NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

     system - pass a command to the shell

LIBRARY    [Toc]    [Back]

     Standard C Library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

     #include <stdlib.h>

     int
     system(const char *string);

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

     The system() function hands the argument string to the command interpreter
 sh(1).  The calling process waits for the shell to finish executing
 the command, ignoring SIGINT and SIGQUIT, and blocking SIGCHLD.

     If string is a NULL pointer, system() will return non-zero.  Otherwise,
     system() returns the termination status of the shell in the format specified
 by waitpid(2).

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

     If a child process cannot be created, or the termination status of the
     shell cannot be obtained, system() returns -1 and sets errno to indicate
     the error.  If execution of the shell fails, system() returns the termination
 status for a program that terminates with a call of exit(127).

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

     sh(1), execve(2), waitpid(2), popen(3)

STANDARDS    [Toc]    [Back]

     The system() function conforms to ANSI X3.159-1989 (``ANSI C'') and IEEE
     Std 1003.2-1992 (``POSIX.2'').

BSD                              June 4, 1993                              BSD