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ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'encodings' while running python in iOS

I am trying to integrate python in iOS. I tried same thing as mentioned here - https://github.com/beeware/Python-Apple-support/tree/3.9
Here is my python script in Xcode projects
func RunPythonScript() -> PythonObject {
if let path = Bundle.main.path(forResource:"/Users/projects/extra/python_apple_support/PAS_10_11_v3/PAS_10_11_v3/Resources/",
ofType: nil) {
setenv("PYTHONPATH", path, 1)
setenv("PYTHONHOME", path, 1)
}
let sys = Python.import("sys")
sys.path.append("/Users/projects/extra/python_apple_support/PAS_10_11_v3/PAS_10_11_v3/PAS_10_11_v3/")
let file = Python.import("pythonscript")
let response = file.hello_world()
print(response)
return response
}
It builds successfully but when I call python program it end up saying
Could not find platform independent libraries <prefix>
Could not find platform dependent libraries <exec_prefix>
Consider setting $PYTHONHOME to <prefix>[:<exec_prefix>]
Python path configuration:
PYTHONHOME = (not set)
PYTHONPATH = (not set)
program name = 'python3'
isolated = 0
environment = 1
user site = 1
import site = 1
sys._base_executable = '/Users/karimkhan/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/C444D135-C393-4631-AFE2-FF5F86935EF6/data/Containers/Bundle/Application/642E9540-CBAF-448C-8E8D-856B8E5D03EC/PAS_10_11_v3.app/PAS_10_11_v3'
sys.base_prefix = '/Users/runner/work/Python-Apple-support/Python-Apple-support/install/iOS/iphonesimulator.x86_64/python-3.9.14'
sys.base_exec_prefix = '/Users/runner/work/Python-Apple-support/Python-Apple-support/install/iOS/iphonesimulator.x86_64/python-3.9.14'
sys.platlibdir = 'lib'
sys.executable = '/Users/karimkhan/Library/Developer/CoreSimulator/Devices/C444D135-C393-4631-AFE2-FF5F86935EF6/data/Containers/Bundle/Application/642E9540-CBAF-448C-8E8D-856B8E5D03EC/PAS_10_11_v3.app/PAS_10_11_v3'
sys.prefix = '/Users/runner/work/Python-Apple-support/Python-Apple-support/install/iOS/iphonesimulator.x86_64/python-3.9.14'
sys.exec_prefix = '/Users/runner/work/Python-Apple-support/Python-Apple-support/install/iOS/iphonesimulator.x86_64/python-3.9.14'
sys.path = [
'/Users/runner/work/Python-Apple-support/Python-Apple-support/install/iOS/iphonesimulator.x86_64/python-3.9.14/lib/python39.zip',
'/Users/runner/work/Python-Apple-support/Python-Apple-support/install/iOS/iphonesimulator.x86_64/python-3.9.14/lib/python3.9',
'/Users/runner/work/Python-Apple-support/Python-Apple-support/install/iOS/iphonesimulator.x86_64/python-3.9.14/lib/lib-dynload',
]
Fatal Python error: init_fs_encoding: failed to get the Python codec of the filesystem encoding
Python runtime state: core initialized
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'encodings'
Current thread 0x0000000108fd4600 (most recent call first):
<no Python frame>

