Running a python script within wordpress

3 comments

1. You can use popen() to read or write to a Python script (this works with any other language too). If you need interaction (passing variables) use proc_open().

   A simple example to print Hello World! in a WordPress plugin

   Create the plugin, register a shortcode:

   <?php # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
   /* Plugin Name: Python embedded */
   
   add_shortcode( 'python', 'embed_python' );
   
   function embed_python( $attributes )
   {
       $data = shortcode_atts(
           [
               'file' => 'hello.py'
           ],
           $attributes
       );
   
       $handle = popen( __DIR__ . '/' . $data['file'], 'r' );
       $read = '';
   
       while ( ! feof( $handle ) )
       {
           $read .= fread( $handle, 2096 );
       }
   
       pclose( $handle );
   
       return $read;
   }
   

   Now you can use that shortcode in the post editor with [python] or [python file="filename.py"].

   Put the Python scripts you want to use into the same directory as the plugin file. You can also put them into a directory and adjust the path in the shortcode handler.

   Now create a complex Python script like this:

   print("Hello World!")
   

   And that’s all. Use the shortcode, and get this output:

   

2. I followed the example script from the first answer, but was getting no output or errors.

   I changed this line:

   $handle = popen( __DIR__ . '/' . $data['file'], 'r' );
   

   to this:

   $handle = popen( __DIR__ . '/' . $data['file'] . ' 2>&1', 'r' );
   

   and then got a “permission denied” message.

   On the console, I ran

   chmod 777 hello.py
   

   refreshed the page, and everything worked perfectly.

   This may be the issue Joe was seeing above. I don’t have enough rep to make a comment, sorry. Hope this helps someone.

3. Here’s a little script that uses proc_open as noted above, to sent one simple text variable to a python script:

   add_shortcode( 'execute_python', 'execute_python_with_argv' );
   
   function execute_python_with_argv( $attributes ){
   
   $description = array (     
       0 => array("pipe", "r"),  // stdin
       1 => array("pipe", "w"),  // stdout
       2 => array("pipe", "w")   // stderr
   );
   
   $application_system = "python ";
   $application_path .= plugin_dir_path( __FILE__ );
   $application_name .= "hello.py";
   $separator = " ";
   
   $application = $application_system.$application_path.$application_name.$separator;
   
   $argv1 = '"output to receive back from python script"';
   $pipes = array();
   
   $proc = proc_open ( $application.$argv1 , $description , $pipes );
   
   //echo proc_get_status($proc)['pid'];
   
   if (is_resource ( $proc ))
   {
       echo "Stdout : " . stream_get_contents ( $pipes [1] ); //Reading stdout buffer
       fclose ( $pipes [1] ); //Closing stdout buffer
       fclose ( $pipes [2] ); //Closing stderr buffer
   
       $return_value = proc_close($proc);
       echo "<br/>command returned: $return_value<br/>";
   }
   
   $application_test = glitch_player_DIR.$application_name;
   
   echo "<br/>Is ".$application_test." executable? ".is_executable($application_test)." ";
   echo "readable? ".is_readable($application_test)." ";
   echo "writable? ".is_writable($application_test)." ";
   
   } //EOF main/shortcode function
   

   Added a few tests as the bottom to see if the python file is rwx. I think a better way to send the argv would be using fwrite, but it wasn’t working for me following this tutorial.

   Here is the python script I used. As noted in comments above, something like #!/usr/bin/env python may be necessary, depending on server.

   #!/usr/bin/env python
   
   from sys import argv
   
   script, what_he_said = argv
   
   print "This is what you submitted: %s n n Isn't that amazing, man? " % what_he_said
   

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