Python file not working in command prompt (others work though)

Question

A script I created to accept command line variables seems to have randomly stopped working when either run through command line or simply double-clicked through Windows Explorer. Other python scripts seem to work fine and it's just this script that doesn't work.

The script functions fine through Idle (it just prompts you for the variables).

The error I get is:

'autoUpdate.py' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file

The script itself is used as a file crawler to update a geospatial database with automatic run times throughout the week with Windows task scheduler.

This error suggests that Windows can't find the script on its PATH. — Aaron D, Aug 28 '15 at 16:04
script is run through command prompt like this: autoupdate.py where is a subset of data I want it to crawl through — John Murray, Aug 28 '15 at 16:06
One possibility is that you ran the script like this `>autoUpdate.py` instead of `>python autoUpdate.py` — Ymartin, Aug 28 '15 at 16:08
Have you checked for python's PATH? check this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6318156/adding-python-path-on-windows-7 — devdc, Aug 28 '15 at 16:09
What happens if you do `where python`? Additionally, have you recently updated or resintalled Python? (ArcGIS might have done this if you did something with that; it really messes Python in terrible ways.) — jpmc26, Aug 28 '15 at 19:38
For close reviewers: take note of the answer where the OP states that, "it started working again." — jpmc26, Sep 08 '15 at 05:48

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 28 '15 at 16:30

Python programs aren't run as standalone applications (not without some work) They are filled with commands that need to be run with an interpreter. On Windows the best way to run python scripts is by specifying the python interpreter first followed by the script name.

python autoUpdate.py

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 28 '15 at 17:38

1

make sure your directory is the path the python file is or do

$ python /dir_path/autoUpdate.py

answered Aug 28 '15 at 17:38

myMe

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 02 '15 at 14:46

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Alright, I don't know what happened but it seems as though it started working again. But at the same time it popped up an error with regards to a unicode error in one of my print statements (which I fixed). Its working now but I really need to find a 'Python unicode/utf-8 tutorial for dummies' type document because I'm always having this issue. Argggh.

answered Sep 02 '15 at 14:46

John Murray

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Try [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11339955/python-string-encode-decode/25213500#25213500). The question is pretty specific, but there's some broader info that might help you. The accepted answer has a link to a PowerPoint on the subject, and other answers go more in depth as well. – jpmc26 Sep 08 '15 at 05:46

Python file not working in command prompt (others work though)

3 Answers3