P
PerlFAQ Server
This is an excerpt from the latest version perlfaq8.pod, which
comes with the standard Perl distribution. These postings aim to
reduce the number of repeated questions as well as allow the community
to review and update the answers. The latest version of the complete
perlfaq is at http://faq.perl.org .
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8.24: Why can't I get the output of a command with system()?
You're confusing the purpose of "system()" and backticks (``).
"system()" runs a command and returns exit status information (as a 16
bit value: the low 7 bits are the signal the process died from, if any,
and the high 8 bits are the actual exit value). Backticks (``) run a
command and return what it sent to STDOUT.
$exit_status = system("mail-users");
$output_string = `ls`;
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The perlfaq-workers, a group of volunteers, maintain the perlfaq. They
are not necessarily experts in every domain where Perl might show up,
so please include as much information as possible and relevant in any
corrections. The perlfaq-workers also don't have access to every
operating system or platform, so please include relevant details for
corrections to examples that do not work on particular platforms.
Working code is greatly appreciated.
If you'd like to help maintain the perlfaq, see the details in
perlfaq.pod.
comes with the standard Perl distribution. These postings aim to
reduce the number of repeated questions as well as allow the community
to review and update the answers. The latest version of the complete
perlfaq is at http://faq.perl.org .
--------------------------------------------------------------------
8.24: Why can't I get the output of a command with system()?
You're confusing the purpose of "system()" and backticks (``).
"system()" runs a command and returns exit status information (as a 16
bit value: the low 7 bits are the signal the process died from, if any,
and the high 8 bits are the actual exit value). Backticks (``) run a
command and return what it sent to STDOUT.
$exit_status = system("mail-users");
$output_string = `ls`;
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The perlfaq-workers, a group of volunteers, maintain the perlfaq. They
are not necessarily experts in every domain where Perl might show up,
so please include as much information as possible and relevant in any
corrections. The perlfaq-workers also don't have access to every
operating system or platform, so please include relevant details for
corrections to examples that do not work on particular platforms.
Working code is greatly appreciated.
If you'd like to help maintain the perlfaq, see the details in
perlfaq.pod.