os;
os.system("'C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe'");
raw_input();
Note the swapped single/double quotes.
With or without a parameter to Notepad here, it fails with the error message
The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
subprocess.call will avoid problems with having to deal with quoting conventions of various shells. It accepts a list, rather than a string, so arguments are more easily delimited. i.e.
import subprocess
subprocess.call(['C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe', 'C:\\test.txt'])
Here's a different way of doing it.
If you're using Windows the following acts like double-clicking the file in Explorer, or giving the file name as an argument to the DOS "start" command: the file is opened with whatever application (if any) its extension is associated with.
filepath = 'textfile.txt'
import os
os.startfile(filepath)
Example:
import os
os.startfile('textfile.txt')
This will open textfile.txt with Notepad if Notepad is associated with .txt files.
The outermost quotes are consumed by Python itself, and the Windows shell doesn't see it. As mentioned above, Windows only understands double-quotes.
Python will convert forward-slashed to backslashes on Windows, so you can use
os.system('"C://Temp/a b c/Notepad.exe"')
The ' is consumed by Python, which then passes "C://Temp/a b c/Notepad.exe" (as a Windows path, no double-backslashes needed) to CMD.EXE
At least in Windows 7 and Python 3.1, os.system in Windows wants the command line double-quoted if there are spaces in path to the command. For example:
TheCommand = '\"\"C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe\"\"'
os.system(TheCommand)
A real-world example that was stumping me was cloning a drive in VirtualBox. The subprocess.call solution above didn't work because of some access rights issue, but when I double-quoted the command, os.system became happy:
TheCommand = '\"\"C:\\Program Files\\Sun\\VirtualBox\\VBoxManage.exe\" ' \
+ ' clonehd \"' + OrigFile + '\" \"' + NewFile + '\"\"'
os.system(TheCommand)
For python >= 3.5 subprocess.run should be used in place of subprocess.call
https://docs.python.org/3/library/subprocess.html#older-high-level-api
import subprocess
subprocess.run(['notepad.exe', 'test.txt'])
import win32api # if active state python is installed or install pywin32 package seperately
try: win32api.WinExec('NOTEPAD.exe') # Works seamlessly
except: pass
I suspect it's the same problem as when you use shortcuts in Windows... Try this:
import os;
os.system("\"C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe\" C:\\test.txt");
For Python 3.7, use subprocess.call. Use raw string to simplify the Windows paths:
import subprocess
subprocess.call([r'C:\Temp\Example\Notepad.exe', 'C:\test.txt'])
Suppose we want to run your Django web server (in Linux) that there is space between your path (path='/home/<you>/<first-path-section> <second-path-section>'), so do the following:
import subprocess
args = ['{}/manage.py'.format('/home/<you>/<first-path-section> <second-path-section>'), 'runserver']
res = subprocess.Popen(args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
output, error_ = res.communicate()
if not error_:
print(output)
else:
print(error_)
[Note]:
Do not forget accessing permission: chmod 755 -R <'yor path'>
manage.py is exceutable: chmod +x manage.py
No need for sub-process, It can be simply achieved by
GitPath="C:\\Program Files\\Git\\git-bash.exe"# Application File Path in mycase its GITBASH
os.startfile(GitPath)
I am currently working with a software package that allows you to create Python scripts and execute them from inside that package. The results of any script are saved back into the program. When the script executes, it does not show a command prompt window.
Is there an easy way to open a command prompt window from inside the script and pass over information for display, such as a dataframe header, a string or a list of values?
I have found from earlier SO posts that I can use:
import os
os.system('cmd /k "Some random text"')
This works as expected, but when I use the following code:
x = str(2 * 2)
output= f'cmd /k "{x}"'
os.system(output)
The number 4 is passed to the command window, but the following message appears:
'4' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
The answer is in the question.
'4' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
Open cmd and type anything it will give error unless we type something which is recognized by cmd. e.g a help command.
if there is something we want to type in cmd and let it get processed/printed on console we use a command
echo
in your program only the echo command was missing, which will let your output get printed on cmd.
Last but not the least, always remember the ZEN of Python
Use subprocess instead
The `subprocess` has some more benefits compared to `Os`:
The subprocess module provides a consistent interface to creating and working with additional processes.
