Can someone tell me how to make my script callable in any directory?
My script simply returns the number of files in a directory. I would like it to work in any directory by invoking it, instead of first being copied there and then typing python myscript.py
I am using Mac OS X, but is there a common way to get it installed on Windows and Linux?
If your script starts with a suitable shebang line, such as:
#!/usr/bin/env python
And your script has the executable bit set (for Linux, OS X, and other Unix-like systems):
chmod +x myscript.py
And the path to your script is in your PATH environment variable:
export PATH=${PATH}:`pwd` # on Unix-like systems
SET PATH=%PATH%;\path\to # on Windows
Then you can call myscript.py from wherever you are.
pwd, will allow all scripts in the working directory to be accessed if they have chmod +x. How do I specify just one single file?
${HOME}/bin.
All of those operating systems should support a PATH environment variable which specifies directories that have executables that should be available everywhere. Make your script executable by chmod +x and place it into one of those directories (or add a new one to your PATH - I have ~/bin for instance).
I don't know how to make new kinds of files directly executable on Windows, though, but I guess you could use a .bat file as a proxy.
