Process spawning in win32

[Uri Nix]

Hello,

I'm using Python to automate some test suites for an external
simulator. Up to now I've been using the os.spawnl() successfully.
Recently, I've changed simulator versions and encountered the
following problem:
using os.spawnl() from within the IDLE activates the simulator just
fine; using the _same_ code from a script (either from IDLE or command
line) doesn't.
It looks like the simulator isn't being activated from its working
directory.

I've tried using Mark Hammond's win32process to verify I'm passing the
correct environment and working directory, but get the same results.

Why should spawnl() work differently from within IDLE or otherwise?

(Using Python 2.3.4 on WindowsXP)

Cheers,
  Uri