It offers a higher-level interface than some of the other available modules, and is intended to replace functions such as os.system(), os.spawn*(), os.popen*(), popen2.*() and commands.*().
Reference
If you want to write something like to print 4 in another cmd tab, do like this:
import subprocess
var = '4'
subprocess.Popen(['start','cmd','/k','echo',var], shell = True, stdin = subprocess.PIPE, stdout = subprocess.PIPE, text = True)
Result:
It opens another cmd tab and passes a command such as echo var.
I can run commands in prompt from a python script but I want to save the output to a specific file. This script will pull a directory listing:
import subprocess
subprocess.call('dir', shell=True)
and write to a file where my python program was ran:
import sys
sys.stdout = open('badfile', 'w')
print('test')
However I'm trying to combine the two so that the results from the Dir command will be appended to the file "badfile" in a specified location such as C:\users\idiot\somerandomdirectory and not just the default location.
Append output to a file
Q. I'm trying to combine the two so that the results from the Dir command will be appended to the file "badfile"
A. The Python answer is below this one ...
The Command Line Way ...
This can be done in python, but there are probably easier ways to achieve what you want. Here is one to consider:
The usual method is to use the Command Prompt or shell to do these things. You could still have a python script doing things, but then you run it from the command prompt and send the output somewhere else. The easiest way, the way that was designed for this exact case, is to use 'redirection.' You 'catch' the output from the program or script and send it somewhere else. This process is called 'redirection.'
This is how to do it for your example:
C:\myfolder> dir *.* >> C:\some\random\directory\badfile.txt
If you wanted to erase the file before sending your text, you would use a single > symbol instead of the >> notation.
Redirection
The general syntax for your example is:
COMMAND >> FILENAME (append COMMAND output to the end of FILENAME)
The >> symbol between the COMMAND and FILENAME is a 'redirection operator.'
A redirection operator is a special character that can be used with a command, like a Command Prompt command or DOS command, to either redirect the input to the command or the output from the command.
By default, when you execute a command, the input comes from the keyboard and the output is sent to the Command Prompt window. Command inputs and outputs are called command handles.
Here are some examples:
command > filename Redirect command output to a file
command >> filename APPEND into a file
command < filename Type a text file and pass the text to command
commandA | commandB Pipe the output from commandA into commandB
commandA & commandB Run commandA and then run commandB
commandA && commandB Run commandA, if it succeeds then run commandB
commandA || commandB Run commandA, if it fails then run commandB
I mostly use macOS nowadays, but the ideas are similar.
Here is a cheatsheet for Windows.
Here is a cheatsheet Linux and macOS.
The Pythonic Way
As for python, do this:
import subprocess
with open('C:/temp/badfile.txt', mode='at',) as f:
f.write(subprocess.check_output(['dir','*.*']).decode())
There. Done. Python really is great.
To have a program that takes in any command line arguments and writes the results to sp.log, like this:
sp dir *.* /w
create a python script called sp like this:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
# -*- coding: UTF-8 -*-
from subprocess import check_output
from sys import argv
if len(argv) > 1:
with open('sp.log', mode='at',) as f:
try:
f.write(check_output(argv[1:]).decode())
except Exception as e:
print(e)
There are a lot of other things you could add, like checking default encoding, making it work with windows/macOS/linux, adding error checking, adding debugging information, adding command line options ...
Here is a GIST of a longer and more detailed version that I threw together to play with:
https://gist.github.com/skeptycal
I have a Python script that needs to execute an external program, but for some reason fails.
If I have the following script:
import os;
os.system("C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe");
raw_input();
Then it fails with the following error:
'C:\Temp\a' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.
If I escape the program with quotes:
import os;
os.system('"C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe"');
raw_input();
Then it works. However, if I add a parameter, it stops working again:
import os;
os.system('"C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe" "C:\\test.txt"');
raw_input();
What is the right way to execute a program and wait for it to complete? I do not need to read output from it, as it is a visual program that does a job and then just exits, but I need to wait for it to complete.
Also note, moving the program to a non-spaced path is not an option either.
This does not work either:
import os;
os.system("'C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe'");
raw_input();
Note the swapped single/double quotes.
With or without a parameter to Notepad here, it fails with the error message
The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
subprocess.call will avoid problems with having to deal with quoting conventions of various shells. It accepts a list, rather than a string, so arguments are more easily delimited. i.e.
import subprocess
subprocess.call(['C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe', 'C:\\test.txt'])
Here's a different way of doing it.
