[Tutor] calling an external program

What about os.system('your_command_here')?

-- Max
maxnoel_fr at yahoo dot fr -- ICQ #85274019
"Look at you hacker... A pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting
and sweating as you run through my corridors... How can you challenge a
perfect, immortal machine?"

The os module is the answer. Use chdir() to make the target executable's
directory the current directory, and then os.system( 'command' ) to run
the actual command.


Cheers
Bernard


Lobster wrote:

Look in the os module, there are several options depending on exactly
what you need to do. The simplest option is system(). To read the
output look at the various popen() and for more sophisticated options
try the exec() family.

If using system() on DOS you might look at the START DOS command
too for the options available there.

HTH,

Alan G
Author of the Learn to Program web tutor
http://www.freenetpages.co.uk/hp/alan.gauld

Hi Alan and Lobster,

I hope the plethora of choices isn't overwhelming! *grin*

As of Python 2.4, there is a nicer external process caller in the new
'subprocess' module:

http://www.python.org/doc/lib/module-subprocess.html

It tries to consolidate the major functionality of the other methods. I
haven't played with it much, but according to the documentation, it looks
very capable.

Best of wishes to you!