Unable to execute Python script from batch file

Question

I'm trying to run a Python program from the command line so I created a batch file like so:

@py.exe C:\MyPythonScripts\program.py%*
@pause

The script should print a simple message, but when I type "program" in the Windows Run program cmd appears for a second and closes itself. What am I doing wrong?.

This is the code:

#!python3

def printPicnic(itemsDict,leftWidth,rightWidth):
    print('PICNIC ITEMS'.center(leftWidth + rightWidth,'-'))
    for k,v in itemsDict.items():
        print(k.ljust(leftWidth,'.') + str(v).rjust(rightWidth))

picnicItems = {'sandwiches':4, 'apples': 12, 'cups': 4, 'cookies':8000}
printPicnic(picnicItems,12,5)
printPicnic(picnicItems,20,6)

This is my PATH variable:

> C:\Program Files (x86)\Common
> Files\Intel\Shared
> Files\cpp\bin\Intel64;C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath;C:\Program
> Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\Intel\iCLS Client\;C:\Program Files\Intel\iCLS
> Client\;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program
> Files\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\DAL;C:\Program
> Files\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\IPT;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\DAL;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\IPT;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Core-Static;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\AMD\ATI.ACE\Core-Static;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\Skype\Phone\;C:\Program
> Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_121\bin;C:\MyPythonScripts;C:\Python34;C:\Program
> Files (x86)\Common Files\Intel\Shared
> Files\cpp\bin\Intel64;C:\ProgramData\Oracle\Java\javapath;C:\Program
> Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\Intel\iCLS Client\;C:\Program Files\Intel\iCLS
> Client\;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Program
> Files\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\DAL;C:\Program
> Files\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\IPT;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\DAL;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) Management Engine Components\IPT;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\Core-Static;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\AMD\ATI.ACE\Core-Static;C:\Program Files
> (x86)\Skype\Phone\;C:\Program
> Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_121\bin;C:\Python34\Scripts

Have a look at my answer in here: stackoverflow.com/questions/54847871/… — Jonathan Mallia
– Jonathan Mallia, Commented Jul 2, 2019 at 14:18

Sam Denty · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-14 19:49:57Z

4

Regarding your batch file, I would suggest perform these changes:

You were missing a space inbetween the path and the %*, also enclose the path in quotes to prevent it from breaking when spaces are in the path

@echo off
py.exe "C:\MyPythonScripts\program.py" %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
pause

edited Mar 14, 2017 at 19:49

answered Mar 14, 2017 at 14:00

Sam Denty

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4 Comments

Xcecution Over a year ago

I edited the batch file like in your answer and now it works!. But I'm not sure why, I mean what does @echo off do and what's the difference between @py.exe and just py.exe?

Sam Denty Over a year ago

@Xcecution the @ symbol hides the command input, but can be replaced by using @echo off, which prevents you from having to use @ before every command

aschipfl Over a year ago

That is wrong, %* does not include the path of the batch file, so it is equivalent to %1 %2 %3 ...! Quoting paths is always a good practice and avoids trouble with white-spaces and other special characters, but the main problem here was the missing space between the path and %*...

Eryk Sun Over a year ago

If the .py file association is configured to execute via py.exe, then you can run "C:\MyPythonScripts\program.py" directly. The first line of the script can be a shebang to run a particular version of Python. This can be a fully-qualified path such as #!"C:\Program Files\Python36\python.exe" or a virtual Unix-style shebang like #!/usr/bin/python3.

aschipfl · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-14 19:49:35Z

2

The problem in your batch file is a missing SPACE:

@rem               THERE MUST BE A SPACE:
@rem                                 |
@rem                                 V
@py.exe C:\MyPythonScripts\program.py %*
@pause

In addition, I strongly recommend to put quotation marks around paths in order to avoid trouble with white-spaces and other spacial characters.

answered Mar 14, 2017 at 19:49

aschipfl

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Comments

Kristof Mols · Accepted Answer · 2017-03-14 15:12:16Z

0

You can do it using the following method :

@ECHO OFF
setlocal
set PYTHONPATH=C:\Python35 (you version of python)
C:\MyPythonScripts\program.py  %1<-- (you you have arg)  
endlocal

edited Mar 14, 2017 at 15:12

Kristof Mols

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answered Mar 14, 2017 at 14:01

LetzerWille

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