Use of System function

[BHARAT MEHTA]

Hi Guys,
I am little new to C. I wish to know the way to use the 'system'
function. I mean I know that the function is used to run an external
DOS command but every time I use it it returns -1 which meansthe
command could not be executed.
Kindly help me............

[Ralph A. Moritz]

BHARAT MEHTA wrote:

Hi Guys,
I am little new to C. I wish to know the way to use the 'system'
function. I mean I know that the function is used to run an external
DOS command but every time I use it it returns -1 which meansthe
command could not be executed.

system() uses the shell (COMMAND.COM on DOS/Windows, /bin/sh
on Unix) to execute the specified command. If you just give a program
name such as `unzip', then `unzip' must be in a directory specfied in
the PATH environment variable. To be sure, use an absolute path to
the executable, eg.

system("/usr/games/fortune");
system("C:\Prog ram Files\Winzip\wz ip32.exe");

Some systems may have no notion of a shell. For those, system()
is a no-op. You can check for the presence of a shell by calling
system() with an argument of NULL, and checking the return value.
If non-zero, a shell is available.

HTH,
Ralph

--
Ralph Moritz

Laugh at your problems; everybody else does.

[osmium]

"Ralph A. Moritz" writes:

BHARAT MEHTA wrote:

Hi Guys,
I am little new to C. I wish to know the way to use the 'system'
function. I mean I know that the function is used to run an external
DOS command but every time I use it it returns -1 which meansthe
command could not be executed.

system() uses the shell (COMMAND.COM on DOS/Windows, /bin/sh
on Unix) to execute the specified command. If you just give a program
name such as `unzip', then `unzip' must be in a directory specfied in
the PATH environment variable. To be sure, use an absolute path to
the executable, eg.

system("/usr/games/fortune");
system("C:\Prog ram Files\Winzip\wz ip32.exe");

If that second one doesn't work check up on escape sequences WRT the '\'
character..

[Rod Pemberton]

"osmium" <r1********@com cast.net> wrote in message
news:48******** ****@individual .net...

"Ralph A. Moritz" writes:

BHARAT MEHTA wrote:

Hi Guys,
I am little new to C. I wish to know the way to use the 'system'
function. I mean I know that the function is used to run an external
DOS command but every time I use it it returns -1 which meansthe
command could not be executed.

system() uses the shell (COMMAND.COM on DOS/Windows, /bin/sh
on Unix) to execute the specified command. If you just give a program
name such as `unzip', then `unzip' must be in a directory specfied in
the PATH environment variable. To be sure, use an absolute path to
the executable, eg.

system("/usr/games/fortune");
system("C:\Prog ram Files\Winzip\wz ip32.exe");

If that second one doesn't work check up on escape sequences WRT the '\'
character..

The second one does work and is correct for MS-DOS. The string in system()
passed directly to the OS's command processor _AS_IS_. For the MS-DOS
command.com command line, one does not need to escape the backslash '\'
character as you would for printf().

[Jordan Abel]

On 2006-03-29, Rod Pemberton <do*********@so rry.bitbuck.cmm > wrote:

"osmium" <r1********@com cast.net> wrote in message
news:48******** ****@individual .net...

"Ralph A. Moritz" writes:

> BHARAT MEHTA wrote:
>> Hi Guys,
>> I am little new to C. I wish to know the way to use the 'system'
>> function. I mean I know that the function is used to run an external
>> DOS command but every time I use it it returns -1 which meansthe
>> command could not be executed.
>
> system() uses the shell (COMMAND.COM on DOS/Windows, /bin/sh
> on Unix) to execute the specified command. If you just give a program
> name such as `unzip', then `unzip' must be in a directory specfied in
> the PATH environment variable. To be sure, use an absolute path to
> the executable, eg.
>
> system("/usr/games/fortune");
> system("C:\Prog ram Files\Winzip\wz ip32.exe");

If that second one doesn't work check up on escape sequences WRT the '\'
character..

The second one does work and is correct for MS-DOS. The string in system()
passed directly to the OS's command processor _AS_IS_. For the MS-DOS
command.com command line, one does not need to escape the backslash '\'
character as you would for printf().

Eh?

You _always_ need to escape the backslash when it appears in a string
literal. It's not printf that interprets it, it's the compiler. It's not
like a % sequence.

