Question

Currently, I have an exe that I need to pass commands to thru python. The code worked when it was by itself. When I merged that snippet with my final program, it failed to work.

Basically, after the first two files upload using the program shell_start (upload is -f in the program i’m passing commands to), python decides to skip the final upload at the bottom with the program called shell_forward. The final upload of 3 files with the program shell_forward, doesn’t even work.

So, my main question, if you’re confused, is: why is it that when the program shell_start finishes uploading the two commands and files, the python shell won’t allow me to type anything in it? It acts like a command prompt window that won’t let you type anything into it after code is executed.

That is why I feel that a ctrl-c is needed to terminate shell_start.exe from the previous process, so python might let me type after it’s execution.

Here’s the code:

import os, time

name = raw_input("Input your name: ")
apn = raw_input("Input apn name: ")
ecid = raw_input("Input ecid name: ")
kernel = raw_input("Input kernel name: ")

os.system('shell_start.exe -f %s'%name)
time.sleep(1)
os.system('shell_start.exe -f %s'%apn)
time.sleep(1)

os.system('shell_forward.exe --imagefile myfile.img --ecid %(x)s --kernel %(y)s '% {"x" : ecid, "y" : kernel})

Answer 1

You may have better results by replacing the os.system calls with subprocess.

The subprocess module allows you to spawn new processes, connect to
their input/output/error pipes, and obtain their return codes. This
module intends to replace several other, older modules and functions,
such as:

os.system
os.spawn*
os.popen*
popen2.*
commands.*

See also PEP 324 – PEP proposing the subprocess module