How to Navigate Directories with Subprocesses in Python?

Navigating Directories using Subprocesses

When executing scripts within subdirectories using subprocess, it's crucial to understand the distinction between internal shell commands and external programs.

In your case, you're trying to call the shell's cd command using subprocess.call(['cd ..']). However, cd is an internal command that cannot be executed directly as a program. To execute an internal command, you must use the shell=True argument:

<code class="python">subprocess.call('cd ..', shell=True)</code>

However, specifying shell=True is generally discouraged as it can compromise security. Instead, you can utilize the cwd parameter to change the working directory before executing a subprocess:

<code class="python">subprocess.Popen("ls", cwd="/")</code>

This approach ensures that the subprocess is executed in the specified working directory without relying on the shell, providing a more secure and predictable environment for your script.

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