I just got this working after days of trying! Using Python 3.11.
For anyone wondering, we're using a version of Python patched for iOS (from Beeware's Python Apple Support), and PythonKit (Swift pkg) to embed Python in an iOS app using Xcode. The goal (for me at least) is to do my UI in SwiftUI, but use my own Python logic on some of the app's data.
OP, I don't know what all of your problems might be (there could be several), but I am immediately noticing at least one thing wrong. You're looking on your mac for Python when your goal is to put Python itself inside of your app. You should be looking in the app for the directory containing the Python standard library ('python-stdlib'), as well as the 'lib-dynload' subdir, provided to you by Beeware's Python Apple Support repo. You want to set PYTHONPATH and PYTHONHOME to this combo of paths.
This post is intended to supplement to "How to embed a Python interpreter in an iOS app - presented by Łukasz Langa." on YT.
In the video the OP linked to, Lukasz's 'python-stdlib' has a different name and a very different directory structure than the latest version of Py for iOS provides. What you'll need to figure out is the path to the 'python-stdlib' dir, AND [probably] its subdir, 'lib-dynload'. Counterintuitively, you do need to specify both, even though the latter is a subdir of the former.
Your line:
if let path = Bundle.main.path(forResource:"/Users/projects/extra/python_apple_support/PAS_10_11_v3/PAS_10_11_v3/Resources/",
ofType: nil) {
Should read something like:
if let libPath = Bundle.main.path(forResource: "python-stdlib", ofType: nil),
let libPath2 = Bundle.main.path(forResource: "python-stdlib/lib-dynload", ofType: nil) {
let mergedPaths = "\(libPath):\(libPath2)"
...where 'python-stdlib' is the PATH of the python libraries directory--not just the directory name. (If that's confusing to a newbie, this is the same: let mergedPaths = libPath + ":" + libPath2.
To get an idea of the path, go to Product > Show Build Folder in Finder, then find Products/Debug-iphonesimulator, right click .app (the greyed / X'd out icon) > Show package contents.
Assuming you have properly copied this stuff into the project, you should be able to find 'python-stdlib' inside the .app. For me, it was right in the root of the .app (since that's where I effectively put it, by adding it to the GROUP (not dir!) called 'Resources'. (Because Resources is a group, whatever is in there will be in the root level of the .app, NOT in a dir called Resources. It seems there can be groups that are backed by folders, and groups that are not. This is an important distinction.)
Now, set PYTHONPATH and PYTHONHOME to mergedPaths like you were doing:
setenv("PYTHONHOME", mergedPaths, 1)
setenv("PYTHONPATH", mergedPaths, 1)
If you don't include the path to 'lib-dynload', then this will only work in the simulator. Why would it work at all? Lovely question... 🤷🏽
IMPORTANT: The script.py file Lukasz created for his custom Python code must go into the 'python-stdlib' directory for this to work. I imagine you could stick it anywhere, as long as you append its new path to mergedPaths, as can be seen in a project generated by Beeware's Briefcase. To append that path to the merged paths, you're just concatenating strings with a ":" between each path. I have not tested this.
COPYING THE LIBRARY PROPERLY
Here's something that screwed me up for a while:
When you copy over Python.xcframework and the std-lib, make sure you're creating folders and not groups (in the prompt after you drag and drop), else you will end up with hundreds of errors due to the flattening of directories resulting from creating groups and not dirs (think of every main.py from the lib ending up in the same folder--no bueno). Make sure your prompt looks exactly like this:
screenshot of said prompt ☝🏽
SIGNING THE PYTHON LIBRARY
Follow 'The Manual Way' > Step 6 # Python Apple Support > USAGE.md.
All I had to change was this line segment:
"$CODESIGNING_FOLDER_PATH/Contents/Resources/python-stdlib/lib-dynload"
Due to my directory structure ('python-stdlib' in root of .app), I changed it to:
"$CODESIGNING_FOLDER_PATH/python-stdlib/lib-dynload"
...omitting the extra directories in the path to 'lib-dynload'.
ALMOST FORGOT--module.modulemap!
Assuming you have created 'module.modulemap', and copied it to all three locations (in the Xcode project and in both Headers dirs in the framework), you'll want it to read like this:
module Python {
umbrella header "Python.h"
export *
link "python-stdlib"
}
...where Lukasz's read link Python, ours must read link python-stdlib, as above. I wouldn't be surprised this is actually the path to 'python-stdlib'. Again, mine is right in the root of the .app, so under that assumption, the name is also the path, here. I have not tested this theory.
NOT NECESSARILY RELEVANT TO THE SOLUTION BUT MAYBE ENTERTAINING
This part is pretty amazing. I've had this working in the simulator only for the last several days. For most of that time, on the device, it would import Random, but not Math (which was being called from Random). Then I figured how to point the app to both 'python-stdlib' and 'python-stdlib/lib-dynload'. Got a new error -- code signature invalid for '.../math.cpython-311-iphoneos.so' (that Python math module!) in 'lib-dynload'! Wow! It was finally SEEING the math module.
PARTIAL CONSOLE OUTPUT:
...(code signature in <45B34416-425D-3E01-BC39-CB7A8C170A0A> '/private/var/containers/Bundle/Application/1465B572-3399-4B76-B017-4EE168637AF5/SIXTH_try.app/python-stdlib/lib-dynload/math.cpython-311-iphoneos.so' not valid for use in process: mapped file has no cdhash, completely unsigned? Code has to be at least ad-hoc signed.)
Here's the amazing part... YESTERDAY, I told Github to tell me about any changes to Beeware's Python Apple Support. Last night at 7pm, I get a notification that dude updated the USAGE.md to add instructions for code signing! Ha! What are the chances that this would happen on exactly the day that I need it to happen. Anyway, I followed those instructions, ran on my phone, and WHUHBAM! MY IPHONE IS USING THE RANDOM MODULE TO GENERATE INTS UPON A BUTTON TAP! THE WHOLE GUI WAS MADE IN SWIFTUI. HOLY MOTHER#(#)!#$ IT'S WORKING! (I realize enthusiasm and emotion are not always welcome on SO, but I'm going to celebrate, and no one will stop me!)

