Accessing external file output from script?

[Cameron Laird]

In article <40299803$0$41295$a1866201 at newsreader.visi.com>,
PWR  <cyrat at frontiernet.net> wrote:
>Platform: Windows
>Python: 2.3
>Python Skill: Reading, Learning, but still newbie.
>
>Mission:  My mission is writing a script that is triggered from my mail 
>server.  The script will execute and download a file.  The email that 
>triggered the message has a file size which is compared to the 
>downloaded file to make sure the bytes match.  Once that is accomplished 
>there is a small program (.exe) that I can run against the file.  The 
>.exe has two outputs...
>
>If the file that was downloaded is intact is returns nothing
>
>If the file is damaged or not correct it returned ERROR_XXX
>
>Those are the only things it will return.
>
>Is there a way to call this program to run from my script and then 
>parse? the output to see if either state is returned?
>
>The good news is the script runs and does everything but the external 
>file check (woo) so I am making progress.
			.
			.
			.
I believe you are saying that you want to know a Python idiom
for launching an external application (MY_SMALL_PROGRAM.exe?),
perhaps with a command-line argument or two, and collect its
result back into a Python variable for subsequent processing.
Is that correct?  What does "return" mean to you in this con-
text?  Are you saying that MY_SMALL_PROGRAM.exe puts specific
output such as "ERROR_XXX" to its stdout (or stderr?), or is
your focus on the process's exit status?

I suspect you'll end up reading <URL:
http://python.org/doc/current/lib/module-popen2.html >.

Question for the audience:  what are the impediments to making
<URL: http://python.org/doc/current/lib/module-commands.html >
available for Windows?
-- 

Cameron Laird <claird at phaseit.net>
Business:  http://www.Phaseit.net