module Shell_sys:sig..end
Calls external programs, creates pipelines, etc. (full interface)
This module is now thread-safe (as of May 2009), provided the
threads do no share the same Shell or Shell_sys values.
Problems reported earlier here have been resolved.
If you get errors like "Netsys_posix.watch_subprocess: uninitialized"
you should call Shell_sys.install_job_handlers.
exception Fatal_error of exn
An error is fatal if it is not possible to recover from it in a
predictable manner. In this case, many function wrap such exceptions
x into Fatal_error x.
type environment
The abstract type of a process environment
val create_env : unit -> environmentCreates an empty environment
val current_env : unit -> environmentReturns the environment of the current process as abstract environment value
val copy_env : environment -> environmentCopies an environment
val set_env : environment -> string array -> unitSets the contents of the environment to the passed string array
val get_env : environment -> string arrayGets the contents of the environment as string array
val iter_env : f:(string -> unit) -> environment -> unitIterates over the strings of the environment, and calls
f s for every string s.
val set_env_var : environment -> string -> string -> unitset_env_var env varname varval: Sets the value of the variable
varname in the environment env to varval.
val get_env_var : environment -> string -> stringReturns the value of the variable in the environment
val iter_env_vars : f:(string -> string -> unit) -> environment -> unitIterates over the variables of the environment, and calls
f name value for every variable with name and value.
type command
A command describes how to start a new process
val command : ?cmdname:string ->
?arguments:string array ->
?chdir:string ->
?environment:environment ->
?descriptors:Unix.file_descr list ->
?assignments:(Unix.file_descr * Unix.file_descr) list ->
filename:string -> unit -> commandCreates a command from the passed arguments:
cmdname : The name of the command passed in argv[0]. By
default, this argument is derived from filename.arguments : The arguments of the command (starting with the
first real argument, skipping cmdname). By default [] .chdir : Before the command is executed it is changed to
this directory.environment : The environment of the command. By default, the
current environmentdescriptors : The list of file descriptors to share with the
current process. In the subprocess only those descriptors remain open
that are either mentioned in descriptors, or that are the final target
of assignments. By default, [stdin; stdout; stderr] .
Note that only the final targets of assignments remain open in the
subprocess (unless they are also listed in descriptors). If there
are cascaded assignments like (fd1, fd2); (fd2, fd3) the intermediate
descriptors like fd2 are not considered as final targets; only fd3
would be a final target in this example.assignments : A list of descriptor pairs (fd_from,fd_to) .
The descriptor fd_from in the current process will be assigned
to fd_to in the subprocess started for the command.
The list of assignments is executed sequentially, so
later assignments must take the effect of previous assignments
into account. For example, to make stderr of the subprocess write
to stdout of the parent process, pass [(stdout; stderr)] . filename : The name of the executable to start. The executable
file is not searched, use Shell_sys.lookup_executable for this
purpose.exception Executable_not_found of string
Raised when an executable file cannot be found; the argument is the search name
val lookup_executable : ?path:string list -> string -> stringSearches an executable file. If the passed search name contains a slash, it is expected that this name is already the path name of the executable. If the search name does not contain a slash character, it is searched in the directories enumerated by the search path.
path : The search path. By default, the contents of the
variable PATH of the current environment, split by ':', are
used (Win32: SearchPath is used)val get_cmdname : command -> stringReturns the name of the command
val get_arguments : command -> string arrayReturns the argument array of the command (skipping the command name)
val get_chdir : command -> string optionReturns the chdir parameter of the command
val get_environment : command -> environmentReturns the designated environment of the command
val get_descriptors : command -> Unix.file_descr listReturns the list of active descriptors
val get_assignments : command -> (Unix.file_descr * Unix.file_descr) listReturns the list of assignments (fd_from,fd_to)
val get_filename : command -> stringReturns the file name of the executable
val set_cmdname : command -> string -> unitSets the command name
val set_arguments : command -> string array -> unitSets the argument array
val set_chdir : command -> string option -> unitSets the chdir parameter of the command
val set_environment : command -> environment -> unitSets the environment
val set_descriptors : command -> Unix.file_descr list -> unitSets the list of active descriptors
val set_assignments : command -> (Unix.file_descr * Unix.file_descr) list -> unitSets the list of assignments (fd_from,fd_to)
val set_filename : command -> string -> unitSets the file name of the executable to start
val copy_command : command -> commandReturns a duplicate of the command description
val is_executable : command -> boolReturns true if there is an executable file for the command, and
it is permitted to run this file (as stated by the file permissions).