Executing Python Script from Windows Forms .NET

I am fairly new to Python and .NET in general, but decided to ask more competent people, since I have been struggling with the issue of executing python script from Windows Forms.
The basic idea of my project is a desktop applicaton and the overall logic would be to read from a couple of selected check boxes, pass the values of those selections to my python script, from there I generate an excell table based on those results, and display this table back into the Windows Forms application.
Creating the table and managing to display it in the Desktop App is already done, but I am having serious issues with the communication between the two platforms, when it came to executing the script itself.
I have tried using IronPython and it worked perfectly, untill the fact that I found that Iron Python does not support CPython packages, like Pandas, which is build on numpy, and numpy apparantly is one of those packages. I looked over a lot of articles about this issue and the answers did not seem promising and most of the suggestions were to use pythonnet.
I tried to implement pythonnet, following numerous articles and all I managed to do, besides creating a bigger mess, is nothing as a result.
Finally, I decided to use C# Process class, but did not succeed also.
Would appreciate if there are any comments and suggestions on how to remedy this issue.
Python version: 3.7
Windows 10 (64 bit)
.NET Framework 4.7.2
Here is some of my code attempts in Windows Forms:
Implementation with the usage of the Process Class
Issue here is that I am not able to run this script due to the error messages that it cannot find the packages for the python script
var processStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo
{
Arguments = "C:\\Users\\Dobromir\\PycharmProjects\\pythonProject\\main.py",
FileName = "C:\\Python27\\python.exe",
UseShellExecute = false,
RedirectStandardOutput = true,
CreateNoWindow = true
};
Process.Start(processStartInfo);
Implementation using IronPython (which was working before the usage of pandas package)
Issue here is the CPython packages limitation and errors.
For IronPython I had to downgrade to Python 2.7 in order to work with it. For the rest of the examples I am using Python 3.7
ScriptEngine pythonEngine = Python.CreateEngine();
var searchPaths = pythonEngine.GetSearchPaths();
searchPaths.Add(#"C:\Python27\Lib");
searchPaths.Add(#"C:\Users\Dobromir\PycharmProjects\pythonProject\venv\Lib\site-packages");
pythonEngine.SetSearchPaths(searchPaths);
List<String> argv = new List<String>();
argv.Add("Some Value1");
argv.Add("Some Value2");
ScriptSource pythonScript = pythonEngine.CreateScriptSourceFromFile("C:\\Users\\Dobromir\\PycharmProjects\\pythonProject\\main.py");
pythonEngine.GetSysModule().SetVariable("argv", argv);
pythonEngine.SetSearchPaths(searchPaths);
ScriptScope scope = pythonEngine.CreateScope();
pythonScript.Execute(scope);
Implementation of pythonnet
The issue that I got here is on the line using Py.GIL(). I believe it is having trouble finding the python files, and also tried giving the python37.dll in the variable pathToPython.
I received the error that Python.Runtime, Version=2.5.2.0, Culture=neutral....missmatch"
string pathToPython = #"C:\Users\Dobromir\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37";
string path = pathToPython + "; " + Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH", EnvironmentVariableTarget.Machine);
Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable("PATH", path, EnvironmentVariableTarget.Process);
Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable("PYTHONHOME", pathToPython, EnvironmentVariableTarget.Process);
Console.WriteLine(path);
var lib = new[]
{
#"C:\\Users\\Dobromir\\PycharmProjects\\App37\\main.py",
Path.Combine(pathToPython, "Lib"),
Path.Combine(pathToPython, "DLLs")
};
string paths = string.Join("; ", lib);
Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable("PYTHONPATH", paths, EnvironmentVariableTarget.Process);
using (Py.GIL()) //Initialize the Python engine and acquire the interpreter lock
{
try
{
Console.WriteLine("I am working");
}
catch (PythonException error)
{
Console.WriteLine("Error occured: ", error.Message);
}
}
I Also tried creating a bash script to execute the python script and got the no module found error as well
I know that these are not the best implementations out there, but do the job.
My question is if someone has any idea on how to make this simple operation work I would be very grateful, thank you for your time and understanding
P.S - Apologies for the long post, wanted to write what I have tried before asking for help, but if someone is more interested I will provide additional information.