[Keith Thompson]

"Rod Pemberton" <do*********@so rry.bitbuck.cmm > writes:

"osmium" <r1********@com cast.net> wrote in message
news:48******** ****@individual .net...

"Ralph A. Moritz" writes:

> BHARAT MEHTA wrote:
>> Hi Guys,
>> I am little new to C. I wish to know the way to use the 'system'
>> function. I mean I know that the function is used to run an external
>> DOS command but every time I use it it returns -1 which meansthe
>> command could not be executed.
>
> system() uses the shell (COMMAND.COM on DOS/Windows, /bin/sh
> on Unix) to execute the specified command. If you just give a program
> name such as `unzip', then `unzip' must be in a directory specfied in
> the PATH environment variable. To be sure, use an absolute path to
> the executable, eg.
>
> system("/usr/games/fortune");
> system("C:\Prog ram Files\Winzip\wz ip32.exe");

If that second one doesn't work check up on escape sequences WRT the '\'
character..

The second one does work and is correct for MS-DOS. The string in system()
passed directly to the OS's command processor _AS_IS_. For the MS-DOS
command.com command line, one does not need to escape the backslash '\'
character as you would for printf().

Wrong. (Did you actually try it?)

The argument to system() is a string literal, and is interpreted
according to C's rules for string literals. The fact that it's an
argument to system() is irrelevant.

Since the language doesn't define the escape sequences \P, \W, or \w,
strictly speaking the argument isn't even a valid token, and a
diagnostic is required. After the diagnostic is issued, the compiler
can do anything it likes, including rejecting the program. It could
conceivably treat "\P" as equivalent to "\\P", but that would be a bad
idea, since it's not allowed to mess with \a, \b, \f, \n, \r, \t, or \v.

(The rules are more lax for #include directives, since in
#include "foobar.h"
the "foobar.h" isn't actually a string literal.)

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keit h) ks***@mib.org <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center <*> <http://users.sdsc.edu/~kst>
We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this.

[Rod Pemberton]

"Keith Thompson" <ks***@mib.or g> wrote in message
news:ln******** ****@nuthaus.mi b.org...

"Rod Pemberton" <do*********@so rry.bitbuck.cmm > writes:

"osmium" <r1********@com cast.net> wrote in message
news:48******** ****@individual .net...

"Ralph A. Moritz" writes:
> BHARAT MEHTA wrote:
>> Hi Guys,
>> I am little new to C. I wish to know the way to use the 'system'
>> function. I mean I know that the function is used to run an external
>> DOS command but every time I use it it returns -1 which meansthe
>> command could not be executed.
>
> system() uses the shell (COMMAND.COM on DOS/Windows, /bin/sh
> on Unix) to execute the specified command. If you just give a program
> name such as `unzip', then `unzip' must be in a directory specfied in
> the PATH environment variable. To be sure, use an absolute path to
> the executable, eg.
>
> system("/usr/games/fortune");
> system("C:\Prog ram Files\Winzip\wz ip32.exe");

If that second one doesn't work check up on escape sequences WRT the '\' character..
The second one does work and is correct for MS-DOS. The string in system() passed directly to the OS's command processor _AS_IS_. For the MS-DOS
command.com command line, one does not need to escape the backslash '\'
character as you would for printf().

Wrong. (Did you actually try it?)

I have existing code which does the same thing (which I which consulted
prior to my post). No escapes are needed and it works with multiple DOS
based compilers.
The argument to system() is a string literal, and is interpreted
according to C's rules for string literals. The fact that it's an
argument to system() is irrelevant.

Apparently not. I haven't checked the ISO spec., but Harbison and Steele
agrees with me that the string from system() is passed as is to the OS in an
implementation defined manner.

[Rod Pemberton]

"Jordan Abel" <ra*******@gmai l.com> wrote in message
news:sl******** *************** @random.yi.org. ..

On 2006-03-29, Rod Pemberton <do*********@so rry.bitbuck.cmm > wrote:

"osmium" <r1********@com cast.net> wrote in message
news:48******** ****@individual .net...

