Python automation [SOLVED]

pluto · Last edited by pluto on Mon May 21, 2007 4:17 pm; edited 1 time in total

Hello,

I'm new to Python and programming in general, but created a web page that combines Python and HTML, allowing users to enter a name. The program is currently set up to save the name in a .txt file, then I ftp the .txt file to my local PC and run the Python program; the outcome is a new .txt file (adding the new names to a list of previously entered names) which I then ftp back to the server to be displayed on the web page. Sound like a lot of work, right?

What I want to do is automate this process so the Python program runs on the server. Ideally, I would like to program to run when a new name is entered, but I think this may be a bit of a challenge for a newbie like me. Therefore, an easier solution is if the program ran every day at a specific time, this is where I get lost.

Can someone guide me as to the best way to accomplish this task?

Thanks for your help!

MrBlueSky

You can use a cronjob. With a cronjob you start a certain task automatically every day (or hour or week).

Read about it and how you set up your cronjob using directadmin at frihost here: http://www.site-helper.com/misc.html#cron

deepak

cronjob dude

pluto

Thank you for your help. I read the documentatioin on how to set up cronjob, but being new to all this I'm don't know the command I need to enter to execute the program. I have the program in the .cgi bin, should it be somewhere else? I tried entering python /path to script, but this did not do it. Any help is much appreciated.

Thank you.

MrBlueSky

- You must make sure the python script is executable (chmod it to 755)
- It must begin with something like #!/usr/bin/python so that the system nows it's python
- Then you use the path to the script when creating the cronjob, for example if it is in your cgi-bin:

pluto

Thanks for all the help, everything is working great now!

I was missing the #!/usr/bin/python at the top of the program ( I had this line inside a comment box a few lines down, but it must be the 1st line in the program).

Thanks again for all the help!