OS X Terminal Output in Python

Question

This is going to be the easiest question for someone to solve, but I can't seem to find the answer. I've got a really simple program that prints the date, and time. I'm trying to run it from the terminal in OS X, as that is how it'll be run when I hand it in to my prof. I've been told the way to run this is with a command like this:

XXX-MacBook-Air:~ XXX$ sudo chmod a+x /Users/[path]/currenttime.py

But when I do that, the print statement in the script doesn't output anywhere. I'm not sure if it is supposed to output in terminal, or where it would print to.

Below is my script for anyone who wants more info on my rookie struggles:

import datetime

#!/usr/bin/env python

def currenttime():
date1 = str(datetime.datetime.now())
day = date1[8:10] #not stripped at all
day2= day.lstrip("0") #strip leading zeros
if len(day2) == 2:
    #then we have a two digit day and we should work with the last digit
    if day2[1] == 1:
        day_suffix = 'st'
    elif day2[1] == 2:
        day_suffix = 'nd'
    elif day2[1] == 3:
        day_suffix = 'rd'
    else:
        day_suffix = 'th'
else:
    #one digit day, run off the single digit
    if day2 == 1:
        day_suffix = 'st'
    elif day2 == 2:
        day_suffix = 'nd'
    elif day2 == 3:
        day_suffix = 'rd'
    else:
        day_suffix = 'th'
month = date1[5:7]
#we can use the month to search through a dictionary and return the english name
month_dict= {'01' : 'January', '02': 'February', '03': 'March', '04': 'April', '05': 'May', '06': 'June', '07': 'July', '08': 'August', '09': 'September', '10': 'October', '11': 'November', '12': 'December'}
year = date1[0:4]
hour = date1[11:13]
minute = date1[14:16]
print("Printed on the " + day2 + day_suffix + " day of " + month_dict[month] + ", " + year + " at " + hour + ":" + minute)

currenttime()

Robᵩ · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-19 20:06:07Z

4

That isn't the way to run it. This is the simple way:

XXX-MacBook-Air:~ XXX$ python /Users/[path]/currenttime.py

In the alternative, you can arrange to avoid the python in the previous line by doing two things:

1) Associate your script with python. Make this line be the very first line of your script: #!/usr/bin/env python

2) Mark this program as executable by running this command once:

XXX-MacBook-Air:~ XXX$ chmod a+x /Users/[path]/currenttime.py

Then, each time you want to run your program do this:

XXX-MacBook-Air:~ XXX$ /Users/[path]/currenttime.py

edited Sep 19, 2013 at 20:06

answered Sep 19, 2013 at 19:23

Robᵩ

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2 Comments

idalsin Over a year ago

This works, but occasionally will give me a 'permission denied' for certain .py files? Edit: Thanks person below, that makes sense!

Robᵩ Over a year ago

You are only allowed to chmod files that you own. If you are applying it to a file that is owned by another account, you need sudo chmod.

Hunter McMillen · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-19 19:25:17Z

2

sudo chmod a+x /Users/[path]/currenttime.py sets the execute permissions on your Python script so that it can be executed. It doesn't actually execute it.

To execute your script call the python interpreter explicitly:

python /Users/[path]/currenttime.py

Or you could/probably should move #!/usr/bin/env python to be the very first line in your file. Then you can execute your python script directly.

/Users/[path]/currenttime.py

answered Sep 19, 2013 at 19:25

Hunter McMillen

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2 Comments

Robᵩ Over a year ago

You seem to imply that x must be set in order to run python currenttime.py. This is not so. If you invoke python directly, it doesn't matter if x is set on currenttime.py.

Hunter McMillen Over a year ago

I don't get that from reading my answer, but I could see why you think that.

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