[Python-Dev] FW: Fixing os.popen on Win32 => is the win32pipe stuff going to be adopted? (original) (raw)

Gordon McMillan gmcm@hypernet.com
Thu, 9 Mar 2000 14:54:16 -0500

[Tim re popen on Windows]

...

the debugger -- it's hung inside an MS DLL. "dir" is not entirely arbitrary here: for some cmds it works fine, for others not. The set of which work appears to vary across Windows flavors. Sometimes you can worm around it by wrapping "a bad" cmd in a .bat file, and popen'ing the latter instead; but sometimes not.

It doesn't work for commands builtin to whatever "shell" you're using. That's different between cmd and command, and the various flavors, versions and extensions thereof.

FWIW, I gave up a long time ago. I use redirection and a tempfile. The few times I've wanted "interactive" control, I've used Win32Process, dup'ed, inherited handles... the whole 9 yards. Why? Look at all the questions about popen and child processes in general, on platforms where it works, (if it weren't for Donn Cave, nobody'd get it to work anywhere ).

To reiterate Tim's point: none of the c runtime routines for process control on Windows are adequate (beyond os.system and living with a DOS box popping up). The raw Win32 CreateProcess does everything you could possibly want, but takes a week or more to understand, (if this arg is a that, then that arg is a whatsit, and the next is limited to the values X and Z unless...).

your-brain-on-Windows-ly y'rs