Forcing a python script to take input from STDIN

Question

A python script I need to run takes input only from a file passed as a command line argument, like so:

$ markdown.py input_file

Is there any way to get it to accept input from STDIN instead? I want to be able to do this through Bash, without significantly modifying the python script:

$ echo "Some text here" | markdown.py

If I have to modify the Python script, how would I go about it?

(EDIT: Here is the script that is parsing the command line options.)

Answer 1

I'm not sure how portable it is, but on Unix-y systems you can name /dev/stdin as your file:

$ echo -n hi there | wc /dev/stdin
       0       2       8 /dev/stdin

Answer 2

Make sure this is near the top of the file:

import sys

Then look for something like this:

filename = sys.argv[1]
f = open(filename)

and replace it with this:

f = sys.stdin

It's hard to be more specific without seeing the script that you're starting with.