execute python script multiple times

Question

Im not sure about the best way to do this but I have a python script saved as a .py. The final output of this script is two files x1.txt and y1.txt.

Basically I want to run this script say 1000 times and each run write my two text files with new names i.e x1.txt + y1.txt then second run x2.txt and y2.txt.

Thinking about this it seems it might be better to start the whole script with something like

runs=xrange(:999)
for i in runs:

##run the script

and then finish with something that does

    for i in runs:
        filnameA=prefix += "a"+i


open("filnamea.txt", "w").write('\n'.join('\t'.join(x for x in g if x) for g in grouper(7, values)))


    for i in runs:
        filnameB=prefix += "a"+i


open("filnameB.txt", "w").write('\n'.join('\t'.join(x for x in g if x) for g in grouper(7, values)))

Is this really the best way to do it? I bet its not..better ideas?

I know you can import time and write a filename that mathes time but this would be annoying for processing later.

Answer 1

import subprocess
import sys

script_name = 'dummy_file.py'
output_prefix = 'out'
n_iter = 5

for i in range(n_iter):
    output_file = output_prefix + '_' + str(i) + '.txt'
    sys.stdout = open(output_file, 'w')
    subprocess.call(['python', script_name], stdout=sys.stdout, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)

On running this, you'll get 5 output text files (out_0.txt, ..., out_4.txt)

Answer 2

If your computer has the resources to run these in parallel, you can use multiprocessing to do it. Otherwise use a loop to execute them sequentially.

Your question isn't quite explicit about which part you're stuck with. Do you just need advice about whether you should use a loop? If yes, my answer is above. Or do you also need help with forming the filenames? You can do that part like this:

import sys

def myscript(iteration_number):
    xfile_name = "x%d.txt" % iteration_number
    yfile_name = "y%d.txt" % iteration_number
    with open(xfile_name, "w") as xf:
        with open(yfile_name, "w") as yf:
            ... whatever your script does goes here

def main(unused_command_line_args):
    for i in xrange(1000):
        myscript(i)
    return 0

if __name__ == '__main__':
    sys.exit(main(sys.argv))