###################################################################### package Proc::Simple; ###################################################################### # Copyright 1996-2001 by Michael Schilli, all rights reserved. # # This program is free software, you can redistribute it and/or # modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. # # The newest version of this module is available on # http://perlmeister.com/devel # or on your favourite CPAN site under # CPAN/modules/by-author/id/MSCHILLI # ###################################################################### =head1 NAME Proc::Simple -- launch and control background processes =head1 SYNOPSIS use Proc::Simple; $myproc = Proc::Simple->new(); # Create a new process object $myproc->start("shell-command-line"); # Launch an external program $myproc->start("command", # Launch an external program "param", ...); # with parameters $myproc->start(sub { ... }); # Launch a perl subroutine $myproc->start(\&subroutine); # Launch a perl subroutine $myproc->start(\&subroutine, # Launch a perl subroutine $param, ...); # with parameters $running = $myproc->poll(); # Poll Running Process $exit_status = $myproc->wait(); # Wait until process is done $proc->kill_on_destroy(1); # Set kill on destroy $proc->signal_on_destroy("KILL"); # Specify signal to be sent # on destroy $myproc->kill(); # Kill Process (SIGTERM) $myproc->kill("SIGUSR1"); # Send specified signal $myproc->exit_status(); # Return exit status of process Proc::Simple::debug($level); # Turn debug on =head1 DESCRIPTION The Proc::Simple package provides objects mimicing real-life processes from a user's point of view. A new process object is created by $myproc = Proc::Simple->new(); Either external programs or perl subroutines can be launched and controlled as processes in the background. A 10-second sleep process, for example, can be launched as an external program as in $myproc->start("/bin/sleep 10"); # or $myproc->start("/bin/sleep", "10"); or as a perl subroutine, as in sub mysleep { sleep(shift); } # Define mysleep() $myproc->start(\&mysleep, 10); # Launch it. or even as $myproc->start(sub { sleep(10); }); The I Method returns immediately after starting the specified process in background, i.e. there's no blocking. It returns I<1> if the process has been launched sucessfully and I<0> if not. The I method checks if the process is still running $running = $myproc->poll(); and returns I<1> if it is, I<0> if it's not. Finally, $myproc->kill(); terminates the process by sending it the SIGTERM signal. As an option, another signal can be specified. $myproc->kill("SIGUSR1"); sends the SIGUSR1 signal to the running process. I returns I<1> if it succeeds in sending the signal, I<0> if it doesn't. The methods are discussed in more detail in the next section. A destructor is provided so that a signal can be sent to the forked processes automatically should the process object be destroyed or if the process exits. By default this behaviour is turned off (see the kill_on_destroy and signal_on_destroy methods). =cut require 5.003; use strict; use vars qw($VERSION @ISA @EXPORT @EXPORT_OK %EXIT_STATUS %DESTROYED); use IO::Handle; require Exporter; @ISA = qw(Exporter AutoLoader); @EXPORT = qw( ); $VERSION = '1.22'; ###################################################################### # Globals: Debug and the mysterious waitpid nohang constant. ###################################################################### my $Debug = 0; my $WNOHANG = get_system_nohang(); ###################################################################### =head1 METHODS The following methods are available: =over 4 =item new (Constructor) Create a new instance of this class by writing $proc = new Proc::Simple; or $proc = Proc::Simple->new(); It takes no arguments. =cut ###################################################################### # $proc_obj=Proc::Simple->new(); - Constructor ###################################################################### sub new { my $proto = shift; my $class = ref($proto) || $proto; my $self = {}; # Init instance variables $self->{'kill_on_destroy'} = undef; $self->{'signal_on_destroy'} = undef; $self->{'pid'} = undef; $self->{'redirect_stdout'} = undef; $self->{'redirect_stderr'} = undef; bless($self, $class); } ###################################################################### =item start Launches a new process. The C method can be used to launch both external programs (like C) or one of your self-defined subroutines (like C) in a new process. =head2 Starting External Programs For an external