python - Windows can't find the file on subprocess.call()

Question

I am getting the following error:

WindowsError: [Error 2] The system cannot find the file specified

My code is:

subprocess.call(["<<executable file found in PATH>>"])

Windows 7, 64 bit. Python 3.x latest, stable.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Answer 1

When the command is a shell built-in, add a shell=True to the call.

E.g. for dir you would type:

import subprocess
subprocess.call('dir', shell=True)

To quote from the documentation:

The only time you need to specify shell=True on Windows is when the command you wish to execute is built into the shell (e.g. dir or copy). You do not need shell=True to run a batch file or console-based executable.