I need to run an OpenFOAM command by automatized python script.
My python code contains the lines
subprocess.Popen(['OF23'], shell=True)
subprocess.Popen(['for i in *; do surfaceConvert $i file_path/$i.stlb; done', shell=True)
where OF23 is a shell command is defined in alias as
alias OF23='export PATH=/usr/lib64/openmpi/bin/:$PATH;export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib64/openmpi/lib/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH;source /opt/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.x/etc/bashrc'
This script runs the OpenFOAM command in terminal and the file_path defines the stl files which are converted to binary format
But when I run the script, I am getting 'OF23' is not defined.
How do I make my script to run the alias command and also perform the next OpenFOAM file conversion command
That's not going to work, even once you've resolved the alias problem. Each Python subprocess.Popen is run in a separate subshell, so the effects of executing OF23 won't persist to the second subprocess.Popen.
Here's a brief demo:
import subprocess
subprocess.Popen('export ATEST="Hello";echo "1 $ATEST"', shell=True)
subprocess.Popen('echo "2 $ATEST"', shell=True)
output
1 Hello
2
So whether you use the alias, or just execute the aliased commands directly, you'll need to combine your commands into one subprocess.Popen call.
Eg:
subprocess.Popen('''export PATH=/usr/lib64/openmpi/bin/:$PATH;
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib64/openmpi/lib/:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH;
source /opt/OpenFOAM/OpenFOAM-2.3.x/etc/bashrc;
for i in *;
do surfaceConvert $i file_path/$i.stlb;
done''', shell=True)
I've used a triple-quoted string so I can insert linebreaks, to make the shell commands easier to read.
Obviously, I can't test that exact command sequence on my machine, but it should work.