I did a project like this recently; a couple of things I would suggest to make it easy:
Confirm that the instance of python set in your env variables (WIN+R, sysdm.cpl, Advanced, env variables) is that of the instance of python you wish to use (do this for your python search path too!)
Remove any lines attempting to set these in code; and instead handle errors if they are not found
Then, when you call you script from within your program; it only needs to look like this:
var processStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo
{
Arguments = "main.py",
FileName = "Python",
UseShellExecute = false,
RedirectStandardOutput = true,
CreateNoWindow = true
};
Process.Start(processStartInfo);

After some struggle, I found a solution to fit my needs.
Firstly, I completely removed python 2.7 and installed back 3.10.
I tried running the script file inside the shell command line and got the same error that the modules could not be found. What I did is try to import these modules and it gave an error, specifically for bs4 that I am using packages for python 2.x instead of 3.x packages.
After futher investigation I discovered that the packages that I have for my script are treated as "local" packages, meaning I installed them from the IDE (PyCharm) and they work for that project only I guess.
I also found that to "globally" access these packages I had to install them through the command line using the pip3 install <package_name>. After doing this the problem was gone and was left with running the script from the Windows Forms.
NOTE: I did not manage to start the script using python.exe, so I used bash script for the job.
Here is my code and I hope it helps someone down the line...
Code in C#
string myApp = string.Format("{0} {1}", #"C:\testing1.sh", "Hello");
var processStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo
{
Arguments = myApp,
FileName = "C:\\Program Files\\Git\\git-bash.exe",
UseShellExecute = false,
RedirectStandardOutput = true,
CreateNoWindow = false
};
Process.Start(processStartInfo)
Code in Bash Script File
#!/bin/bash
arg1="$1"
python C:/Users/Dobromir/PycharmProjects/testing/main.py "$arg1"
Inside the Python file I am using sys.argv[] and accessing the arguments.
NOTE: Passing arguments from the bash script to the python script, in this case, you will receive 2 arguments - first one is the path to the python file and the second is the variable arg1.
Another important thing to mention is you need to have comas around the $1 - this is the property that is being send from the C# file, else it will show as empty.
Articles that were useful:
Installed BeautifulSoup but still get no module named bs4
Passing arguments to Python from Shell Script
https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/31414/how-can-i-pass-a-command-line-argument-into-a-shell-script
https://gist.github.com/creativcoder/6df4d349447ff1416e68
Thank you to everyone who contributed and tried to help, I managed to learned new things with your suggestions!

Setting CWDir as a variable for MS-Dos environment

Can someone help me with this please?
I am trying to compile a program in this case programmed in python that I can run in win9Xdos, that I can call/start from a 9xDos batchfile, that will find the Current working Dir & by that I mean identify the cwd (current working directory) from where the python program and batchfile are executed. The python program will be called getcwd.py which I am hoping someone will outline what I need to do to convert to EXE/COM file. there is a program called Py2EXE but not sure if this will compile for Ms-dos file. Anyways heres my simple code thus far. Can someone tell me if I am on the right track please? Oh by the way what I am trying to do is find the CWD & inject the resultant path into a variable that can be read from 9Xdos. The current Var would be %cwd%
# importing os module
import os
# some websites say use: del cwd (to remove variable if it exists)
cwd = none
cwd = os.getcwd()
print(cwd)
The print line may need interchanging with code below, not sure help needed:
print(type(path))
# <class 'str'>
would the above code work, say in the root e.g. C:\ with & work in obtaining the CWD variable & if correct how would I proceed to compile it to an exe/com file? do I need to take into account LFN's & Spaces between possible paths e.g C:\Program Files & possible backslashes etc?

