How to terminate external program or window using python

Question

I am trying to close the program, in this case spotify, but I am keep getting semantic mistake. Here is my code:

sup_programs.txt

{ 
'spotify': ['C:/Users/Daniiar/AppData/Roaming/Spotify/Spotify.exe']
}

script:

class Path(object):
    import ast
    sup_programs_txt = open('sup_programs.txt', 'r')
    s_p = sup_programs_txt.read()
    paths = ast.literal_eval(s_p)
    sup_programs_txt.close()
paths = Path().paths
program_name = 'spotify'


def open_program(path_name):
    import subprocess
    subprocess.Popen(path_name)
    open_program(paths[program_name])


def close_program(path_name):
    import subprocess
    p = subprocess.Popen(path_name)
    p.terminate()


yes = input(" ... ")
if 'close' in yes or 'yes' in yes:
    close_program(paths[program_name])
else:
    print('too bad')

I used kill() and terminate() neither of them have worked and os.system('TASKKILL ') Is there any other methods or am using existing ones incorrectly?

BTW, I am using windows 10 and python 3.5 . Thank you for your help

Why would starting a new process and killing it, kill a different already running process? — Open AI - Opting Out
– Open AI - Opting Out, Commented Jun 26, 2016 at 5:07
you have to store the "p" of the open process and use p.terminate() on this p, not another instance of that executable. — Jean-François Fabre
– Jean-François Fabre ♦, Commented Jun 26, 2016 at 5:40

Jean-François Fabre · Accepted Answer · 2016-06-26 05:45:14Z

5

your open_program function is recursive ???

Anyway, to open your program, you can do it by the path name. It then returns a handle on a subprocess. To close it, just call the terminate method on that handle

example below opens notepad, waits 3 seconds, then closes it.

import time
import subprocess

def open_program(path_name):

    return subprocess.Popen(path_name)

def close_program(p):
    p.terminate()

p=open_program("notepad")
time.sleep(3)
close_program(p)

answered Jun 26, 2016 at 5:45

Jean-François Fabre♦

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