SYSTEM(3F)SYSTEM(3F)NAME
system - execute operating system command
SYNOPSIS
integer function system (string)
character*(*) string
DESCRIPTION
The function system gives string to your shell as input, as if the
string had been typed as a command. If the environment variable SHELL
is found, its value is used as the command interpreter (shell); other‐
wise, sh(1) is used.
The current process waits until the command terminates. The returned
value is the exit status of the shell. See wait(2) for an explanation
of this value.
The functions sh(3f) and system(3f) pass the argument string to a shell
for execution. They convert the argument string from a Fortran charac‐
ter value to a C string value and pass it to the C routine system(3c).
The routines sh(3f) and system(3f) differ in that system flushes the
Fortran I/O buffers before calling the C routine system, while sh does
not. Flushing the buffers can take significant time, and so, if any
Fortran output is irrelevant to the result of the call, the routine sh
is preferred over the routine system.
Note that both sh(3f) and system(3f) return integer results.
FILES
libfui.a
SEE ALSOexecve(2), wait(2), system(3c)BUGS
string cannot be longer than 1023 characters.
SEE ALSOsh(3F)
07 July 1995 SYSTEM(3F)