Python SUBPROCESS.RUN says file is not in place although it is

Question

So when i try to open a .bat file:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "accorddownload.py", line 31, in <module>
    subprocess.run(["Tools\aAIvwb.bat"], creationflags=0x08000000)
  File "C:\Program Files\Python37\lib\subprocess.py", line 472, in run
    with Popen(*popenargs, **kwargs) as process:
  File "C:\Program Files\Python37\lib\subprocess.py", line 775, in __init__
    restore_signals, start_new_session)
  File "C:\Program Files\Python37\lib\subprocess.py", line 1178, in _execute_child
    startupinfo)
FileNotFoundError: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified

I am running it using

subprocess.run(["tools\aAIvwb.bat"], creationflags=0x08000000)

but the thing is I checked the location 20 times and keep trying to fix, but the same thing is happening. Here is file structure

AB
|
|--Tools--|
|         |--aaitp.bat
|         |--aAIvwb.bat
|         |--mdfa.bat
|
|--basefile.py

EDIT 1: The current working directory NEVER changes throughout the file

Your filesystem says `Tools` and your python source looks for `tools`? which do you mean? — Skam, Nov 22 '19 at 01:01
What does `os.path.exists('tools\AAIvwb.bat)` say? Also, yes the capitalization matters. Try printing `os.getcwd()` to confirm where your working directory is. — Skam, Nov 22 '19 at 01:05
What are the file permissions for the bat file? Maybe you should use `os.system` or `os.startfile` instead. This sounds like a dupe of https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5469301/run-a-bat-file-using-python-code I don't have a windows machine to test on. — Skam, Nov 22 '19 at 01:09
I’ll have to look into that because I thought subprocess.call and subprocess.run were pretty sketchy. I’m lookin at it and it tells me to use subprocess.call as the way To do it. — Frederick Reynolds, Nov 22 '19 at 01:17

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 22 '19 at 01:23

0

I am suspicious of \ escaping. Have you considered calling like this:

subprocess.run([r"tools\aAIvwb.bat"], creationflags=0x08000000)

Note that I put an 'r' before the double quote.

answered Nov 22 '19 at 01:23

Sean Suchter

328
1
6

Ok i will try that a snow let you know – Frederick Reynolds Nov 22 '19 at 01:32
WOW. Actually didn't think that would work, Thank you very much! (as you can tell, i'm new to python) – Frederick Reynolds Nov 22 '19 at 21:39
You will need to do this a lot on Windows platforms. It was interpreting \a as one character, rather than using the \ as a directory separator. If you want \'s to be directory separators, use 'r' in front of the string to make it a "raw" string. – Sean Suchter Nov 23 '19 at 16:50

Python SUBPROCESS.RUN says file is not in place although it is

1 Answers1