program to be started, call $status = $proc->start("program-name"); If you want to pass a couple of parameters to the launched program, there's two options: You can either pass them in one argument like in $status = $proc->start("/bin/echo hello world"); or in several arguments like in $status = $proc->start("/bin/echo", "hello", "world"); Just as in Perl's function C, there's a big difference between the two methods: If you provide one argument containing a blank-separated command line, your shell is going to process any meta-characters (if you choose to use some) before the process is actually launched: $status = $proc->start("/bin/ls -l /etc/initt*"); will expand C to C before running the C command. If, on the other hand, you say $status = $proc->start("/bin/ls", "-l", "*"); the C<*> will stay unexpanded, meaning you'll look for a file with the literal name C<*> (which is unlikely to exist on your system unless you deliberately create confusingly named files :). For more info on this, look up C. =head2 Starting Subroutines If, on the other hand, you want to start a Perl subroutine in the background, simply provide the function reference like $status = $proc->start(\&your_function); or supply an unnamed subroutine: $status = $proc->start( sub { sleep(1) } ); You can also provide additional parameters to be passed to the function: $status = $proc->start(\&printme, "hello", "world"); The I Method returns immediately after starting the specified process in background, i.e. non-blocking mode. It returns I<1> if the process has been launched sucessfully and I<0> if not. =cut ###################################################################### # $ret = $proc_obj->start("prg"); - Launch process ###################################################################### sub start { my $self = shift; my ($func, @params) = @_; # Reap Zombies automatically $SIG{'CHLD'} = \&THE_REAPER; # Fork a child process $self->{'pid'} = fork(); return 0 unless defined $self->{'pid'}; # return Error if fork failed if($self->{pid} == 0) { # Child if (defined $self->{'redirect_stderr'}) { $self->dprt("STDERR -> $self->{'redirect_stderr'}"); open(STDERR, ">$self->{'redirect_stderr'}") ; autoflush STDERR 1 ; } if (defined $self->{'redirect_stdout'}) { $self->dprt("STDOUT -> $self->{'redirect_stdout'}"); open(STDOUT, ">$self->{'redirect_stdout'}") ; autoflush STDOUT 1 ; } if(ref($func) eq "CODE") { $func->(@params); exit 0; # Start perl subroutine } else { exec $func, @params; # Start shell process exit 0; # In case something goes wrong } } elsif($self->{'pid'} > 0) { # Parent: $self->dprt("START($self->{'pid'})"); # Register PID $EXIT_STATUS{$self->{'pid'}} = undef; return 1; # return OK } else { return 0; # this shouldn't occur } } ###################################################################### =item poll The I method checks if the process is still running $running = $myproc->poll(); and returns I<1> if it is, I<0> if it's not. =cut ###################################################################### # $ret = $proc_obj->poll(); - Check process status # 1="running" 0="not running" ###################################################################### sub poll { my $self = shift; # There's some weirdness going on with the signal handler. # It runs into timing problems, so let's have poll() call # the REAPER every time to make sure we're getting rid of # defuncts. $self->THE_REAPER(); if(defined($self->{'pid'})) { if(kill(0, $self->{'pid'})) { $self->dprt("POLL($self->{'pid'}) RESPONDING"); return 1; } else { $self->dprt("POLL($self->{'pid'}) NOT RESPONDING"); } } else { $self->dprt("POLL(NOT DEFINED)"); } 0; } ###################################################################### =item kill The kill() method: $myproc->kill(); terminates the process by sending it the SIGTERM signal. As an option, another signal can be specified. $myproc->kill("SIGUSR1"); sends the SIGUSR1 signal to the running process. I returns I<1> if it succeeds in sending the signal, I<0> if it doesn't. =cut ###################################################################### # $ret = $proc_obj->kill([SIGXXX]); - Send signal to process # Default-Signal: SIGTERM ###################################################################### sub kill { my $self = shift; my $sig = shift; # If no signal specified => SIGTERM-Signal $sig = "SIGTERM" unless defined $sig; # Process initialized at all? return 0 if !defined $self->{'pid'}; # Send signal if(kill($sig, $self->{'pid'})) { $self->dprt("KILL($self->{'pid'}) OK"); } else { $self->dprt("KILL($self->{'pid'}) failed"); return 