Python to Windows command prompt interface

Question

Is there a way I could send commands to Windows command prompt Python?

What I am looking to do is make a Python app on the desktop which receives commands through sockets from another computer/mobile app.

These commands are then passed on to Windows command prompt for execution.

Using Windows 7.

Do you mean the real MS-DOS, or the Windows Command Prompt? (The latter is not DOS. It's a Windows program.)
are you just interested in execution, do not care how it works behind the scenes or do you really need the console (cmd.exe)?
@akira: terminology - cmd.exe is a shell, it parses commands. A console displays them and their output on screen.

akira · Accepted Answer · 2010-12-23 18:51:35Z

up vote 5 down vote accepted

use subprocess module

from subprocess import call

call(['cmd', 'arg1', 'arg2'], stdin='...', stdout='...')

eg:

call(['dir', '/W'])

edited Dec 23 '10 at 18:51

akira
23.1k34089

answered Dec 23 '10 at 11:46

Nifle
17.6k64180

	Sometimes, `os.system` can be a better choice - for example, if you have a complete command line and do not want to modify it (which Akash's question seems to be like.) – grawity Dec 23 '10 at 13:27
	@grawity: `subprocess.Popen()` and there you have `os.system()` – akira Dec 23 '10 at 18:49
	@akira: My point was about `os.system("dir /w")` versus `call(["dir", "/w"])` - splitting the input just to have it rejoined later, and execution via shell. Although I was wrong - I forgot about `Popen(..., shell=True)`, which does accept a string command. – grawity Dec 23 '10 at 20:44

1 Answer