How do i get return value from the .bat script?

Question

I have a .bat script which is calculating the execution time of a process. As follows:

set startTime=%time%
YourApp.exe
echo Start Time: %startTime%
echo Finish Time: %time%

Now, i want to return "Finish Time" to some variable of the script from which this .bat script is called but i am not getting how shall i return the value from the .bat script. Kindly suggest how shall i acheive it.

What do you mean? Do you want Finish Time to be stored in an environment variable (like Start Time), or do you want the script to output the Finish Time on the console to capture it in the calling script? — aschipfl
– aschipfl, Commented Mar 22, 2016 at 9:11
You might be interested in this thread concerning measurement of execution time... — aschipfl
– aschipfl, Commented Mar 22, 2016 at 9:22
@aschipfl i want to get back the finish time of a process calculated and returning the value from .bat into a python script — Learner
– Learner, Commented Mar 22, 2016 at 9:52
I understand, but there are many ways (environment variables, console output at STDOUT, temporary files,...); you should clarify which channel you want to go for... — aschipfl
– aschipfl, Commented Mar 22, 2016 at 9:55

Ghilas BELHADJ · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-22 11:06:06Z

1

You can combine subprocess and regex to parse the output

import subprocess
import re

output = subprocess.Popen(
    ("yourBatch.bat", "arguments1", "argument2"),
    stdout=subprocess.PIPE).stdout

finish_time_search = re.search('Finish Time: (.*)', output[1], re.IGNORECASE)

if finish_time_search:
    finish_time = finish_time_search.group(1)

output.close()

edited Mar 22, 2016 at 11:06

answered Mar 22, 2016 at 6:53

Ghilas BELHADJ

14.3k10 gold badges61 silver badges106 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

2 Comments

Learner Over a year ago

i did as you said but i am getting error while executing my python script as "File "C:\programs\Python27\lib\re.py", line 146, in search return _compile(pattern, flags).search(string) TypeError: expected string or buffer. What is wrong now?

Ghilas BELHADJ Over a year ago

because output is a list ( lines of your batch output ), and the line you're looking for is the seconde. I've edited my code

J_Zar · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-22 07:26:49Z

From the script side:

It is easy to parse the called bat output and get the information you need without an exit code. You can use the subprocess command and the communicate method to parse the output. As reported in the python help:

https://docs.python.org/2/library/subprocess.html

output=`dmesg | grep hda`
# becomes
p1 = Popen(["dmesg"], stdout=PIPE)
p2 = Popen(["grep", "hda"], stdin=p1.stdout, stdout=PIPE)
p1.stdout.close()  # Allow p1 to receive a SIGPIPE if p2 exits.
output = p2.communicate()[0]

From the DOS side:

You can use the "exit" command:

exit /b %errorlevel%

And use errorlevel for your purpouse. Please, for more info, look at:

http://www.computerhope.com/exithlp.htm

Another option is to use and environment variable with the command "setx" (which uses a register and it is not volatile), or a file as a temp storage.

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

How do i get return value from the .bat script?

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

2 Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related