Python: How to run a command line within python?
March 4th, 2008 mysurface Posted in Developer, python | Hits: 125257 | 8 Comments »
I always got this question in my mind. How to run a command line within python, get the output and manipulates it. Before I learn python, I was doing bash scripts all the while to helps me manipulates text which I get it from log files, or pipes out from some certain command line.
To do it in bash script is straight forward, where I just puts my command line into text like I put in my bash prompt. But to run a command line in python is not like bash script, so what options do I have?
The first function I discover was system in os library.
import os
os.system("ls -l")By passing the command line to the system function will cause the command executed in subshell and print it straight away to standard output. I don’t have chance to keep the outcomes for further manipulations.
The second function that drags my attention is popen, which the same way I pass my command line in, and this time it returns the result into a file object which allows me to manipulate it consequently.
import os
f=os.popen("ls -l")
for i in f.readlines():
print "myresult:",i,What it returns for me is a the result of standard output, what if I purposely make a wrong command line? let say …
import os
f=os.popen("ls -z")The error will be print to screen instead of store in file object f,
ls: invalid option -- z
Try `ls --help' for more information.The error is actually print to standard error, to store the standard error, we need to call popen3().
fi,fo,fe=os.popen3("ls -z")
for i in fe.readlines():
print "error:",ipopen3() returns stdin, stdout and stderr which are standard input, standard output and the standard error. The examples above, I extract the error description from the stderr file object.
How can I tell the command line is success or fail? I have no idea too, the only thing I can do is run readlines() to extract the output from respective file object.
There is another Popen function in subprocess library, I will covers it after I get my hands dirty on that lib more.
March 4th, 2008 at 8:43 am
if you are using os.system, the exit code is returned by the function itself.
eg: p = os.system(‘ls’) .. p will store the exit code.
os.popen returns a file object, so i’m not sure about its exit code.
the subprocess.Popen module in the other hand, is designed to replace all those messy os.popen* into a one, flexible, feature-packed, easy-to-use function for executing external commands. You can basically duplicate os.system and os.popen* do by manipulating the parameters of subprocess.Popen. You can get PID, exit codes, etc, easier through subprocess.Popen.
subprocess.Popen is more convenient and intuitive imo.
March 4th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Kage Sama : Agree ^ ^ You got the point. But it also depend on the context. IMHO, for command like ls -l, it is better to use os.popen because the command returns straight, but for command like find / -name hello, then it will be better to run through subprocess.Popen.
But again, it is preferences.
March 4th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I guess there is a module called “commands” which can do this operation and return the status and the output of any command.
http://docs.python.org/lib/module-commands.html
This is quite simple than the popen functions.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
How about subprocess ?
http://docs.python.org/lib/module-subprocess.html
http://sebsauvage.net/python/snyppets/index.html#capture_output
It’s nice too.
April 12th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
sebsauvage: Your are right, the advantages of subprocess is the process are carry on without blocking. So you can carry on your main process without need to wait for the execution of the subprocess.
February 17th, 2011 at 7:12 am
Subprocess is the best choice. Using a list with Popen() you can run command line commands without blocking IO.
Some of you suggested using commands.getoutput, that is wrong. Don’t do it.
Os.system is even worse. Don’t ever touch it. EVER.
April 19th, 2011 at 6:30 am
If you are looking for the exit code of that command, it is returned when you are close the file handle.
f.close() will return 512 if it fails and it won’t return anything if it is a success.
October 24th, 2011 at 2:02 am
[...] It's reference from here. [...]