Give input to a python script from a shell?

Question

I'm trying to write a shell script that will run a python file that takes in some raw input. The python script is essentially along the lines of:

def main():
    name=raw_input("What's your name?")
    print "Hello, "+name
main()

I want the shell script to run the script and automatically feed input into it. I've seen plenty of ways to get shell input from what a python function returns, or how to run a shell from python with input, but not this way around. Basically, I just want something that does:

python hello.py
#  give the python script some input here
#  then continue on with the shell script.

echo "read this!" | python hello.py - what shell are we talking about anyway? — moooeeeep
– moooeeeep, Commented Feb 19, 2013 at 19:05
Also have a look at this answer on automated testing and stdin input in Python. — moooeeeep
– moooeeeep, Commented Feb 19, 2013 at 19:20

mgilson · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-19 19:01:05Z

9

Do you mean something like:

python hello.py <<EOF
Matt
EOF

This is known as a bash HERE document.

answered Feb 19, 2013 at 19:01

mgilson

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Comments

Fredrick Brennan · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-19 19:08:41Z

5

There's really no better way to give raw input than sys.stdin. It's cross platform too.

import sys
print "Hello {0}!".format(sys.stdin.read())

Then

echo "John" | python hello.py # From the shell
python hello.py < john.txt # From a file, maybe containing "John"

answered Feb 19, 2013 at 19:08

Fredrick Brennan

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4 Comments

mgilson Over a year ago

the second one is a useless use of cat ... python hello.py < john.txt

Fredrick Brennan Over a year ago

@mgilson Indeed...old habits die hard.

mgilson Over a year ago

I still do that (pretty frequently).

kip_price Over a year ago

I can't actually change the python files: I'm grading for an intro CS class, and they aren't teaching sys. I'm just trying to save myself time so I'm not giving manually input to 94 students' python scripts.

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