How to run a python program from c++

Question

I am trying to make a program in c++, but i cant make the program because in one part of the code I need to run a python program from c++ and I dont know how to do it. I've been trying many ways of doing it but none of them worked. So the code should look sometihnglike this: somethingtoruntheprogram("pytestx.py"); or something close to that. Id prefer doing it without python.h. I just need to execute this program, I need to run the program because I have redirected output and input from the python program with sys.stdout and sys.stdin to text files and then I need to take data from those text files and compare them. I am using windows.

Answer 1

You have two way of doing that:

• Use system / fork and exec* /...
• Embed a python interpreter in your program (cf python 2.6 doc or boost.python )

Using a embedded interpreter is (IMHO) the best way to do it because it gives you more control over the execution of the script, because it's not OS-dependant and it does not rely on your target having a python interpreter (configured as you require).

Answer 2

There's POSIX popen and on Windows _popen , which is halfway between exec and system . It offers the required control over stdin and stdout , which system does not. But on the other hand, it's not as complicated as the exec family of functions.