Can a batch file execute commands within a python shell?

Question

Can I use a batch file to start a python shell and execute commands? I know that

python

will start a python shell, but a batch file containing

python
1+1

will first run python, and then only when you quit python will it attempt to run 1+1. It will not execute any commands within the python shell.

You can run a specific program (file) from batch, but I'm not sure about command-line execution. — Rushy Panchal
– Rushy Panchal, Commented Apr 20, 2013 at 0:24
Yep. One really ugly way to do this might be to write a .py file and then run it. I'm hoping someone comes up with something better than that. — rafaelcosman
– rafaelcosman, Commented Apr 20, 2013 at 0:26

BDM · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-21 21:33:44Z

2

After a little searching around, I managed to find this website that has a method to do this. As you will see on the website, all you need to do is:

@setlocal enabledelayedexpansion && python -x "%~f0" %* & exit /b !ERRORLEVEL! 
#start python code here 
print "hello world"

This didn't work for me, however I thought it might help.

I haven't been able to find any other source that says it's possible.

Just thought of something else that I haven't tested. I combined Bear's answer and mine.

@for /f "skip=1 delims=" %i in (%0) do @python -c "%i"
#Start Python here.

However, the other method should be used.

edited Apr 21, 2013 at 21:33

answered Apr 20, 2013 at 0:50

BDM

3,9103 gold badges21 silver badges27 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Bear Over a year ago

Hey @Prof Pickle, I think it didn't work for you because of the -x flag. It causes the interpreter to skip the first line of the program to allow for non unix #! to be ignored. So without knowing more than what you posted I would assume that print "hello world" was just skipped as described.

BDM · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-20 04:19:16Z

1

I know this has an accepted answer but you might also try the -c argument for the python command. python -c "print(1+1)" will print "2" to the console. The -c flag means "command" and is interpreted by python immediately.

edited Apr 20, 2013 at 4:19

BDM

3,9103 gold badges21 silver badges27 bronze badges

answered Apr 20, 2013 at 2:13

Bear

5162 gold badges11 silver badges16 bronze badges

4 Comments

rafaelcosman Over a year ago

Thanks! That's beautifully simple.

Bear Over a year ago

You are welcome, I am not sure how much you need to do, but you can use semi-colons to chain statements together in the command string as well.

rafaelcosman Over a year ago

Yep. But it's awkward to put them all on one line.

Bear Over a year ago

True, I don't recommend writing whole programs that way but for some things it works perfectly. It is there for those simple situations where you just want to run something right away.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Can a batch file execute commands within a python shell?

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

4 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

4 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related