If you're using Windows the following acts like double-clicking the file in Explorer, or giving the file name as an argument to the DOS "start" command: the file is opened with whatever application (if any) its extension is associated with.
filepath = 'textfile.txt'
import os
os.startfile(filepath)
Example:
import os
os.startfile('textfile.txt')
This will open textfile.txt with Notepad if Notepad is associated with .txt files.
The outermost quotes are consumed by Python itself, and the Windows shell doesn't see it. As mentioned above, Windows only understands double-quotes.
Python will convert forward-slashed to backslashes on Windows, so you can use
os.system('"C://Temp/a b c/Notepad.exe"')
The ' is consumed by Python, which then passes "C://Temp/a b c/Notepad.exe" (as a Windows path, no double-backslashes needed) to CMD.EXE
At least in Windows 7 and Python 3.1, os.system in Windows wants the command line double-quoted if there are spaces in path to the command. For example:
TheCommand = '\"\"C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe\"\"'
os.system(TheCommand)
A real-world example that was stumping me was cloning a drive in VirtualBox. The subprocess.call solution above didn't work because of some access rights issue, but when I double-quoted the command, os.system became happy:
TheCommand = '\"\"C:\\Program Files\\Sun\\VirtualBox\\VBoxManage.exe\" ' \
+ ' clonehd \"' + OrigFile + '\" \"' + NewFile + '\"\"'
os.system(TheCommand)
For python >= 3.5 subprocess.run should be used in place of subprocess.call
https://docs.python.org/3/library/subprocess.html#older-high-level-api
import subprocess
subprocess.run(['notepad.exe', 'test.txt'])
import win32api # if active state python is installed or install pywin32 package seperately
try: win32api.WinExec('NOTEPAD.exe') # Works seamlessly
except: pass
I suspect it's the same problem as when you use shortcuts in Windows... Try this:
import os;
os.system("\"C:\\Temp\\a b c\\Notepad.exe\" C:\\test.txt");
For Python 3.7, use subprocess.call. Use raw string to simplify the Windows paths:
import subprocess
subprocess.call([r'C:\Temp\Example\Notepad.exe', 'C:\test.txt'])
Suppose we want to run your Django web server (in Linux) that there is space between your path (path='/home/<you>/<first-path-section> <second-path-section>'), so do the following:
import subprocess
args = ['{}/manage.py'.format('/home/<you>/<first-path-section> <second-path-section>'), 'runserver']
res = subprocess.Popen(args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
output, error_ = res.communicate()
if not error_:
print(output)
else:
print(error_)
[Note]:
Do not forget accessing permission: chmod 755 -R <'yor path'>
manage.py is exceutable: chmod +x manage.py
No need for sub-process, It can be simply achieved by
GitPath="C:\\Program Files\\Git\\git-bash.exe"# Application File Path in mycase its GITBASH
os.startfile(GitPath)
I know there are some topic on Stack Overflow about this. But none of these make any sense to me. I am new to both python and perl and trying my best to understand. I would like to run a perl script from a piece of python code.
executing the perl script in command prompt goes as following:
perl perlscript.pl input.bopt7 output.xml
I would like to run this command from my python code.
I have tried the following:
pipe = subprocess.Popen(["perlscript.pl" , "input.bopt7" , "output.xml"], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
but this does not work. I get an error saying it is not a valid win32 ...
I need no input or output from this script. Just need to run it once.
You need to include the perl command itself when executing a perl script:
pipe = subprocess.Popen(["perl", "perlscript.pl" , "input.bopt7" , "output.xml"], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
You did the same thing on the command line prompt; the Popen class cannot guess from the perlscript.pl file that you wanted to run this script with Perl. :-)
Did you try to add perl to Popen arguments (just as you do on the command line)?
pipe = subprocess.Popen(["perl", "perlscript.pl" , "input.bopt7" , "output.xml"], stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
In your example, Windows tries to execute "perlscript.pl" as a Win32 executable, since this is the first parameter you specified, and fails because it doesn't contain the proper binary header (since it is a text file).
The first argument should be perl.exe, if perl.exe is in your PATH; or the full path to the executable as all the rest are arguments to perl.exe.
Also make sure you put the full path for perlscript.pl and input.bopt7.