From 4ce4f2eedd81080ea7f6a756dce0e0451045ef8f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Fred Drake Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2000 04:15:19 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] os.startfile() documentation, based on text from Tim Peters. --- Doc/lib/libos.tex | 18 ++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 18 insertions(+) diff --git a/Doc/lib/libos.tex b/Doc/lib/libos.tex index 40e9573c434..e4171cf39b8 100644 --- a/Doc/lib/libos.tex +++ b/Doc/lib/libos.tex @@ -940,6 +940,24 @@ Availability: Windows. \versionadded{1.5.2} \end{datadesc} +\begin{funcdesc}{startfile}{path} +Start a file with its associated application. This acts like +double-clicking the file in Windows Explorer, or giving the file name +as an argument to the DOS \program{start} command: the file is opened +with whatever application (if any) its extension is associated. + +\function{startfile()} returns as soon as the associated application +is launched. There is no option to wait for the application to close, +and no way to retrieve the application's exit status. The \var{path} +parameter is relative to the current directory. If you want to use an +absolute path, make sure the first character is not a slash +(\character{/}); the underlying Win32 \cfunction{ShellExecute()} +function doesn't work it is. Use the \function{os.path.normpath()} +function to ensure that the path is properly encoded for Win32. +Availability: Windows. +\versionadded{2.0} +\end{funcdesc} + \begin{funcdesc}{system}{command} Execute the command (a string) in a subshell. This is implemented by calling the Standard C function \cfunction{system()}, and has the