0; } 1; } ###################################################################### =item kill_on_destroy Set a flag to determine whether the process attached to this object should be killed when the object is destroyed. By default, this flag is set to false. The current value is returned. $current = $proc->kill_on_destroy; $proc->kill_on_destroy(1); # Set flag to true $proc->kill_on_destroy(0); # Set flag to false =cut ###################################################################### # Method to set the kill_on_destroy flag ###################################################################### sub kill_on_destroy { my $self = shift; if (@_) { $self->{kill_on_destroy} = shift; } return $self->{kill_on_destroy}; } ###################################################################### =item signal_on_destroy Method to set the signal that will be sent to the process when the object is destroyed (Assuming kill_on_destroy is true). Returns the current setting. $current = $proc->signal_on_destroy; $proc->signal_on_destroy("KILL"); =cut ###################################################################### # Send a signal on destroy # undef means send the default signal (SIGTERM) ###################################################################### sub signal_on_destroy { my $self = shift; if (@_) { $self->{signal_on_destroy} = shift; } return $self->{signal_on_destroy}; } ###################################################################### =item redirect_output This allows to redirect the stdout and/or stderr output to a file. Specify undef to leave th # stdout to a file, left stderr unchanged $proc->redirect_output ("/tmp/someapp.stdout", undef); # stderr to a file, left stdout unchanged $proc->redirect_output (undef, "/tmp/someapp.stderr"); # stdout and stderr to a separate file $proc->redirect_output ("/tmp/someapp.stdout", "/tmp/someapp.stderr"); Call this method before running the start method. =cut ###################################################################### sub redirect_output { ###################################################################### my $self = shift ; ($self->{'redirect_stdout'}, $self->{'redirect_stderr'}) = @_ ; 1 ; } ###################################################################### =item pid Returns the pid of the forked process associated with this object $pid = $proc->pid; =cut ###################################################################### sub pid { ###################################################################### my $self = shift; # Allow the pid to be set - assume this is only # done internally so don't document this behaviour in the # pod. if (@_) { $self->{'pid'} = shift; } return $self->{'pid'}; } ###################################################################### =item DESTROY (Destructor) Object destructor. This method is called when the object is destroyed (eg with "undef" or on exiting perl). If kill_on_destroy is true the process associated with the object is sent the signal_on_destroy signal (SIGTERM if undefined). =cut ###################################################################### # Destroy method # This is run automatically on undef # Should probably not bother if a poll shows that the process is not # running. ###################################################################### sub DESTROY { my $self = shift; # Processes never started don't have to be cleaned up in # any special way. return unless $self->pid(); # If the kill_on_destroy flag is true then # We need to send a signal to the process if ($self->kill_on_destroy) { $self->dprt("Kill on DESTROY"); if (defined $self->signal_on_destroy) { $self->kill($self->signal_on_destroy); } else { $self->dprt("Sending KILL"); $self->kill; } } delete $EXIT_STATUS{ $self->pid }; $DESTROYED{ $self->pid } = 1; } ###################################################################### =item exit_status Returns the exit status of the process as the $! variable indicates. If the process is still running, C is returned. =cut ###################################################################### # returns the exit status of the child process, undef if the child # hasn't yet exited ###################################################################### sub exit_status{ my( $self ) = @_; return $EXIT_STATUS{ $self->pid }; } ###################################################################### =item wait The I method: $exit_status = $myproc->wait(); waits until the process is done and returns its exit status. =cut ###################################################################### # waits