false means that the command can definitely not be executed. However,
even if the function returns true there may be still reasons that
execution will fail.
type process
A process is the running instance of a command (a Unix process)
type group_action =
| |
New_bg_group |
(* | Start process in new background process group | *) |
| |
New_fg_group |
(* | Start process in new foreground process group | *) |
| |
Join_group of |
(* | Started process joins this existing process group | *) |
| |
Current_group |
(* | Started process remains in the current group | *) |
Determines in which process group the new process will run
type fwd_mode =
| |
No_forward |
(* | No forwarding of keyboard signals | *) |
| |
Forward_to_process |
(* | Forward signals directly to subprocess | *) |
| |
Forward_to_group |
(* | Forward signals to the process group of the subprocess | *) |
Determines whether and how keyboard signals (SIGINT, SIGQUIT) are forwarded from the caller to the new child. There is no forwarding in Win32 - all console applications get the keyboard signals anyway.
val run : ?group:group_action ->
?forward_mode:fwd_mode ->
?pipe_assignments:(Unix.file_descr * Unix.file_descr) list ->
command -> processExecutes the command concurrently with the current process. The function
does not wait until the process terminates; it returns immediately after
the exec system call has been successfully performed; errors that
occur until exec are caught and reported as exception (even errors
in the fresh subprocess).
On error, one can assume that the process state has been cleaned up: any forked child process has terminated; any modifications of the global process state has been restored.
File descriptor assignments: First, the assignments in pipe_assignments
are performed, then the assignments contained in the command. The
pipe_assignments are interpreted as parallel assignment, not
as sequential assignment.
Note: For users without very special needs, it is recommended to run jobs instead of processes. See below for the job API.
group : Determines in which process group the new process will
run. By default Current_group.forward_mode : Whether and how to forward keyboard signals
to the new child. By default No_forward. The Win32 implementation
ignores this argument.pipe_assignments : A list of descriptor pairs (fd_from,fd_to).
The descriptor fd_from in the current process will be assigned
to fd_to in the started subprocess. In order to
take effect, fd_to must also be passed in the descriptors
property of the started command.
Furthermore, fd_from may or may not be member of descriptors;
in the first case it will remain open, in the latter case it will
be closed. The list of assignments is executed in parallel. For
example, to swap the roles of stdout and stderr, pass the list
[(stdout,stderr); (stderr,stdout)] .val process_id : process -> intReturns the process ID of the process
val status : process -> Unix.process_statusReports the status so far known: If the process
has terminated, the status of the process is returned.
If the process is still running, Not_found will be raised.
val command_of_process : process -> commandReturns the command that is now running as the process
val call : command -> processExecutes the command and waits until the process terminates
(synchronous execution a la system, but no intermediate shell).
status is guaranteed to return WEXITED or WSIGNALED.
val kill : ?signal:int -> process -> unitSends a signal to the passed process.
signal : The signal to send, by default SIGTERMA job is the description of how to run several commands which are
linked by pipelines (or which are just a logical unit). A job_instance
is the running instance of a job.
Jobs are implemented on a higher layer than commands; the following means of the operating system are used by job invocations:
job_instance corresponds to a Unix process group. In
this case the last added command will result in the process group
leader.install_job_handlers)add_pipeline).add_producer and add_consumer)Important:
In order to run jobs efficiently (without busy waiting) and properly
it is strongly recommended to install the signal handlers using
install_job_handlers
type job
type job_instance
val new_job : unit -> jobCreates a new job descriptor. Initially the job is empty, but you can
fill it with commands (add_command), pipelines (add_pipeline),
consumers (add_consumer) and producers (add_producer).
