Running a batch file in another directory in python

Question

I want to run mybat.bat file located in MyFolder which is different from the current directory. I used the following code:

subprocess.Popen(["mybat", MyArg],
                  cwd=MyFolder,
                  stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                  stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
                  stdin=subprocess.PIPE)

However, I get the following error:

"WindowsError: [Error 2] The system cannot find the file specified"

I should mention that if I replace mybat with another program in the PATH such as notepad it works absolutely fine.

Yes. I do have mybat.bat file in MyFolder.

MZX
– MZX

2015-09-02 16:53:36 +00:00
Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 16:53 — MZX
– MZX, Commented Sep 2, 2015 at 16:53

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:29:40Z

2

The working directory is changed only in the child process i.e., cwd=MyFolder does not make os.path.join(MyFolder, "mybat.bat") available. Try:

p = Popen([os.path.join(MyFolder, "mybat.bat"), MyArg], cwd=MyFolder)

You could use %~dp0 inside your bat-file, to get the directory where the bat-file resides instead of cwd=MyFolder as @eryksun suggested.

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:29

CommunityBot

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answered Sep 2, 2015 at 17:19

jfs

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2 Comments

MZX Over a year ago

Thanks Sebastian. Your solution solved the problem too.

Eryk Sun Over a year ago

A properly written batch file shouldn't in general require setting cwd to find files relative to itself. It should use %~dp0 to get the fully-qualified path of the batch file, i.e. the [d]rive and [p]ath of the .bat file (command-line argument 0).

MZX · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-02 17:04:53Z

0

adding shell=True to command solved the problem.

answered Sep 2, 2015 at 17:04

MZX

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1 Comment

jfs Over a year ago

you could avoid shell=True if you provide the explicit .bat extension and the complete path to the bat-file if the error persists. See this answer on the difference between how the search for an executable differs in shell=False|True cases. Look at Windows questions in the subprocess tag info

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