Simiplified code

2 files changed, 17 insertions, 18 deletions

diff --git a/cmd2/cmd2.py b/cmd2/cmd2.py
index c33e2927..d6eb121e 100644
--- a/cmd2/cmd2.py
+++ b/cmd2/cmd2.py
@@ -2941,19 +2941,15 @@ class Cmd(cmd.Cmd):
 
         expanded_command = ' '.join(tokens)
 
-        # For any output that is a StdSim, we will use a pipe so we can save the output
-        is_out_sim = isinstance(self.stdout, utils.StdSim)
-        is_err_sim = isinstance(sys.stderr, utils.StdSim)
-
-        proc_stdout = subprocess.PIPE if is_out_sim else self.stdout
-        proc_stderr = subprocess.PIPE if is_err_sim else sys.stderr
-
-        proc = subprocess.Popen(expanded_command, stdout=proc_stdout, stderr=proc_stderr, shell=True)
-        if is_out_sim or is_err_sim:
-            proc_reader = utils.ProcReader(proc, self.stdout, sys.stderr)
-            proc_reader.wait()
-        else:
-            proc.communicate()
+        # For any stream that is a StdSim, we will use a pipe so we can capture its output
+        proc = subprocess.Popen(expanded_command,
+                                stdout=subprocess.PIPE if isinstance(self.stdout, utils.StdSim) else self.stdout,
+                                stderr=subprocess.PIPE if isinstance(sys.stderr, utils.StdSim) else sys.stderr,
+                                shell=True)
+
+        # Use a ProcReader in all cases since the process will run normally even if no output is being captured
+        proc_reader = utils.ProcReader(proc, self.stdout, sys.stderr)
+        proc_reader.wait()
 
     @staticmethod
     def _reset_py_display() -> None:
diff --git a/cmd2/utils.py b/cmd2/utils.py
index 45c7ca6a..d14ef90f 100644
--- a/cmd2/utils.py
+++ b/cmd2/utils.py
@@ -371,14 +371,17 @@ class ByteBuf(object):
 
 
 class ProcReader(object):
-    """Used to read stdout and stderr from a Popen process if any of those were set to subprocess.PIPE"""
+    """
+    Used to captured stdout and stderr from a Popen process if any of those were set to subprocess.PIPE.
+    If neither are pipes, then the process will run normally and no output will be captured.
+    """
     def __init__(self, proc: subprocess.Popen, stdout: Union[StdSim, BinaryIO, TextIO],
                  stderr: Union[StdSim, BinaryIO, TextIO]) -> None:
         """
         ProcReader initializer
         :param proc: the Popen process being read from
-        :param stdout: the stdout stream being written to
-        :param stderr: the stderr stream being written to
+        :param stdout: the stream to write captured stdout
+        :param stderr: the stream to write captured stderr
         """
         self._proc = proc
         self._stdout = stdout
@@ -407,8 +410,8 @@ class ProcReader(object):
         if self._err_thread.is_alive():
             self._err_thread.join()
 
-        # Handle case where the process ended before the last read could be done
-        # This will return None for the streams that weren't pipes so it is safe.
+        # Handle case where the process ended before the last read could be done.
+        # This will return None for the streams that weren't pipes.
         out, err = self._proc.communicate()
         if out:
             self._write_bytes(self._stdout, out)