Is this possible to run a python code from C# through command prompt?

Question

I want to run python code from C# through command Prompt.The Code is attached below

    Process p = new Process();
    p.StartInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
    p.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = @"d:";
    p.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal;
    p.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
    p.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
    p.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;

    p.Start();
    p.StandardInput.WriteLine(@"cd D:\python-source\mypgms");
    p.StandardInput.WriteLine(@"main.py -i example-8.xml -o output-8.xml");

    string output = p.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
    p.WaitForExit();

    Console.WriteLine("Output:");
    Console.WriteLine(output);

Output :

D:\python-source\mypgms>main.py -i example-8.xml -o output-8.xml

D:\python-source\mypgms>

But nothing happened.Actually main.py is my main program and it takes 2 arguments. one is input xml file and another one is converted output xml file.

But i dont know how to run this python script from C# through command prompt. Please Guide me to get out of this issue...

Thanks & Regards, P.SARAVANAN

what were you expecting to happen? And why involve cmd.exe? Why not run python.exe? — David Heffernan
– David Heffernan, Commented Apr 21, 2012 at 7:04
the main issue here is that cmd.exe does not interpret python code. you need python.exe to do that. — Ray Cheng
– Ray Cheng, Commented Apr 21, 2012 at 8:19

David Heffernan · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-21 09:15:19Z

5

I think you are mistaken in executing cmd.exe. I'd say you should be executing python.exe, or perhaps executing main.py with UseShellExecute set to true.

At the moment, your code blocks at p.WaitForExit() because cmd.exe is waiting for your input. You would need to type exit to make cmd.exe terminate. You could add this to your code:

p.StandardInput.WriteLine(@"exit");

But I would just cut out cmd.exe altogether and call python.exe directly. So far as I can see, cmd.exe is just adding extra complexity for absolutely no benefit.

I think you need something along these lines:

var p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.FileName = @"Python.exe";
p.StartInfo.Arguments = "main.py input.xml output.xml";
p.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = @"D:\python-source \mypgms";
p.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal;
p.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
p.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
p.Start();
p.WaitForExit();

Also the Python script appears to output to a file rather than to stdout. So when you do p.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd() there will be nothing there.

edited Apr 21, 2012 at 9:15

answered Apr 21, 2012 at 7:15

David Heffernan

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1 Comment

Saravanan Over a year ago

@Thanks David Heffernan: It works fine...But the Command prompt window immediately closed.how to prevent the window automatically closed?...

Lex Li · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-21 07:11:40Z

2

Why not host IronPython in your app and then execute the script?

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/charlie/archive/2009/10/25/hosting-ironpython-in-a-c-4-0-program.aspx

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/53611/Embedding-IronPython-in-a-C-Application

answered Apr 21, 2012 at 7:11

Lex Li

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1 Comment

David Heffernan Over a year ago

That's another option, but it doesn't really address the problem here. It's no problem at all to invoke CPython from C#. It just needs to be done right. Surely it would be quicker to make a couple of simple changes to the code rather than switch to hosting IronPython?

Ray Cheng · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-21 15:27:14Z

0

or use py2exe to pragmatically convert your python script to exe program.

detail steps...

download and install py2exe.
put your main.py input.xml and output.xml in c:\temp\
create setup.py and put it in folder above too

setup.py should contain...

from distutils.core import setup
import py2exe

setup(console=['main.py'])

your c# code then can be...

var proc = new Process();
proc.StartInfo.FileName = @"Python.exe";
proc.StartInfo.Arguments = @"setup.py py2exe";
proc.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = @"C:\temp\";
proc.Start();
proc.WaitForExit();

proc.StartInfo.FileName = @"C:\temp\dist\main.exe";
proc.StartInfo.Arguments = "input.xml output.xml";
proc.Start();
proc.WaitForExit();

edited Apr 21, 2012 at 15:27

answered Apr 21, 2012 at 7:15

Ray Cheng

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6 Comments

David Heffernan Over a year ago

Then the code in the Q would give the same behaviour, but there would be an extra complication in the build process.

Ray Cheng Over a year ago

it won't give the same behavior. he can choose to convert main.py to main.exe by hand or pragmatically. then invoke main.exe directly with process. of course, this approach will require python anyway, but it's just another option.

David Heffernan Over a year ago

It will give the same behaviour if he keeps on invoking through cmd.exe. The whole point of Python exe wrappers is that they behave the same as running the script through the interpretor. Your answer does not address the fundamental problem.

David Heffernan Over a year ago

This is astonishinghly poor advice. You have shown how to invoke python.exe from C# so you just do that and pass the .py file as argument. py2exe is an utterly crazy idea here. The point is to avoid cmd.exe which you do. And incidentally is the main point of my answer.

Saravanan Over a year ago

@RayCheng : It throwing error like import error:no module named py2exe...what is the problem here?

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