Python: Run small multiline script from commmand line

Question

I have a bunch of very small python scripts that I want to run from the command line. Here is one such example:

import os
for f in os.listdir():
    if not os.path.isdir(f) and f.endswith('.c'):
        dir=f[:-2]
        os.makedirs(dir)
        os.rename( f, dir + '/' + f  )

I am abundantly aware that I could save this as a python script (e.g. renamer.py) and run the script like this:

python renamer.py

However, in compiling a library, I have a lot of these small scripts, and would just like to concatenate these into a single shell script. I just can't figure out the syntax. I thought that the shell script should look like this:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

python -c/
"import os;"/
"for f in os.listdir():;"/
"    if not os.path.isdir(f) and f.endswith('.c'):;"/
"        dir=f[:-2];"/
"        os.makedirs(dir);"/
"        os.rename( f, dir + '/' + f  );"

But when I run this I get the error:

  File "<string>", line 1
    /
    ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax
./py_test.sh: line 4: import os;/: No such file or directory
./py_test.sh: line 5: for f in os.listdir():;/: No such file or directory
./py_test.sh: line 6:     if not os.path.isdir(f) and f.endswith('.c'):;/: No such file or directory
./py_test.sh: line 7:         dir=f[:-2];/: No such file or directory
./py_test.sh: line 8:         os.makedirs(dir);/: No such file or directory
./py_test.sh: line 9:         os.rename( f, dir + '/' + f  );: No such file or directory

What am I missing here?

Dan D. · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-31 10:13:28Z

2

It would be better to put them in a Python module say x.py as functions and use python -c "import x; x.y()" as the command to call them.

Then you would have a place to put common code and you'd be able to open the file and get Python syntax highlighting.

answered Jan 31, 2019 at 10:13

Dan D.

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Comments

bremen_matt · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-31 10:09:26Z

0

I was waaaay overthinking it.

This works

#!/usr/bin/env bash

python -c "
import os
for f in os.listdir():
    if not os.path.isdir(f) and f.endswith('.c'):
        dir=f[:-2]
        os.makedirs(dir)
        os.rename( f, dir + '/' + f  )  
"

answered Jan 31, 2019 at 10:09

bremen_matt

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2 Comments

Phydeaux Over a year ago

Glad you've found a shell script that works for you, but I would recommend not doing this. A better solution would be saving a bunch of scripts somewhere and running python renamer.py as per your example. However, a better solution still would be to collect the functions into a proper library (def renamer, def other_function etc.) and call the functions in a single Python script, instead of using a shell script at all.

tripleee Over a year ago

That's not grounds for downvoting this perfectly good solution though. If this is really all you need, the answer is fine.

Phydeaux · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-31 10:26:49Z

0

I would recommend collecting the functions into a proper Python module (as per Dan D's answer) somewhere on your PYTHONPATH.

Instead of calling python -c "import renamer; renamer.rename()" in the shell script however, I would suggest calling the functions in a single Python script, avoiding shell script altogether:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import renamer
import other_fun

if __name__ == "__main__":
    renamer.rename()
    ...

answered Jan 31, 2019 at 10:26

Phydeaux

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