1 @c -*- mode: texinfo -*-
2 @deftypefn Extension {struct pex_obj *} pex_init (int @var{flags}, const char *@var{pname}, const char *@var{tempbase})
4 Prepare to execute one or more programs, with standard output of each
5 program fed to standard input of the next. This is a system
6 independent interface to execute a pipeline.
8 @var{flags} is a bitwise combination of the following:
12 @vindex PEX_RECORD_TIMES
13 @item PEX_RECORD_TIMES
14 Record subprocess times if possible.
18 Use pipes for communication between processes, if possible.
20 @vindex PEX_SAVE_TEMPS
22 Don't delete temporary files used for communication between
27 @var{pname} is the name of program to be executed, used in error
28 messages. @var{tempbase} is a base name to use for any required
29 temporary files; it may be @code{NULL} to use a randomly chosen name.
33 @deftypefn Extension {const char *} pex_run (struct pex_obj *@var{obj}, int @var{flags}, const char *@var{executable}, char * const *@var{argv}, const char *@var{outname}, const char *@var{errname}, int *@var{err})
35 Execute one program in a pipeline. On success this returns
36 @code{NULL}. On failure it returns an error message, a statically
39 @var{obj} is returned by a previous call to @code{pex_init}.
41 @var{flags} is a bitwise combination of the following:
47 This must be set on the last program in the pipeline. In particular,
48 it should be set when executing a single program. The standard output
49 of the program will be sent to @var{outname}, or, if @var{outname} is
50 @code{NULL}, to the standard output of the calling program. Do @emph{not}
51 set this bit if you want to call @code{pex_read_output}
52 (described below). After a call to @code{pex_run} with this bit set,
53 @var{pex_run} may no longer be called with the same @var{obj}.
57 Search for the program using the user's executable search path.
61 @var{outname} is a suffix. See the description of @var{outname},
64 @vindex PEX_STDERR_TO_STDOUT
65 @item PEX_STDERR_TO_STDOUT
66 Send the program's standard error to standard output, if possible.
68 @vindex PEX_BINARY_INPUT
69 @vindex PEX_BINARY_OUTPUT
70 @item PEX_BINARY_INPUT
71 @itemx PEX_BINARY_OUTPUT
72 The standard input (output) of the program should be read (written) in
73 binary mode rather than text mode. These flags are ignored on systems
74 which do not distinguish binary mode and text mode, such as Unix. For
75 proper behavior these flags should match appropriately---a call to
76 @code{pex_run} using @code{PEX_BINARY_OUTPUT} should be followed by a
77 call using @code{PEX_BINARY_INPUT}.
80 @var{executable} is the program to execute. @var{argv} is the set of
81 arguments to pass to the program; normally @code{@var{argv}[0]} will
82 be a copy of @var{executable}.
84 @var{outname} is used to set the name of the file to use for standard
85 output. There are two cases in which no output file will be used:
89 if @code{PEX_LAST} is not set in @var{flags}, and @code{PEX_USE_PIPES}
90 was set in the call to @code{pex_init}, and the system supports pipes
93 if @code{PEX_LAST} is set in @var{flags}, and @var{outname} is
98 Otherwise the code will use a file to hold standard
99 output. If @code{PEX_LAST} is not set, this file is considered to be
100 a temporary file, and it will be removed when no longer needed, unless
101 @code{PEX_SAVE_TEMPS} was set in the call to @code{pex_init}.
103 There are two cases to consider when setting the name of the file to
104 hold standard output.
108 @code{PEX_SUFFIX} is set in @var{flags}. In this case
109 @var{outname} may not be @code{NULL}. If the @var{tempbase} parameter
110 to @code{pex_init} was not @code{NULL}, then the output file name is
111 the concatenation of @var{tempbase} and @var{outname}. If
112 @var{tempbase} was @code{NULL}, then the output file name is a random
113 file name ending in @var{outname}.
116 @code{PEX_SUFFIX} was not set in @var{flags}. In this
117 case, if @var{outname} is not @code{NULL}, it is used as the output
118 file name. If @var{outname} is @code{NULL}, and @var{tempbase} was
119 not NULL, the output file name is randomly chosen using
120 @var{tempbase}. Otherwise the output file name is chosen completely
124 @var{errname} is the file name to use for standard error output. If
125 it is @code{NULL}, standard error is the same as the caller's.
126 Otherwise, standard error is written to the named file.
128 On an error return, the code sets @code{*@var{err}} to an @code{errno}
129 value, or to 0 if there is no relevant @code{errno}.
133 @deftypefn Extension {const char *} pex_run_in_environment (struct pex_obj *@var{obj}, int @var{flags}, const char *@var{executable}, char * const *@var{argv}, char * const *@var{env}, int @var{env_size}, const char *@var{outname}, const char *@var{errname}, int *@var{err})
135 Execute one program in a pipeline, permitting the environment for the
136 program to be specified. Behaviour and parameters not listed below are
137 as for @code{pex_run}.
139 @var{env} is the environment for the child process, specified as an array of
140 character pointers. Each element of the array should point to a string of the
141 form @code{VAR=VALUE}, with the exception of the last element that must be
146 @deftypefn Extension {FILE *} pex_input_file (struct pex_obj *@var{obj}, int @var{flags}, const char *@var{in_name})
148 Return a stream for a temporary file to pass to the first program in
149 the pipeline as input.
