How Can I Run My Python Script From The Terminal In Mac Os X Without Having To Type The Full Path?

I'm on Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard and I'm trying to add a directory to my PATH variable so I can run a tiny script I wrote by just typing: python alarm.py at the terminal prompt. I p

Solution 1:

PATH is only for executables, not for python scripts. Add the following to the beginning of your Python script:

#!/usr/bin/env python

and run

sudo chmod a+x /Users/tobylieven/Documents/my_scripts/alarm.py

Then, you can type just alarm.py to execute your program.

Solution 2:

change alarm.py to include:

#!/bin/python

as the very first line in the file.

(or /usr/bin/python, depending on where you python interpreter is located. You can figure this out by typing: which python in the terminal.)

You can then just run alarm.py instead of python alarm.py.

e.g.:

~ toby$ alarm.py  

And phihag who beat me by a few seconds is right, you need to add execute permissions (via chmod) to alarm.py.

Solution 3:

Which python are you targeting?

Did you install it with brew? It uses a different path.

which python3 or which python

Choose the one you want

Copy that output

Paste it at the top of your python file

add a #! in front of that path so it looks something like

#!/usr/local/bin/python3

Make sure to change the file permissions

chmod +x filename

Put that file in a folder that is in your path

Not sure if your folder is in your path?

echo $path

How to add that folder to your path?

Find your path first

echo $HOME

If you are using bash or zsh you might have something like this

In ~/.bash_profile or ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc at the bottom of your file

export PYTHON_UTILS="$HOME/code/python/utils"

export PATH="$PYTHON_UTILS:$PATH"

Consider removing the .py from your file bc it is not needed in this case

Close and open your terminal, which is sourcing your file by its path

And now you should be able to treat your python file similar to a bash command

You don't need to use python3 filename.py to run the file, you can just use filename

From anywhere on your filesystem!

Solution 4:

You need to modify the Python specific path variable: PYTHONPATH.

So:

export PYTHONPATH=/Users/tobylieven/Documents/my_scripts

should get you working.

See: Python Module Search path

Solution 5:

Something of interest that I really struggled with on OS X coming from Window, is that you its very hard to get the directory of your current script.

I found this.

#! /bin/zsh cd"${0:h}"

Now you could execute a python file relative to the executed script instead of having to know the exact path where your python file is. This might or might not help but I use this a lot to make my scripts and .command files work better.