How to set program name in Python? ($0 in Perl)

Fredrik Lundh fredrik at pythonware.com
Thu Nov 10 02:06:27 EST 2005


Steve Holden wrote:

> > Is there a way to set the program name in Python, similar to $0 in
> > Perl?
> >
> >>From `man perlvar`:
> >
> > $0      Contains the name of the program being executed.  On some oper-
> >                ating systems assigning to "$0" modifies the argument
> > area that
> >                the ps program sees.  This is more useful as a way of
> > indicat-
> >                ing the current program state than it is for hiding the
> > program
> >                you're running.  (Mnemonic: same as sh and ksh.)

> import sys
> print sys.argv[0]

that *gets* the name, but assigning to sys.argv[0] doesn't *set* it (afaik).

setting the name involves overwriting the C level argv array, several large
buckets of worms, and huge portability issues, and is thus better left to non-
standard extensions.

</F>






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