Passing a variable from Powershell to Python

Question

I have a powershell script that is running some automation for me, as part of this I have written a script in python that utilizes selenium to open a web page, input data and exit. I need to do the same thing for another site but it has a login page. From my powershell script I am prompting the user for Name and Pwd, saving this to a variable. The part I am struggling with is passing their input into the python send_keys function. Is this even possible?

My powershell code is $usernme = Read-Host -Prompt 'Input Username'

Then in the python script

user = browser.find_element_by_xpath("""/elementname""")

user.send_keys('$usernme')

Which only sends $usernme to the field I am writing to and not the value of $usernme. Is it possible to grab this value from the powershell script and use it when I call the python script from within powershell.

RoadRunner · Accepted Answer · 2018-12-25 06:43:17Z

4

You can run the python script inside the powershell script, and extract the command argument with sys.argv[1]. You can have a look at sys.argv for more specifics.

test.ps1:

$username = Read-Host -Prompt 'Input Username'
python script.py $username

script.py:

import sys
print("Your Username:", sys.argv[1])

Usage:

PS> .\test.ps1
Input Username: myusername
Your Username: myusername

Specifically to your code, you would change user.send_keys('$usernme') to user.send_keys(sys.argv[1]).

edited Dec 25, 2018 at 6:43

answered Dec 25, 2018 at 6:31

RoadRunner

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Mike Twc · Accepted Answer · 2018-12-26 01:56:34Z

1

You can also try to run your selenium automation right from powershell using C# driver. Extract WebDriver.dll (from Selenium.WebDriver.3.14.0.nupkg) and put it in the folder with you PS script, along with geckodriver.exe (if using firefox). Below is a sample script you can use as a starting point:

Add-Type -Path ".\WebDriver.dll"
# put geckodriver.exe in the same folder

$driver = [OpenQA.Selenium.Firefox.FirefoxDriver]::new()

$driver.manage().timeouts().ImplicitWait = [timespan]::FromSeconds(5)

$driver.Navigate().GoToUrl("someurl")

$driver.FindElementByCssSelector(".some-button").Click()  

$driver.quit()

answered Dec 26, 2018 at 1:56

Mike Twc

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