until the child process terminates and then # returns the exit status of the child process. ###################################################################### sub wait { my $self = shift; local $SIG{CHLD}; # disable until we're done my $pid = $self->pid(); # test if the signal handler reap'd this pid some time earlier or even just # a split second before localizing $SIG{CHLD} above; also kickout if # they've wait'd or waitpid'd on this pid before ... return $EXIT_STATUS{$pid} if defined $EXIT_STATUS{$pid}; # all systems support FLAGS==0 (accg to: perldoc -f waitpid) my $res = waitpid $pid, 0; my $rc = $?; $EXIT_STATUS{$pid} = $rc; dprt("", "For $pid, reaped '$res' with exit_status=$rc"); return $rc; } ###################################################################### # Reaps processes, uses the magic WNOHANG constant ###################################################################### sub THE_REAPER { my $child; if(defined $WNOHANG) { # Try to reap every process we've ever started and # whichs Proc::Simple object hasn't been destroyed. # # This is getting really ugly. But if we just call the REAPER # for every SIG{CHLD} event, code like this will fail: # # use Proc::Simple; # $proc = Proc::Simple->new(); $proc->start(\&func); sleep(5); # sub func { open(PIPE, "/bin/ls |"); @a = ; sleep(1); # close(PIPE) or die "PIPE failed"; } # # Reason: close() doesn't like it if the spawn has # been reaped already. Oh well. # # First, check if we can reap the processes which # went out of business because their kill_on_destroy # flag was set and their objects were destroyed. foreach my $pid (keys %DESTROYED) { if(my $res = waitpid($pid, $WNOHANG) > 0) { # We reaped a zombie delete $DESTROYED{$pid}; dprt("", "Reaped: $pid"); } } foreach my $pid (keys %EXIT_STATUS) { dprt("", "Trying to reap $pid"); next if defined $EXIT_STATUS{$pid}; if(my $res = waitpid($pid, $WNOHANG) > 0) { # We reaped a truly running process $EXIT_STATUS{$pid} = $?; dprt("", "Reaped: $pid"); } else { dprt("", "waitpid returned '$res'"); } } } else { # If we don't have $WNOHANG, we don't have a choice anyway. # Just reap everything. $child = CORE::wait(); $EXIT_STATUS{$child} = $?; } # Don't reset signal handler for crappy sysV systems. Screw them. # This caused problems with Irix 6.2 # $SIG{'CHLD'} = \&THE_REAPER; } ###################################################################### =item debug Switches debug messages on and off -- Proc::Simple::debug(1) switches them on, Proc::Simple::debug(0) keeps Proc::Simple quiet. =cut # Proc::Simple::debug($level) - Turn debug on/off sub debug { $Debug = shift; } ###################################################################### # Internal debug print function ###################################################################### sub dprt { my $self = shift; print ref($self), "> @_\n" if $Debug; } ###################################################################### sub get_system_nohang { ###################################################################### # This is for getting the WNOHANG constant of the system -- but since # the waitpid(-1, &WNOHANG) isn't supported on all Unix systems, and # we still want Proc::Simple to run on every system, we have to # quietly perform some tests to figure out if -- or if not. # The function returns the constant, or undef if it's not available. ###################################################################### my $nohang; open(SAVEERR, ">&STDERR"); # If the system doesn't even know /dev/null, forget about it. open(STDERR, ">/dev/null") || return undef; # Close stderr, since some weirdo POSIX modules write nasty # error messages close(STDERR); # Check for the constant eval 'use POSIX ":sys_wait_h"; $nohang = &WNOHANG;'; # Re-open STDERR open(STDERR, ">&SAVEERR"); close(SAVEERR); # If there was an error, return undef return undef if $@; return $nohang; } 1; __END__ =head1 NOTE Please keep in mind that there is no guarantee that the SIGTERM signal really terminates a process. Processes can have signal handlers defined that avoid the shutdown. If in doubt, whether a process still exists, check it repeatedly with the I routine after sending the signal. =head1 REQUIREMENTS I'd recommend using perl 5.6.0 although it might also run with 5.003 -- if you don't have it, this is the time to upgrade! =head1 AUTHOR Michael Schilli Contributors: Tim Jenness did kill_on_destroy/signal_on_destroy/pid Mark R. Southern worked on EXIT_STATUS tracking Tobias Jahn added redirection to stdout/stderr Clauss Strauch suggested the multi-arg start()-methods. =cut