How do I pass command line parameters to a python prgram called from XMLHTTPRequest

Question

I'm trying (unsuccessfully) to pass command line paramters to a python program called by javascript XMLHTTPRequest. In my python program I have used each of sys.argv, getopt and argparse, all of which work when run from the command line but not when called from the Javascript script. In my Javascript program I have tried:

xhr.open('GET', 'https://solarpredictor.co.uk/test.py?solcast&full&graph', true);
xhr.open('GET', 'https://solarpredictor.co.uk/test.py?s=solcast&f=full&g=graph', true);

and

xhr.open('GET', 'https://solarpredictor.co.uk/test.py?solcast', true);

none of which work. In every case the parameters are not being found by the py program.

How can I get the python program to retrieve parameters when called within XMLHTTPRequest?

For what it is worth, this is my python program:

#!/usr/bin/python3

import sys

solcast = False
full = False
graph = True

print("len = ",len(sys.argv))
for x in range(1,len(sys.argv)):
    param = sys.argv[x]
    print(param)
    if param == 'solcast':
        solcast = not solcast
    elif param == 'full':
        full = not full
    elif param == 'graph':
        graph = not graph

print(solcast,full,graph)

It's on my own server, solarpredictor.co.uk, and, in fact, in the same directory as the html file. — Doug Conran
– Doug Conran, Commented Nov 19, 2024 at 18:28
Lighttpd. The point I'd make is that the python program works fine when called through XMLHTTPRequest with no parameters - and also works fine when called with parameters. It is just that it does not receive those parameters. — Doug Conran
– Doug Conran, Commented Nov 19, 2024 at 18:57

Quentin · Accepted Answer · 2024-11-19 19:06:49Z

1

You don’t pass command line parameters. You aren’t running the script on the command line.

You have some way of interfacing your HTTP server with your Python code. Last time I looked at Python the way commonly regarded as best was WSGI but other approaches such as mod_python and CGI are available. (Your comments suggest you are using CGI).

The common Python libraries for those interfaces have functions for reading query strings from the request URL.

https://redmine.lighttpd.net/projects/lighttpd/wiki/HowToPythonWSGI

edited Nov 19, 2024 at 19:06

answered Nov 19, 2024 at 19:00

Quentin

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2 Comments

Doug Conran Over a year ago

Thank you for that. I need to read the link and then see how to apply it to my case

Doug Conran Over a year ago

Thank you! I have now got it working using cgi & cgitb

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