# Run external python script with input file as argument **URL:** \ **Category:** Using Django\ **Created:** [December 3, 2021, 10:21am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/run-external-python-script-with-input-file-as-argument/10794 "2021-12-03T10:21:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ptrs32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@ptrs32](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/ptrs32)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2021, 10:21am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/run-external-python-script-with-input-file-as-argument/10794/1 "2021-12-03T10:21:22Z")
Hello, i’m trying to developp my first Django project and i’m actually stuck with an error. So i have on my HTML template a button to load a xls file, and a submitting button that i want it to start an external python script using this file. Here is my project: home.html ```auto

Home

{% csrf_token %} Input xls file :



``` views.py ```auto from subprocess import run, PIPE import sys def home(request): return render(request, 'home.html') def external(request): inp=request.FILES.get('InputFile') run([sys.executable,r'pathToMyDjangoProject\script.py', inp], shell=False,stdout=PIPE) return render(request,'home.html') ``` urls.py ```auto urlpatterns = [ path(r'', views.home), path('external/', views.external), ] ``` script.py ```auto def process(excelFile): rdr = pd.read_excel(excelFile, header=None).values.tolist() for row in rdr: ... ``` Finally the html page seems to work, le type of **inp** is a _django InMemoryUploadedFile_ so i guess it’s correctly loaded but the error i have is : > **TypeError at /external/** > expected str, bytes or os.PathLike object, not InMemoryUploadedFile > . > |Request Method:|POST| > |Request URL:|[http://127.0.0.1:8000/external/|](http://127.0.0.1:8000/external/%7C) > |Django Version:|3.2.7| > |Exception Type:|TypeError| > |Exception Value:|expected str, bytes or os.PathLike object, not InMemoryUploadedFile| I think to understand there is a problem with variable’s type in the run() function but do you have an idea to correct it ? Thank you by advance, ---
**Author:** ![KenWhitesell](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/kenwhitesell/32/280_2.png) [@KenWhitesell](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/KenWhitesell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2021, 1:34pm UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/run-external-python-script-with-input-file-as-argument/10794/2 "2021-12-03T13:34:35Z")
The way you have this constructed, you’re going to need to save the file to disk somewhere, and then pass the fully-qualified file name as the parameter. ---
**Author:** ![ptrs32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@ptrs32](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/ptrs32)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/run-external-python-script-with-input-file-as-argument/10794/3 "2021-12-03T13:46:22Z")
Ok thank you, that is also what i thought. And otherwise, do you have any idea on how to do it without the need to save the file ? Not the full script but maybe some terms or links to help me search in the right way ? ---
**Author:** ![nemecek\_f](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/nemecek_f/32/668_2.png) [@nemecek\_f](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/nemecek_f)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2021, 4:57pm UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/run-external-python-script-with-input-file-as-argument/10794/4 "2021-12-03T16:57:35Z")
What about some model? Like `FileToProcess`? You can then create `manage.py` command that has access to Django ORM, you can query the “to be processed” files and do what you need to do. ---
**Author:** ![KenWhitesell](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/kenwhitesell/32/280_2.png) [@KenWhitesell](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/KenWhitesell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2021, 9:13pm UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/run-external-python-script-with-input-file-as-argument/10794/5 "2021-12-03T21:13:33Z")
Unless there’s more to this than what you’ve posted, I don’t see the benefit of running this as an external process. Instead of: > [@ptrs32](#): > > ```auto > def external(request): > inp=request.FILES.get('InputFile') > run([sys.executable,r'pathToMyDjangoProject\script.py', inp], shell=False,stdout=PIPE) > return render(request,'home.html') > > ``` > > def process(excelFile): > rdr = pd.read\_excel(excelFile, header=None).values.tolist() > > ``` > for row in rdr: > ... > > ``` You could try: ```auto def external(request): inp=request.FILES.get('InputFile') process(inp) return render(request,'home.html') def process(excelFile): rdr = pd.read_excel(excelFile, header=None).values.tolist() for row in rdr: ... ``` You may also need to open and read the file to get the data from the file field - see [Managing files | Django documentation | Django](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.2/topics/files/#using-files-in-models). ---
**Author:** ![ptrs32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@ptrs32](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/ptrs32)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 10:11am UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/run-external-python-script-with-input-file-as-argument/10794/6 "2021-12-06T10:11:41Z")
Well, my _script.py_ is about 600 lines long. I did not imagine myself integrating it fully into the _external_ function of _views.py_. Even if in practice it would work. And what if i turn it into a python function and i just import it to views.py ? any contraindications? ---
**Author:** ![KenWhitesell](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/forum.djangoproject.com/kenwhitesell/32/280_2.png) [@KenWhitesell](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/KenWhitesell)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/run-external-python-script-with-input-file-as-argument/10794/7 "2021-12-06T13:26:30Z")
> [@ptrs32](#): > > Well, my _script.py_ is about 600 lines long. I did not imagine myself integrating it fully into the _external_ function of _views.py_ . Notice that I didn’t suggest that. I show `external` as calling a function named `process`. > [@ptrs32](#): > > And what if i turn it into a python function and i just import it to views.py ? A function is a function. There is no semantic difference whether a function resides in the same file or is in a different file and imported. > [@ptrs32](#): > > any contraindications? None at all. The key here is that there’s no need to start another instance of Python to run your function. (Ok, so there _are_ a couple of real edge cases that may make it desirable to do so, I just have no reason to believe that this would be one of them.) By running your function within the same process, you can pass the data directly - it does not need to be passed via some external mechanism like a file or pipe. ---
**Author:** ![ptrs32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@ptrs32](https://forum.djangoproject.com/u/ptrs32)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://forum.djangoproject.com/t/run-external-python-script-with-input-file-as-argument/10794/8 "2021-12-06T13:31:50Z")
I understand, yes sorry I did not really understand your first answer but it is ultimately the simplest to put in place. Thanks for your help