find-unicode-executable

A Python package that provides cross-platform Unicode executable path resolution. Like Unix which command but better.

Features

• Compatibility - Python 2+, Windows and Unix-like systems supported
• Generator-based - finds all matching executables, not just the first one
• Thread-safe - no global state
• Supports multi-call binaries - DOES NOT follow symlinks to canonical paths (that would mess up argv[0] passed to multi-call binaries)

Installation

pip install find-unicode-executable

Usage Example

# coding=utf-8
from __future__ import print_function
from find_unicode_executable import find_unicode_executable

# Find all Python executables in resolution order
# Sample output on Linux:
# /home/user/miniconda3/bin/python3.12
# /usr/bin/python3.10
# /usr/bin/python3.10
# Sample output on Windows:
# C:\Python38\python.exe
# C:\Python27\python.exe
for executable_path in find_unicode_executable(u'python'):
    print(executable_path)

Windows-Specific Features

On Windows, the package automatically handles:

• PATHEXT environment variable (.exe, .bat, etc.)
• Current directory checking (Windows behavior)
• Case-insensitive matching

Comparison to Alternatives

Why Use This Package?

1. When you need all matches, not just the first one
2. For consistent behavior across platforms
3. When you need proper Windows executable resolution
4. For thread-safe executable finding
5. When you want to follow symlinks to real paths

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please open issues or pull requests on GitHub.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.