Process Control

Process launching and querying

mhi.enerplot.common.process.process_pids(*names)

Return the process id’s of any process with the given executable names.

Application names may include the % wildcard. For example, the following query might find both SkypeApp.exe and SkypeBackgroundHost.exe:

process_ids('skype%.exe')

Since applications may terminate and can be started at any time, the returned value is obsolete immediately upon being returned.

Parameters:*names (str) – application filename patterns, without any path.
Returns:A list of process name & process id pairs
Return type:List[tuple]
mhi.enerplot.common.process.is_running(app)

Determine if there is an app process in the list of running processes.

Application names may include the % wildcard. For example, the following query might find both SkypeApp.exe and SkypeBackgroundHost.exe:

is_running('skype%.exe')

Since applications may terminate and can be started at any time, the returned value is obsolete immediately upon being returned.

Parameters:app (str) – application filename, without any path.
Returns:True if a process can be found, False otherwise.
Return type:bool
mhi.enerplot.common.process.tcp_ports_in_use()

Find all TCP ports in use

Returns:Set of all ports in use by the TCP protocol
Return type:Set[int]
mhi.enerplot.common.process.unused_tcp_port()

Find an available TCP ports in the dynamic/private range

Returns:an available TCP port
Return type:int
mhi.enerplot.common.process.listener_ports_by_pid(*pid)

Find all listener ports opened by processes with the given PIDs.

Since applications may terminate and can be started at any time, as well as open and close ports at any time, the returned value is obsolete immediately upon being returned.

Parameters:*pid (int) – Processed ids
Returns:a list of (addr, port, pid) tuples
Return type:List[tuple]
mhi.enerplot.common.process.listener_ports_by_name(*names)

Find all listener ports opened by processes with the given executable name.

Application names may include the % wildcard. For example, the following query might find both listener ports opened by both SkypeApp.exe and SkypeBackgroundHost.exe:

listener_ports_by_name('skype%.exe')

Since applications may terminate and can be started at any time, as well as open and close ports at any time, the returned value is obsolete immediately upon being returned.

Parameters:*names (str) – application filename patterns, without any path.
Returns:a list of (addr, port, pid, name) tuples
Return type:List[tuple]
mhi.enerplot.common.process.find_exe(app, version=None, x64=None)

Find an application executable.

If no version is specified, the highest version available is used, with Alpha and Beta versions being considered the highest and second highest respectively. If no x64 flag is given, a 32-bit or 64-bit version may be returned, with preference given to 64-bit versions.

Parameters:
  • app (str) – name of the application (without any extension)
  • version (str) – application version number such as ‘4.6.3’ or ‘Alpha’
  • x64 (bool) – True for 64-bit version, False for 32-bit version
Returns:

the path to the executable
Return type:

str
mhi.enerplot.common.process.launch(*args, options=None, **kwargs)

Launch an application process.

All {keyword} format codes in the list of args strings are replaced by the value in the corresponding options dictionary and/or kwargs key-value argument pairs.

For example:

launch("C:\{dir}\{name}.exe", "/silent:{silent}", "/title:{title!r}",
       dir="temp", name="app", silent=True, title="Hello world")

will launch C:\temp\app.exe passing the arguments /silent:True and /title:'Hello world'

Parameters:
  • *args (str) – the application and the arguments for the application
  • options – values which may be substituted in the application arguments
  • **kwargs – additional substitution values
Returns:

The subprocess handle
Special keyword arguments
Keyword=Value Effect
launch_minimized=True process started with SW_SHOWMINNOACTIVE
launch_minimized=False process started with SW_SHOWNOACTIVATE
debug=True process is not started, command line printed