question on chdir() function

[hsyuen]

I am new to python and I am trying to write a simple program that would cd from my home directory to another directory, run an ls command and then return to my home directory. The OS is Redhead linux 5.4. I am using python 2.4.3.

I tried this first:
import os
os.system("cd /opt/WindRiver")
os.system("ls")
os.system("cd /home/harry")

The cd command did not work as the ls command listed the files in my home directory, not the new directory.

I then try:
import os
os.chdir("/opt/WindRiver")
os.system("ls")
os.chdir("/home/harry")

chdir worked but looks likes it started a new shell and stayed in the new directory. I had to manually enter the exit command to exit the current shell.

Any suggestions on how to make it work?

Thanks,
Harry Yuen

[woooee]

That's because the directory was changed in the bash shell (os.system) and not in the python shell. Why not just use
os.system("ls /opt/WindRiver")
or, since we now use subprocess
subprocess.call("ls /opt/WindRiver", shell=True)

You can use python's
os.chdir("/opt/WindRiver")
but it is better to always use absolute path names to avoid the type of error that you posted originally.

[hsyuen]

That's because the directory was changed in the bash shell (os.system) and not in the python shell. Why not just use
os.system("ls /opt/WindRiver")
or, since we now use subprocess
subprocess.call("ls /opt/WindRiver", shell=True)

You can use python's
os.chdir("/opt/WindRiver")
but it is better to always use absolute path names to avoid the type of error that you posted originally.

I am also trying to run a bash script inside the /opt/WindRiver directory. The script calls another script inside the same directory. That would make it necessary to cd into that directory first. In bash shell, I would do:
$ cd /opt/WindRiver
$ ./wrenv.sh -p vxworks-6.7

How would you handle that in python?