New line in python script creating EOL error

Question

I'm creating a Python program for Ubuntu, and I need to write a python script into a file, but the \n in the code creates a new line in the file, it isn't copied as \n, so I get an EOL error.

This is the code for the Python script:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import os
import sys
home = os.environ["HOME"]

name = sys.argv[1]; command = sys.argv[2]

launcher = ["[Desktop Entry]", "Name=resolutionx", "Exec=/bin/bash resolutionx.sh", "Type=Application", "X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true"]
file = home+"/.config/autostart/"+name.lower()+".desktop"

if not os.path.exists(file):
    with open(file, "wt") as out:     
        for l in launcher:
            l = l+name if l == "Name=resolutionx" else l
            l = l+command if l == "Exec=/bin/bash resolutionx.sh" else l
            out.write(l+"\n")
else:
  print("file exists, choose another name")

In this part:

if not os.path.exists(file):
    with open(file, "wt") as out:     
        for l in launcher:
            l = l+name if l == "Name=resolutionx" else l
            l = l+command if l == "Exec=/bin/bash resolutionx.sh" else l
            out.write(l+"\n")

The code for writing the above to the file is:

fStartUpScript = open("set_startupscript.py", "w")
fStartUpScript.write("""
#!/usr/bin/env python3
import os
import sys
home = os.environ["HOME"]

name = sys.argv[1]; command = sys.argv[2]

launcher = ["[Desktop Entry]", "Name=resolutionx", "Exec=/bin/bash resolutionx.sh", "Type=Application", "X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=true"]
file = home+"/.config/autostart/"+name.lower()+".desktop"

if not os.path.exists(file):
    with open(file, "wt") as out:     
        for l in launcher:
            l = l+name if l == "Name=resolutionx" else l
            l = l+command if l == "Exec=/bin/bash resolutionx.sh"     else l
            out.write(l+"\\n")
else:
  print("file exists, choose another name")""")
fStartUpScript.close()

How can I solve this?

I am not clear what you are asking..could you please provide an example.. — heemayl, Jun 25 '15 at 14:35
Ah here you are :) You should probably post the code and the script you want to integrate :) — Jacob Vlijm, Jun 25 '15 at 14:36
This is not related to Ubuntu, you should instead ask in in SO http://stackoverflow.com/ — Maythux, Jun 25 '15 at 14:38
@Maythux it is very much related to Ubuntu, but the question needs some additional information. — Jacob Vlijm, Jun 25 '15 at 14:43
@Maythux the question is about a script on adding applications to Startup Applications, and integrating it into another script somehow. The essential information is currently missing however :). The question is the result of a comment on another question / answer. see http://askubuntu.com/a/598202/72216 — Jacob Vlijm, Jun 25 '15 at 14:50
The essential information is currently missing however. I have nothing to say more, so I can't say it's related to Ubuntu yet — Maythux, Jun 25 '15 at 14:55
Probably you just have to escape the backslash, so that it will be printed as backslash+"n" instead of being interpreted as newline character: \\n — Byte Commander, Jun 25 '15 at 15:14
Done :) @Byte Commander Post an answer, so I can give you credit — TellMeWhy, Jun 25 '15 at 18:13
@JacobVlijm No. someone edited my question and put that. I want to write the above script into a file using python, but when I write it to the file, the \n is not written, but actually creates a new line. — TellMeWhy, Jun 25 '15 at 18:20

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

1

Understanding what the script should do

I am afraid you are misunderstanding how the script should be applied. There is no reason to have another script write this script into a file whatsoever.

That would be the same as writing an application to write an application; a huge detour, and a strange thing to do. you should simply create the script:

Copy / paste the script from here into an empty file, save it as set_startupscript.py
Call it with the right arguments:
```
python3 /path/to/set_startupscript.py '<name>''<command>'
```
where:
```
 '<name>'
```
is the name of the launcher to be produced, between quotes, and
```
'<command>'
```
is the command to be run by the launcher, also between quotes.

Then it creates a launcher in ~/.config/autostart, which will run the command: '<command>' on log in.

The script itself is not to be used as a startup script, but to create a launcher in ~/.config/autostart to run a command.

Copy the script

IF you would need to copy the script for some reason (but again: why), or you need to copy any other file to another location, in python3, use:

shutil.copyfile(sourcefile, target)

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

Community

1

answered Jun 25 '15 at 18:56

Jacob Vlijm

83,767

Lol :D It's not for me. It's part of a program that will create the said script onto a user's PC – TellMeWhy Jun 25 '15 at 19:06
1

ooooohhhhhh I understand :-D – TellMeWhy Jun 25 '15 at 19:18
I get this error FileNotFoundError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/home/devrobot/.config/autostart/resolutionx.desktop' – TellMeWhy Jun 25 '15 at 19:25
python3 set_startupscript.py 'resolutionx' '/bin/bash resolutionx.sh' – TellMeWhy Jun 25 '15 at 19:29
Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Jacob Vlijm Jun 25 '15 at 19:38
1

@DevRobot You probably never created a Startup Application before, so the directory ~/.config/autostart didn't exist yet. Didn't count on that one in the script. fixed it here: http://askubuntu.com/a/598202/72216 please copy the latest version :) Nice catch! – Jacob Vlijm Jun 25 '15 at 19:51
I can't seem to log in for seem reason. btw the command returns nothing – TellMeWhy Jun 25 '15 at 19:51

New line in python script creating EOL error

1 Answers1

Understanding what the script should do

Copy the script