Your code isn't perfect but it is on the right track. All you need is this:
import os
if __name__ == '__main__':
print(os.getcwd())
There is no need for an auxiliary variable, and I don't know what websites are recommending that you delete the variable before creating it. Trying to delete a nonexistent Python variable is a runtime error. So I would stay away from those websites.
But your question is about setting an environment variable. Calling print() won't do that. All it will do is echo the current working directory to the console. There is no way to change the environment of a running process that will affect the parent process. This is not a Python restriction nor a Windows restriction: it is quite general. The OS sets up the environment of the process when it creates the process. You can make changes to the environment (using os.environ[env-var]) but those changes will only be visible inside that Python process and will not be visible to the environment of the batch file that runs the Python program. To do that, you need to pass the value back to the calling process.
One way to do that is like this:
In Python:
import os
if __name__ == '__main__':
print(f"set CWDIR={os.getcwd()}", file=open("mycd.bat","w"))
I haven't had a Python 1.5.2 environment for 15 years, so I can't test this, but I think the equivalent would have been
if __name__ == '__main__':
print >> open("mycd.bat","w"), "set CWDIR=%s" % (os.getcwd(),)
In a cmd.exe console:
call mycd.bat
Though if your Win9XDos doesn't provide %cd% (which, as far as I recall, was available in MS-DOS 5, or maybe further back still) there is no way of telling if it supports call either. (Are you maybe running command.com instead of cmd.exe? That would explain why things that should be there are missing).
I used pyinstaller to create a 64-bit .exe and that resulted in a file of about 6MB. Now, 32-bit executables are smaller, but it might be that the resulting executable is still too big to load.
So I think the Python route may turn out to be more trouble than it is worth.

Python pyinstaller loading files after exe creation

I am running 2.7 and i am using pyinstaller. My goal is to output a exe and also have it run my other class file. I am also using https://code.google.com/p/dragonfly/ as a framework for voice recognition. I have created another file in the examples direction under dragonfly->examples->text.py . If i run https://code.google.com/p/dragonfly/source/browse/trunk/dragonfly/examples/dragonfly-main.py?spec=svn79&r=79 with my IDE i can say voice commands and it will understand the below file i have created and the other example files that are in the dragonfly examples.
from dragonfly.all import Grammar, CompoundRule, Text, Dictation
import sys
sys.path.append('action.py')
import action
# Voice command rule combining spoken form and recognition processing.
class ExampleRule(CompoundRule):
print "This works"
spec = "do something computer" # Spoken form of command.
def _process_recognition(self, node, extras): # Callback when command is spoken.
print "Voice command spoken."
class AnotherRule(CompoundRule):
spec = "Hi there" # Spoken form of command.
def _process_recognition(self, node, extras): # Callback when command is spoken.
print "Well, hello"
# Create a grammar which contains and loads the command rule.
grammar = Grammar("example grammar") # Create a grammar to contain the command rule.
grammar.add_rule(ExampleRule()) # Add the command rule to the grammar.
grammar.add_rule(AnotherRule()) # Add the command rule to the grammar.
grammar.load()
# Load the grammar.
I noticed in console that it will output
UNKNOWN: valid paths: ['C:\\Users\\user\\workspace\\dragonfly\\dragonfly-0.6.5\\dragonfly\\examples\\action.py',etc..etc...
After i have used pyinstaller the output for that line is
UNKNOWN: valid paths: []
So its not loading the examples because it cannot find them. How can i tell pyinstaller to also load the example files when it is creating an exe? And If it does load the files how can i make sure my exe knows where the files are?
The command i am running for pyinstaller
C:\Python27\pyinstaller-2.0>python pyinstaller.py -p-paths="C:\Users\user\worksp
ace\dragonfly\dragonfly-0.6.5\dragonfly\examples\test.py" "C:\Users\user\workspa
ce\dragonfly\dragonfly-0.6.5\dragonfly\examples\dragonfly-main.py"

If I understand clearly. You have your script and some examples scripts which call your script to show that it is working?
You are missing the point.
Your script supposes to be an end product.
If you want to test functionality do it in development version.
If you want to test exe file do it by another(separated) test script.
Other thing:
Scripts and modules are totally different things.
You are trying to import your script as module and use it in example script.
I suggest you to build main entry point to script (with parameters if you need) as it is meant to be done.
And make other example script which run your script.
Or make a module and build script which uses this module.
Then build this example script to exe file which uses that module and shows it works
PyInstaller can compile one script at once. Forcing it to do unusual things is not needed.

