What's wrong on using Popen's communicate method?

[jfong at ms4.hinet.net]

Terry Reedy於 2019年7月5日星期五 UTC+8上午12時13分25秒寫道：
> On 7/3/2019 7:57 PM, jfong at ms4.hinet.net wrote:
> > I have the test0.py below. I expect to see 'abcd' showing in the notepad window:
> > ---------
> > import subprocess as sp
> > p0 = sp.Popen('notepad.exe', stdin=sp.PIPE)
> > p0.communicate(input=b'abcd')
> > ---------
> > But nothing happens. The notepad is completely empty. What have I missed?
> > 
> > --Jach
> > 
> > PS. I am using python 3.4 on Windows Vista
> 
> Upgrade to 3.7 or 3.8 to get hundreds of bug fixes, let alone new 
> features.  Both subprocess and multiprocessing have gotten fixes.

    I can't because my OS is Vista and v3.4 is the last it can run:-( Also the pywin32 can't be installed for it requires v3.5 and up.

> subprocess is meant for running an external program in batch mode.  It 
> receives the one input byte string, sends output, and closes.  For 
> interaction, try multiprocessing.
> 
> Or do what IDLE does, which is to open a two-way socket to the parent 
> program.  (Managing this is not fun.)  IDLE was initially written before 
> multiprocessing.  It has been suggested to me that it should switch to 
> multiprocessing.  (But last I read, multiprocessing and tkinter (tcl/tk) 
> do not play well together on macOS.)

    Can multiprocessing make debugging of eventloop app easier?

> If the subprocess runs a gui, the user should be able to switch focus by 
> clicking on a subprocess window.

    I finally get a solution to switch between two notepads in Python. Here is the codes for someone he may be interested.
-----------
import subprocess, time, ctypes
user32 = ctypes.windll.user32

p0 = subprocess.Popen('notepad.exe')
time.sleep(1)
handle0 = user32.GetForegroundWindow()  # the handler of foreground window
thread0 = user32.GetWindowThreadProcessId(handle0, 0)  # get its thread id

p1 = subprocess.Popen('notepad.exe')
time.sleep(1)
handle1 = user32.GetForegroundWindow()
thread1 = user32.GetWindowThreadProcessId(handle1, 0)

for i in range(3):  # suppose the notepad1 is the foreground window
    time.sleep(5)  # delay enough time for typing test
    user32.AttachThreadInput(thread1, thread0, True)
    user32.SetForegroundWindow(handle0)
    time.sleep(5)
    user32.AttachThreadInput(thread0, thread1, True)
    user32.SetForegroundWindow(handle1)
print('end')

--Jach