How Can Python Open Files Using Their Default Applications on Windows and macOS?

Opening Files with Default Application in Windows and Mac OS Using Python

In Python, the need often arises to open a document using its default application. This mimics the action of double-clicking a file icon in File Explorer or Finder. To achieve this, Python offers a robust solution.

Implementation:

To open a file with its default application, Python provides a powerful tool in the form of the subprocess module. The following code snippet demonstrates how to open a file using the default application on both Windows and Mac OS:

import subprocess, os, platform

# Determine the operating system
if platform.system() == 'Darwin':       # macOS
    subprocess.call(('open', filepath))
elif platform.system() == 'Windows':    # Windows
    os.startfile(filepath)
else:                                   # linux variants
    subprocess.call(('xdg-open', filepath))

In the code:

• Darwin represents Mac OS, Windows represents Windows OS, and for Linux-based systems, the code attempts to utilize the xdg-open command.
• subprocess.call() is employed to execute the appropriate command to open the file with its default application.
• The double parentheses around ('open', filepath) are used to ensure that the first argument is a sequence, as required by subprocess.call().

Additional Notes:

• The gnome-open command can be used on Linux systems with Gnome, but xdg-open is the preferred choice for compatibility across Linux desktop environments.
• It's recommended to use the subprocess module instead of os.system() to avoid issues with shell escaping.

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