python script question

[Michael Stenner]

On Tue, Oct 22, 2002 at 01:31:04AM +1000, Ken wrote:
> Hi all, just like to ask if python CGI script can be mix with python Shell
> script?
> 
> I.e. if:
> file1 is CGI (#!/usr/local/bin/python)
> and file2 is shell script (#!/bin/sh)
> 
> can I have "import file2" inside file1 and use the functions inside file2?

Short (and pretty darned accurate) answer: no.
You can run any shell COMMAND (including shell scripts) from within a
python program via system or popen, or whatever.  You won't easily be
able to call a function from within a shell script, though.

You could make "script wrappers" for all of those functions.  If you
have a master shell script that acts like a library, defining several
functions, but executing none of them, then you could make several
wrappers, each of them a script... like so:

#!/bin/sh
source master.sh
# function foo is defined in master.sh
foo $@

Then, you can call this file (foo.sh) via system from within python.

> Also, does the shell script have *.py extension?

Shell scripts usually have .sh extensions, but on unix, the extension
exists only for the user's convenience.  It usually has no relevance
for the os.

					-Michael

-- 
  Michael Stenner                       Office Phone: 919-660-2513
  Duke University, Dept. of Physics       mstenner at phy.duke.edu
  Box 90305, Durham N.C. 27708-0305