When the job is set up, you can start it (run_job/finish_job or
call_job).
val add_command : command -> job -> unitAdds a command to a job.
Note that you cannot add the same command twice; however you can add a copy of a command already belonging to the job.
val add_pipeline : ?bidirectional:bool ->
?src_descr:Unix.file_descr ->
?dest_descr:Unix.file_descr ->
src:command -> dest:command -> job -> unitAdds a pipeline which redirects the output of the command src to the
input of the command dest.
bidirectional : if false (default), a classical pipe is created
to connect the file descriptors. This normally restricts the data
flow to one direction. If true, a socketpair is created which is
roughly a bidirectional pipe. In this case, data flow in both
directions is possible.src_descr : determines the file descriptor of the source command
which is redirected. This is by default stdout.dest_descr : determines the file descriptor of the destination
command to which the data stream is sent. This is by default stdin.val add_producer : ?descr:Unix.file_descr ->
producer:(Unix.file_descr -> bool) ->
command -> job -> unitAdds a producer to the job. A producer transfers data to the
subprocess realizing the passed command. To do so, a pipe is created
between the file descriptor descr of the subprocess and another
descriptor descr' which is open in the current process. The
function producer is called when data can be written into the
pipe. The argument of producer is the writing end of the pipe
descr'. This file descriptor is in non-blocking mode. The
function producer must close descr' when all data are
transferred. The return value of producer indicates whether
the descriptor is still open.
descr : The descriptor of the subprocess to which the reading
end of the pipe is dup'ed. By default stdin.val from_string : ?pos:int ->
?len:int -> ?epipe:(unit -> unit) -> string -> Unix.file_descr -> boolfrom_string ?pos ?len ?epipe s returns a function which can be
used as producer argument for add_producer. The data transferred
to the subprocess is taken from the string s. After these data
are sent, the pipeline is closed.
pos : The position in s where the data slice to transfer begins.
By default 0.len : The length of the data slice to transfer. By default,
all bytes from the start position pos to the end of the
string are taken.epipe : This function is called when the pipeline breaks
(EPIPE). Default: the empty function. EPIPE exceptions are
always caught, and implicitly handled by closing the pipeline.val from_tstring : ?pos:int ->
?len:int ->
?epipe:(unit -> unit) -> Netsys_types.tstring -> Unix.file_descr -> boolSame for tagged strings
val from_stream : ?epipe:(unit -> unit) -> string Stdlib.Stream.t -> Unix.file_descr -> boolfrom_stream ?epipe s returns a function which can be
used as producer argument for add_producer. The data transferred
to the subprocess is taken from the string stream s. After these data
are sent, the pipeline is closed.
epipe : This function is called when the pipeline breaks
(EPIPE). Default: the empty function. EPIPE exceptions are
always caught, and implicitly handled by closing the pipeline.val add_consumer : ?descr:Unix.file_descr ->
consumer:(Unix.file_descr -> bool) ->
command -> job -> unitAdds a consumer to the job. A consumer transfers data from the
subprocess realizing the passed command to the current process.
To do so, a pipe is created between the file descriptor descr
of the subprocess and another descriptor descr' which is open
in the current process. The function consumer is called when
data can be read from the pipe. The argument of consumer is
reading end of the pipe descr'. This file descriptor is in
non-blocking mode. The function consumer must close descr'
after EOF is detected. The return value of consumer indicates whether
the descriptor is still open.
descr : The descriptor of the subprocess to which the writing
end of the pipe is dup'ed. By default stdout.val to_buffer : Stdlib.Buffer.t -> Unix.file_descr -> boolto_buffer b returns a function which can be
used as consumer argument for add_consumer. The data received
from the subprocess is added to the buffer b.
val to_netbuffer : Netbuffer.t -> Unix.file_descr -> boolSame for a Netbuffer
type group_mode =
| |
Same_as_caller |
(* | The job runs in the same process group as the current process | *) |
| |
Foreground |
(* | The job runs in a new foreground process group | *) |
| |
Background |
(* | The job runs in a new background process group | *) |
Specifies how the job instance is related to process groups
val run_job : ?mode:group_mode ->
?forward_signals:bool -> job -> job_instanceInvokes the commands of the job such that they run concurrently with the main process.
