os.environ and os.path.chdir

[Geoff Gerrietts]

Quoting Yun Mao (maoy at cis.upenn.edu):
> Hi,
>    How to make changes to os.environ and os.path.chdir still effective after
> I run the script? Currently, the changes are only good within my script. I
> would like the shell who called python myprog.py also gets the change..
> Thank you!

To the best of my knowledge, this can't be done. Depending on the
specific application, you might have several workarounds.

One is to exit into a new shell, using os.execve instead of sys.exit.
That creates "nested" shells, unless the user exec's your program
also.

Another is to exit by printing a list of commands, and expect that the
user will run your program like "eval `myprog.py`" to execute those
commands.

As far as I know, though, there's no way to actually hijack the user's
shell process. The user needs to explicitly give you that control.

--G.

-- 
Geoff Gerrietts             "There is no fate that cannot be 
<geoff at gerrietts net>     surmounted by scorn." --Albert Camus