Python Cookbook

Working with Windows Scripting Host (WSH) from Python

Credit: Kevin Altis

Problem

You need to use the Windows Scripting Host (WSH) to perform the same tasks as in the classic WSH examples, but you must do so by driving the WSH from within a normal Python script.

Solution

Python’s abilities on Windows are greatly enhanced by win32all’s ability to access COM automation servers, such as the WSH. First, we connect to the Windows shell’s COM automation interface:

import sys, win32com.client
shell = win32com.client.Dispatch("WScript.Shell")

Then, we launch Notepad to edit this script in the simplest way (basically, with the same functionality as os.system). This script’s name is, of course, sys.argv[0], since we’re driving from Python:

shell.Run("notepad " + sys.argv[0])

For a .pys script driven from WSH, it would be WScript.ScriptFullName instead. shell.Run has greater functionality than the more portable os.system. To show it off, we can set the window type, wait until Notepad is shut down by the user, and get the code returned from Notepad when it is shut down before proceeding:

ret = shell.Run("notepad " + sys.argv[0], 1, 1)
print "Notepad return code:", ret

Now, we open a command window, change the path to C:\, and execute a dir:

shell.Run("cmd /K CD C:\ & Dir")

Note that cmd works only on Windows NT/2000/XP; on Windows 98/ME, you need to run Command instead, and this does not support the & joiner to execute two consecutive commands. The shell object has many more methods besides the