Accounting for a changing path

In relation to another question, how do you account for paths that may change? For example, if a program is calling a file in the same directory as the program, you can simply use the path ".\foo.py" in *nix. However, apparently Windows likes to have the path hard-coded, e.g. "C:\Python_project\foo.py".
What happens if the path changes? For example, the file may not be on the C: drive but on a thumb drive or external drive that can change the drive letter. The file may still be in the same directory as the program but it won't match the drive letter in the code.
I want the program to be cross-platform, but I expect I may have to use os.name or something to determine which path code block to use.

Simple answer: You work out the absolute path based on the environment.
What you really need is a few pointers. There are various bits of runtime and environment information that you can glean from various places in the standard library (and they certainly help me when I want to deploy an application on windows).
So, first some general things:
os.path - standard library module with lots of cross-platform path manipulation. Your best friend. "Follow the os.path" I once read in a book.
__file__ - The location of the current module.
sys.executable - The location of the running Python.
Now you can fairly much glean anything you want from these three sources. The functions from os.path will help you get around the tree:
os.path.join('path1', 'path2') - join path segments in a cross-platform way
os.path.expanduser('a_path') - find the path a_path in the user's home directory
os.path.abspath('a_path') - convert a relative path to an absolute path
os.path.dirname('a_path') - get the directory that a path is in
many many more...
So combining this, for example:
# script1.py
# Get the path to the script2.py in the same directory
import os
this_script_path = os.path.abspath(__file__)
this_dir_path = os.path.dirname(this_script_path)
script2_path = os.path.join(this_dir_path, 'script2.py')
print script2_path
And running it:
ali#work:~/tmp$ python script1.py
/home/ali/tmp/script2.py
Now for your specific case, it seems you are slightly confused between the concept of a "working directory" and the "directory that a script is in". These can be the same, but they can also be different. For example the "working directory" can be changed, and so functions that use it might be able to find what they are looking for sometimes but not others. subprocess.Popen is an example of this.
If you always pass paths absolutely, you will never get into working directory issues.

If your file is always in the same directory as your program then:
def _isInProductionMode():
""" returns True when running the exe,
False when running from a script, ie development mode.
"""
return (hasattr(sys, "frozen") or # new py2exe
hasattr(sys, "importers") # old py2exe
or imp.is_frozen("__main__")) #tools/freeze
def _getAppDir():
""" returns the directory name of the script or the directory
name of the exe
"""
if _isInProductionMode():
return os.path.dirname(sys.executable)
return os.path.dirname(__file__)
should work. Also, I've used py2exe for my own application, and haven't tested it with other exe conversion apps.

What -- specifically -- do you mean by "calling a file...foo.py"?
Import? If so, the path is totally outside of your program. Set the PYTHONPATH environment variable with . or c:\ or whatever at the shell level. You can, for example, write 2-line shell scripts to set an environment variable and run Python.
Windows
SET PYTHONPATH=C:\path\to\library
python myapp.py
Linux
export PYTHONPATH=./relative/path
python myapp.py
Execfile? Consider using import.
Read and Eval? Consider using import.
If the PYTHONPATH is too complicated, then put your module in the Python lib/site-packages directory, where it's put onto the PYTHONPATH by default for you.

I figured out by using os.getcwd(). I also learned about using os.path.join to automatically determine the correct path format based on the OS. Here's the code:
def openNewRecord(self, event): # wxGlade: CharSheet.<event_handler>
"""Create a new, blank record sheet."""
path = os.getcwd()
subprocess.Popen(os.path.join(path, "TW2K_char_rec_sheet.py"), shell=True).stdout
It appears to be working. Thanks for the ideas.