Running windows utilities from python

Coding Python Support
1

Is it possible to get python (from within blender game engine) to run utilities such as msconfig and task manager or even the device manager?

just an idea for a 3d utility interface is all.

thanks

2

I don’t know about the game engine, but with scripts you can just do something like this:

import os

os.system('start taskmgr')
os.system('start devmgmt.msc')
3

Thanks!
guess i’ll build the logic round those for starters. Is there anywhere where i can get a list of those sort of utilities command lines?

4

Do you mean: how do you know the taskmanager can be started with the command “taskmgr”?
Google! :wink:

If you type in a command like that, the command line program (whatever that is) will search for a program that’s called like the command, in folders in the PATH environment variable. One of those folders is C:\Windows\system32 (on XP). That’s where system programs are, like the performance monitor (“perfmon”) and the calculator (“calc”).

5

so can i input the path in those parentheses or is the path to those files set before hand? If so, how do you go about defining a folder within windows that you want the script to look at?

6

It will look for a file called like the command, in folders stated in the PATH environment variable, but you can also type in any path you wish. I think it works like this: if it doesn’t see a command that looks like a path, it will search the program in the PATH folders. If it does look like a path, it will just locate it.
If you want to define a folder that Windows will look in when you just type in the command/file name, you have to add that folder to the PATH environment variable. In Windows XP Home you need administrator rights for that.

How the edit the PATH:
http://www.wilsonmar.com/1envvars.htm#ClassPath