"Ralph A. Moritz" writes:

> BHARAT MEHTA wrote:
>> Hi Guys,
>> I am little new to C. I wish to know the way to use the 'system'
>> function. I mean I know that the function is used to run an external
>> DOS command but every time I use it it returns -1 which meansthe
>> command could not be executed.
>
> system() uses the shell (COMMAND.COM on DOS/Windows, /bin/sh
> on Unix) to execute the specified command. If you just give a program
> name such as `unzip', then `unzip' must be in a directory specfied in
> the PATH environment variable. To be sure, use an absolute path to
> the executable, eg.
>
> system("/usr/games/fortune");
> system("C:\Prog ram Files\Winzip\wz ip32.exe");

If that second one doesn't work check up on escape sequences WRT the '\' character..

The second one does work and is correct for MS-DOS. The string in system() passed directly to the OS's command processor _AS_IS_. For the MS-DOS
command.com command line, one does not need to escape the backslash '\'
character as you would for printf().

Eh?

You _always_ need to escape the backslash when it appears in a string
literal. It's not printf that interprets it, it's the compiler. It's not
like a % sequence.

See my reply to Keith.

[Keith Thompson]

Jordan Abel <ra*******@gmai l.com> writes:

On 2006-03-29, Rod Pemberton <do*********@so rry.bitbuck.cmm > wrote:

"osmium" <r1********@com cast.net> wrote in message
news:48******** ****@individual .net...

"Ralph A. Moritz" writes: [...] > system("/usr/games/fortune");
> system("C:\Prog ram Files\Winzip\wz ip32.exe");

If that second one doesn't work check up on escape sequences WRT the '\'
character..

The second one does work and is correct for MS-DOS. The string in system()
passed directly to the OS's command processor _AS_IS_. For the MS-DOS
command.com command line, one does not need to escape the backslash '\'
character as you would for printf().

Eh?

You _always_ need to escape the backslash when it appears in a string
literal. It's not printf that interprets it, it's the compiler. It's not
like a % sequence.

You're right, printf doesn't interpret the argument to system(). 8-)}

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keit h) ks***@mib.org <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center <*> <http://users.sdsc.edu/~kst>
We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this.

[Keith Thompson]

"Rod Pemberton" <do*********@so rry.bitbuck.cmm > writes:

"Keith Thompson" <ks***@mib.or g> wrote in message
news:ln******** ****@nuthaus.mi b.org...

"Rod Pemberton" <do*********@so rry.bitbuck.cmm > writes:

> "osmium" <r1********@com cast.net> wrote in message
> news:48******** ****@individual .net...
>> "Ralph A. Moritz" writes: [...] >> > system("/usr/games/fortune");
>> > system("C:\Prog ram Files\Winzip\wz ip32.exe");
>>
>> If that second one doesn't work check up on escape sequences WRT
>> the '\' character..
>
> The second one does work and is correct for MS-DOS. The string
> in system() passed directly to the OS's command processor
> _AS_IS_. For the MS-DOS command.com command line, one does not
> need to escape the backslash '\' character as you would for
> printf().
Wrong. (Did you actually try it?)

I have existing code which does the same thing (which I which consulted
prior to my post). No escapes are needed and it works with multiple DOS
based compilers.

If so, the compilers in question may be providing an extension. If
they don't produce a diagnostic, they're non-conforming.

Show us a complete and self-contained C program that supports your
claim. For example:

#include <stdlib.h>
int main(void)
{
system("...");
return 0;
}

where "..." is replaced with whatever you like. Make sure it actually
works with some MS-DOS compiler (and tell us which one).

If you're able to do that, see what happens if the argument contains
one of the standard escape sequences: \a \b \f \n \r \t \v. If any of
those is interpreted as something other than an alert, backspace, form
feed, new line, carriage return, horizontal tab, or vertical tab
charater, respectively, then your compiler is broken.

The argument to system() is a string literal, and is interpreted
according to C's rules for string literals. The fact that it's an
argument to system() is irrelevant.

Apparently not. I haven't checked the ISO spec.,

I suggest you do so.
but Harbison and
Steele agrees with me that the string from system() is passed as is
to the OS in an implementation defined manner.

You've misinterpreted Harbison and Steele. The string argument is
passed to the operating system's command processor for execution in
some implementation-defined way, but any implementation-defined
behavior occurs only after the string is passed to system(). The
evaluation of the argument expression is not affected by the fact that
it's in a call to system().

This:

"C:\Program Files\Winzip\wz ip32.exe"

is not a valid C token (except possibly in a #include directive).

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keit h) ks***@mib.org <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center <*> <http://users.sdsc.edu/~kst>
We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this.