151 The name of the input file is chosen according to the same rules
152 @code{pex_run} uses to choose output file names, based on
153 @var{in_name}, @var{obj} and the @code{PEX_SUFFIX} bit in @var{flags}.
155 Don't call @code{fclose} on the returned stream; the first call to
156 @code{pex_run} closes it automatically.
158 If @var{flags} includes @code{PEX_BINARY_OUTPUT}, open the stream in
159 binary mode; otherwise, open it in the default mode. Including
160 @code{PEX_BINARY_OUTPUT} in @var{flags} has no effect on Unix.
163 @deftypefn Extension {FILE *} pex_input_pipe (struct pex_obj *@var{obj}, int @var{binary})
165 Return a stream @var{fp} for a pipe connected to the standard input of
166 the first program in the pipeline; @var{fp} is opened for writing.
167 You must have passed @code{PEX_USE_PIPES} to the @code{pex_init} call
168 that returned @var{obj}.
170 You must close @var{fp} using @code{fclose} yourself when you have
171 finished writing data to the pipeline.
173 The file descriptor underlying @var{fp} is marked not to be inherited
176 On systems that do not support pipes, this function returns
177 @code{NULL}, and sets @code{errno} to @code{EINVAL}. If you would
178 like to write code that is portable to all systems the @code{pex}
179 functions support, consider using @code{pex_input_file} instead.
181 There are two opportunities for deadlock using
182 @code{pex_input_pipe}:
186 Most systems' pipes can buffer only a fixed amount of data; a process
187 that writes to a full pipe blocks. Thus, if you write to @file{fp}
188 before starting the first process, you run the risk of blocking when
189 there is no child process yet to read the data and allow you to
190 continue. @code{pex_input_pipe} makes no promises about the
191 size of the pipe's buffer, so if you need to write any data at all
192 before starting the first process in the pipeline, consider using
193 @code{pex_input_file} instead.
196 Using @code{pex_input_pipe} and @code{pex_read_output} together
197 may also cause deadlock. If the output pipe fills up, so that each
198 program in the pipeline is waiting for the next to read more data, and
199 you fill the input pipe by writing more data to @var{fp}, then there
200 is no way to make progress: the only process that could read data from
201 the output pipe is you, but you are blocked on the input pipe.
207 @deftypefn Extension {FILE *} pex_read_output (struct pex_obj *@var{obj}, int @var{binary})
209 Returns a @code{FILE} pointer which may be used to read the standard
210 output of the last program in the pipeline. When this is used,
211 @code{PEX_LAST} should not be used in a call to @code{pex_run}. After
212 this is called, @code{pex_run} may no longer be called with the same
213 @var{obj}. @var{binary} should be non-zero if the file should be
214 opened in binary mode. Don't call @code{fclose} on the returned file;
215 it will be closed by @code{pex_free}.
219 @deftypefn Extension int pex_get_status (struct pex_obj *@var{obj}, int @var{count}, int *@var{vector})
221 Returns the exit status of all programs run using @var{obj}.
222 @var{count} is the number of results expected. The results will be
223 placed into @var{vector}. The results are in the order of the calls
224 to @code{pex_run}. Returns 0 on error, 1 on success.
228 @deftypefn Extension int pex_get_times (struct pex_obj *@var{obj}, int @var{count}, struct pex_time *@var{vector})
230 Returns the process execution times of all programs run using
231 @var{obj}. @var{count} is the number of results expected. The
232 results will be placed into @var{vector}. The results are in the
233 order of the calls to @code{pex_run}. Returns 0 on error, 1 on
236 @code{struct pex_time} has the following fields of the type
237 @code{unsigned long}: @code{user_seconds},
238 @code{user_microseconds}, @code{system_seconds},
239 @code{system_microseconds}. On systems which do not support reporting
240 process times, all the fields will be set to @code{0}.
244 @deftypefn Extension void pex_free (struct pex_obj @var{obj})
246 Clean up and free all data associated with @var{obj}.
250 @deftypefn Extension {const char *} pex_one (int @var{flags}, const char *@var{executable}, char * const *@var{argv}, const char *@var{pname}, const char *@var{outname}, const char *@var{errname}, int *@var{status}, int *@var{err})
252 An interface to permit the easy execution of a
253 single program. The return value and most of the parameters are as
254 for a call to @code{pex_run}. @var{flags} is restricted to a
255 combination of @code{PEX_SEARCH}, @code{PEX_STDERR_TO_STDOUT}, and
256 @code{PEX_BINARY_OUTPUT}. @var{outname} is interpreted as if
257 @code{PEX_LAST} were set. On a successful return, @code{*@var{status}} will
258 be set to the exit status of the program.
262 @deftypefn Extension int pexecute (const char *@var{program}, char * const *@var{argv}, const char *@var{this_pname}, const char *@var{temp_base}, char **@var{errmsg_fmt}, char **@var{errmsg_arg}, int @var{flags})
264 This is the old interface to execute one or more programs. It is
265 still supported for compatibility purposes, but is no longer
270 @deftypefn Extension int pwait (int @var{pid}, int *@var{status}, int @var{flags})
272 Another part of the old execution interface.