Find Executable

0.2.1 · active · verified Thu Apr 16

Find Executable (find-exe) is a Python library and command-line interface designed to locate matching executables on a system given certain criteria. It provides a robust way to programmatically find executables, similar to the `which` or `where` commands, with additional flexibility. The current version is 0.2.1, and it maintains an active release cadence with minor updates and fixes.

Common errors

```
find_exe.which('my_executable') returns None unexpectedly
```
cause The specified executable is either not in the system's PATH, not in the custom `paths` provided, or lacks execute permissions for the current user. On Windows, it might also be due to an unrecognized file extension (not in PATHEXT).

fix Verify the executable's location and permissions. If it's not in a standard PATH directory, use the `paths` argument: `find_exe.which('my_executable', paths=['/path/to/dir'])`. For Windows, ensure the executable's extension (e.g., '.exe', '.bat') is included in your system's `PATHEXT` variable or that you specify the full executable name including extension.
```
TypeError: which() got an unexpected keyword argument 'paths'
```
cause The `paths` argument was introduced in version 0.2.0. This error indicates you are using an older version of `find-exe`.

fix Upgrade your `find-exe` library to version 0.2.0 or newer: `pip install --upgrade find-exe`.

Warnings

gotcha Prior to version 0.2.1, `find-exe` could experience case sensitivity issues on Windows, especially when the `PATHEXT` environment variable was explicitly defined. This could lead to executables not being found or unexpected results.
Fix: Upgrade to `find-exe` version 0.2.1 or later to resolve potential case sensitivity problems on Windows. Use `pip install --upgrade find-exe`.
gotcha When using `find_exe.which()` or `find_exe.with_prefix()` on Windows, the order of directories in your system's `PATH` environment variable and the values in `PATHEXT` (file extensions to consider as executables) significantly influence the results. Be aware that the behavior might differ from Linux/macOS systems or even from Windows' native `where` command if `PATHEXT` is customized or incomplete.
Fix: For predictable results, ensure your system's `PATH` and `PATHEXT` variables are correctly configured. If using the `paths` argument, provide an explicit list of directories to search. If still facing issues, check `os.environ['PATH']` and `os.environ.get('PATHEXT', '')` within your Python environment.

Install

pip install find-exe Install latest version

Imports

find_exe
```
import find_exe
```

Quickstart

The quickstart demonstrates finding executables using `find_exe.which()` and `find_exe.with_prefix()`. It also shows how to specify custom search paths using the `paths` argument.

import find_exe

# Find 'python' executable in the system's PATH
python_exe = find_exe.which('python')
print(f"Python executable: {python_exe}")

# Find executables starting with 'py'
# Note: This might return different paths depending on your system configuration.
py_executables = find_exe.with_prefix('py')
print(f"Executables with prefix 'py': {py_executables[:3]}...")

# Find a specific executable in custom paths
custom_paths = ['/usr/local/bin', '/opt/some_app/bin'] # Example paths
git_exe_custom = find_exe.which('git', paths=custom_paths)
print(f"Git executable in custom paths: {git_exe_custom}")

view raw JSON →