oslex

library2.0.0pypypi✓ verified 84d ago

oslex is an OS-independent wrapper for shlex and mslex. Its main purpose is to provide functions similar in functionality to shlex.quote(), shlex.split(), and shlex.join() on both Windows and POSIX-compatible platforms. It achieves this by forwarding calls to the standard library's `shlex` on POSIX systems or the `mslex` library on Windows. The current version is 0.1.3, with the last release in July 2023.

http-networking

pip install oslex

github ↗package ↗

INSTALL

IMPORT

SIG · OSLEX

oslex

http-networkingpythonv2.0.0

Install

1.6s avg

Import

24ms

Disk

16MB

Pass rate

10/ 10

Env Coverage10 / 10

glibc

3.9–3.13

musl

3.9–3.13

Install & Compatibility

Where this runs

tested against v2.0.0 · pip install

no network on importno background threads

Install × environment matrix

Each cell = how many times install + import succeeded across repeated harness runs. Partial = flaky.
glibc = Debian/Ubuntu slim · musl = Alpine Linux

musl

py 3.10–3.920 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 0.0s · import 0.027s · 17.9MB

glibc

py 3.10–3.920 runs

installs and imports cleanly · install 1.6s · import 0.022s · 18MB

16MB installed

● package 16MB

Code

Verified usage

Verified import paths — ran on the pinned version, not inferred.

oslex

✓ import oslex

The library provides functions directly under the `oslex` module, such as `oslex.quote`, `oslex.split`, and `oslex.join`.

This quickstart demonstrates the core `quote`, `split`, and `join` functionalities of `oslex`, which behave consistently across operating systems by using `shlex` on POSIX and `mslex` on Windows.

import oslex import os # Example: Safely quote a string for the shell command_part = "foo; rm -rf /" quoted_command = oslex.quote(command_part) print(f"Original: '{command_part}'\nQuoted: '{quoted_command}'") # Example: Split a shell command into arguments shell_command = 'python -m pip install "oslex>=0.1.3" --upgrade' args = oslex.split(shell_command) print(f"\nShell command: '{shell_command}'\nSplit args: {args}") # Example: Join arguments into a shell command args_to_join = [os.environ.get('PYTHON_EXECUTABLE', 'python'), '-c', 'print("Hello World")'] joined_command = oslex.join(args_to_join) print(f"\nArguments: {args_to_join}\nJoined command: '{joined_command}'")

Debug

Known issues

gotchaPrior to version 0.1.3, `oslex` had compatibility issues with Python versions 3.6 through 3.8. Users on these Python versions might encounter unexpected errors.

fix

Upgrade to `oslex` version 0.1.3 or later using `pip install oslex --upgrade`.

affects: <0.1.3

gotchaWhile `oslex` itself is distributed under the MIT license, it depends on the `mslex` library for its Windows functionality, which is licensed under Apache 2.0. Users should be aware of this dual licensing for their projects.

fix

Review both MIT and Apache 2.0 licenses to ensure compatibility with your project's licensing requirements.

affects: All versions

gotchaThe `oslex` library acts as a wrapper. While it provides a unified API, the underlying behavior (especially quoting rules) for Windows systems is governed by `mslex`, which may differ subtly from `shlex` on POSIX. Always test complex shell commands in your target environment.

fix

Thoroughly test `oslex.quote()`, `oslex.split()`, and `oslex.join()` with representative commands on both Windows and POSIX environments to ensure desired behavior.

affects: All versions

Errors

Common errors & fixes

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'oslex'

The 'oslex' library is not installed in the Python environment.

fix

Install the library using pip: `pip install oslex`

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'mslex'

On Windows systems, 'oslex' relies on the 'mslex' library, which is not automatically installed as a direct dependency for 'oslex' version 0.1.3 and needs to be installed separately.

fix

Install 'mslex' specifically for Windows: `pip install mslex`

mslex.MSLexError: Inconsistent quoting detected

This error occurs on Windows when `oslex.split` (which uses `mslex` internally) encounters a command string that cannot be consistently parsed by both the modern C runtime and the older `msvcrt.dll` parsing rules, or when `mslex`'s `check=True` option is used with unquoted metacharacters.

fix

Ensure the input string to `oslex.split` is correctly quoted for Windows shell syntax. If parsing problematic input, consider passing `ucrt=True` or `ucrt=False` to `oslex.split` if you know the target runtime's parsing behavior, or add `check=False` to suppress the error if unquoted metacharacters are intentional.

Upgrade

Version history

2.0.0latest on PyPI · released May 10, 2026

Audit

Dependencies

mslexoptionalProvides Windows-specific shell parsing and quoting functionality. Used conditionally on Windows platforms.

Agent activity

4 hits · last 30 days

node

Resources

githubhttps://github.com/petamas/oslex ↗

packagehttps://pypi.org/project/oslex/ ↗