Question

Currently I try to create an unit test which opens a file (with the corresponding application) and then the test-run should wait until the program is closed.

def test_HFG(self):
#....
print "please edit this file"
os.chdir(r'C:\test\a')
os.startfile("myfile.vdx")
# here I need a "stop until the program is closed"-function
#....

Does anyone have any idea how to realize(as simple as possible) my plan?

Answer 1

From the docs:

startfile() returns as soon as the associated application is
launched. There is no option to wait for the application to close, and
no way to retrieve the application’s exit status.

If you know the path of the application to open the file with, you could use subprocess.Popen() which allows for you to wait.

See:
http://docs.python.org/library/os.html#os.startfile

http://docs.python.org/library/subprocess.html#subprocess.Popen