Refactor: safer subprocess calls, install check, and fix output path

Author: ApurveKaranwal

script.py

@@ -1,56 +1,79 @@
-import os
-import time
+# Simple README to HTML converter
+# Run like this:
+# python script.py -i README.md -o output.html -t "My Project"
+# Output will always go in the 'dist/' folder, so just pass a filename for -o
 
-import argparse as parsing
-
-
-parser = parsing.ArgumentParser(
-    description="ReadME.md to .html writer",
-    formatter_class=parsing.ArgumentDefaultsHelpFormatter,
-)
-
-parser.add_argument(
-    "-i",
-    "--input",
-    action="store",
-    type=str,
-    required=True,
-    help="name of the input file eg. template.html",
-)
-parser.add_argument(
-    "-t",
-    "--title",
-    action="store",
-    type=str,
-    default="Progress",
-    help="title of the html page.",
-)
-parser.add_argument(
-    "-o",
-    "--output",
-    action="store",
-    type=str,
-    required=True,
-    help="the generated output file name , which is generated in dist folder. eg. template.html",
-)
+import argparse
+import subprocess
+import shutil
+import sys
+import time
+from pathlib import Path
 
+# ------------------------------
+# Parse command line arguments
+# ------------------------------
+parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Convert a README/Markdown file to HTML")
+parser.add_argument("-i", "--input", required=True, help="Path to the input file, e.g., README.md")
+parser.add_argument("-t", "--title", default="Progress", help="Title of the HTML page")
+parser.add_argument("-o", "--output", required=True, help="Output filename (will be saved in dist/ folder), e.g., output.html")
 args = parser.parse_args()
 
 FILE_NAME = args.input
 TITLE = args.title
-OUTPUT_NAME = args.output
+OUTPUT_NAME = Path("dist") / Path(args.output).name  # Only take filename, ignore any folder
+
+# Make sure output folder exists
+OUTPUT_NAME.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+# ------------------------------
+# Check input file exists
+# ------------------------------
+if not Path(FILE_NAME).is_file():
+    print(f"Error: The input file does not exist: {FILE_NAME}", file=sys.stderr)
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+# ------------------------------
+# Check if npx is installed
+# ------------------------------
+if not shutil.which("npx"):
+    print("Error: 'npx' is not installed. Please install Node.js first: https://nodejs.org/", file=sys.stderr)
+    sys.exit(1)
+
+use_shell = sys.platform.startswith("win")  # Needed for Windows
 
+# ------------------------------
+# Install github-readme-to-html if missing
+# ------------------------------
 try:
-    os.system("npm install github-readme-to-html")
-except:
-    print("NPM is not Installed")
-    print("Try : sudo apt install nodejs | sudo apt install npm ")
+    subprocess.run(
+        ["npx", "github-readme-to-html", "--version"],
+        check=True,
+        stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+        stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL,
+        shell=use_shell
+    )
+except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
+    print("Installing 'github-readme-to-html' globally via npm...")
+    try:
+        subprocess.run(["npm", "install", "-g", "github-readme-to-html"], check=True, shell=use_shell)
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+        print(f"Error: Failed to install 'github-readme-to-html' (exit code {e.returncode})", file=sys.stderr)
+        sys.exit(e.returncode)
 
-time.sleep(5)
-print("Wait While The File is Converting")
-time.sleep(15)
+# ------------------------------
+# Convert README/Markdown to HTML
+# ------------------------------
+print("Converting file, please wait...")
+time.sleep(1)
 
 try:
-    os.system(f"npx github-readme-to-html -i {FILE_NAME} -t {TITLE} -o {OUTPUT_NAME}")
-except:
-    print("Please Check If file is exit")
+    subprocess.run(
+        ["npx", "github-readme-to-html", "-i", FILE_NAME, "-t", TITLE, "-o", str(OUTPUT_NAME.name)],
+        check=True,
+        shell=use_shell
+    )
+    print(f"Conversion successful! HTML saved to: {OUTPUT_NAME}")
+except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+    print(f"Error: Conversion failed (exit code {e.returncode}). Please check your input file and command.", file=sys.stderr)
+    sys.exit(e.returncode)