subprocess error in python

Question

I'm using PDFminer to convert pdf to html file.

Wrong Code:

def pdf2html(filename, path):
    outfile_name = filename.split('.')[0] + '.html'
    cmd = ['pdf2txt.py', '-o', path + outfile_name, path + filename]
    print ' '.join(cmd)
    subprocess.call(cmd, shell=True)

filename = "040214_MOOCs.pdf"
path = "/Users/andy/GoogleDrive/Debate/intelligencesquaredus/data/"
pdf2html(filename, path)

The above code is supposed to run "pdf2txt.py -o /Users/andy/GoogleDrive/Debate/intelligencesquaredus/data/040214_MOOCs.html /Users/andy/GoogleDrive/Debate/intelligencesquaredus/data/040214_MOOCs.pdf" in the shell.

But there's no output(040214_MOOCs.html) using above code. If I run the command in shell, it generates output with no problem.

Then I tried following script and it works, the only difference is using os.system instead of subprocess.call:

def pdf2html(filename, path):
    outfile_name = filename.split('.')[0] + '.html'
    cmd = ['pdf2txt.py', '-o', path + outfile_name, path + filename]
    print ' '.join(cmd)
    os.system(' '.join(cmd))

filename = "040214_MOOCs.pdf"
path = "/Users/andy/GoogleDrive/Debate/intelligencesquaredus/data/"
pdf2html(filename, path)

Also, in wrong code, if I set shell=False, the code also works, why that's the case? Why subprocess doesn't work in this case while os.system works? Very confusing, need explanation.

vikramls · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-15 22:38:05Z

1

This is likely because of shell mismatch. Can you try running your subprocess call without shell=True?

answered Nov 15, 2014 at 22:38

vikramls

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1 Comment

vikramls Over a year ago

With shell=True, the shell that is invoked could be different from the one you are currently using. Consequently it will not have the same PATH, etc.

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