[Python-ideas] shutil.launch / open/ startfile

[Antoine Pitrou]

On Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:10:27 +0800
Hobson Lane <hobsonlane at gmail.com> wrote:
> Formatted and finished Rebert's solution to this issue
> 
> http://bugs.python.org/issue3177
> 
> But the question of where to put it is still open ( shutil.open vs.
> shutil.launch vs. os.startfile ):
> 
> 1. `shutil.open()` will break anyone that does `from shutil import *` or
> edits the shutil.py file and tries to use the builtin open() after the
> shutil.open() definition.
> 
> 2. `shutil.launch()` is better than shutil.open() due to reduced breakage,
> but not as simple or DRY or reverse-compatible as putting it in
> os.startfile() in my mind. This fix just implements the functionality of
> os.startfile() for non-Windows OSes.
> 
> 3. `shutil.startfile()` was recommended against by a developer or two on
> this mailing list, but seems appropriate to me. The only upstream
> "breakage" for an os.startfile() location that I can think of is the
> failure to raise exceptions on non-Windows OSes. Any legacy (<3.0) code
> that relies on os.startfile() exceptions in order to detect a non-windows
> OS is misguided and needs re-factoring anyway, IMHO. Though their only
> indication of a "problem" in their code would be the successful launching
> of a viewer for whatever path they pointed to...

Both shutil.launch() and shutil.startfile() are fine to me. I must
admit launch() sounds a bit more obvious than startfile().

I am -1 on shutil.open().

Regards

Antoine.