I am trying to launch a python subprocess from excel using PYXLL, but it seems to have trouble launching the cmd window and running commands.

Below is a sample of what I am trying to run:

  @xl_macro()
    def test():
        if 1 == 1:
            xlcAlert("Next line nothing happens") #Popup appears
            p = subprocess.Popen(r'start cmd /k', shell=True, creationflags=subprocess.CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE, stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                             stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
            xlcAlert("{}".format(p.pid)) #p was never launched

I am trying to capture values from excel and pass them in a subprocess. This works when executing in my IDE: data is read from excel and then subprocess launches window. However, once adding the decorator to have it run as macro in EXCEL, the script will just stop once subprocess.Popen line is reached. Is there any way to launch a subprocess from pyxll?