os.system() question

[Ethan Furman]

Bryan Irvine wrote:
> I'm a python n00b and so pardon me in advance if this is really stupid
> question.
> 
> I have my suspicions but why does the following not work the way I'm
> anticipating it will?
> 
> (python 2.4.4)
> 
> 
>>>>import os
>>>>if (os.system('echo test')):
> 
> ...    print 'success'
> ... else:
> ...    print 'failed'
> ...
> test
> failed
> 
>>>>if (os.system('echosadf test')):
> 
> ...    print 'success'
> ... else:
> ...    print 'failed'
> ...
> sh: echosadf: command not found
> success
> 

If I had to guess (which I am, since I'm not looking at the docs), I 
would say that os.system returns the exit code of whatever it ran, and 
since the exit code on success is almost always 0, and since 0 means 
False in Python, you get 'failed' the first time around; likewise, a 
non-zero exit code usually indicates a problem of some sort, and 
non-zero is True in Python, hence the 'success' the second time around.

I wonder how the docs phrase it?

~Ethan~