The function returns a job_instance, i.e. a value recording which
processes are started, and how they are related. Furthermore, the
function has the side effect of adding the
job to the global list of current jobs.
The mode argument specifies whether a new Unix process group is
created for the job instance. A process group has the advantage that
it is possible to send signals to all processes of the group at
once. For example, one can terminate a group by sending SIGTERM
to it: All member processes get the signal. Usually, these are not only
the subprocesses initially created, but also further processes
started by the initial members.
So if it is necessary to send signals to the processes of the job, it will be advantegous to run it in a new process group. However, this also means that signals sent to the current process group are not automatically forwarded to the created process group. For example, if the current process group is terminated, the job will continue running, because it is member of a different process group. One has to explicitly catch and forward signals to avoid wild-running jobs.
The moral of the story is that one should only create new process groups when it is necessary (e.g. the user must be able to stop an action at any time). Furthermore, signal forwarding must be configured.
The Unix shell also allows the programmer to specify process group handling to a certain extent. Normally, commands are executed in the same process group as the caller. The syntax "command &" forces that the command is run in a new background process group. There is another situation when new process groups are created: when a new interactive shell is started the commands are run in new foreground process groups (so the keyboard signals like CTRL-C work).
mode : Specifies the process group handling. By default, the
job is executed in the same process group as the current process
(Same_as_caller). The value Background causes that a new
background process group is started. The value Foreground causes
that a new foreground process group is started. For the latter,
it is required that there is a controlling terminal (i.e. it
does not work for daemons). Any existing foreground process group
(there is at most one) is put into the background, but this is
not restored when the job is over (the caller must do this).
Foreground process groups should be avoided unless you are
writing an interactive shell interpreter.forward_signals : If true, the default, keyboard signals
(SIGINT, SIGQUIT) delivered to the current process are forwarded to
the job. This has only a meaning if the job is running as
background process group. Furthermore, it is required that
install_job_handlers has been called to enable signal
forwarding.
The function returns normally if at least one process could be started.
If no process was startable (i.e. the first command was not startable),
an exception is raised. If one or more processes could be started but
not all, job_status will return Job_partially_running. The caller
should then discard the job and any intermediate result that might
already have been produced by the partial job.
When all processes could be started and no other exceptional condition
happened, the function sets job_status to Job_running.class type['t]job_handler_engine_type =object..end
This type of engine also returns the job and the job_instance.
class job_engine :Unixqueue.event_system -> job_instance ->[unit]job_handler_engine_type
The job_engine watches the job, and looks whether the processes
are finished, and if so, it records the process statuses.
val finish_job : job_instance -> unitThis creates a job_engine internally and runs until it is
finished, i.e. until the job has been executed.
In previous version of Ocamlnet there was an optional sys
argument. This is gone now. Also, the error handling is different.
It is no longer possible to restart finish_job when an error
happens.
val call_job : ?mode:group_mode ->
?forward_signals:bool ->
?onerror:(job_instance -> unit) ->
job -> job_instanceStarts the job (see run_job) and waits until it finishes (see
finish_job); i.e. call_job = run_job + finish_job.
The function returns normally if all processes can be started; you can
examine job_status of the result to get the information whether all
processes returned the exit code 0.
mode : See run_jobforward_signals : See run_jobonerror : If not all of the processes can be started, the
function passed by onerror is invoked. By default, this
function calls abandon_job to stop the already running
processes. After the onerror function has returned, the original
exception is raised again. Fatal error conditions are not caught.val processes : job_instance -> process listReturns the processes that have actually been started for this job
by run_job; note that the corresponding Unix process group
may have additional processes (e.g. indirectly started processes).
exception No_Unix_process_group
Raised by functions referring to Unix process groups when the job has not been started in its own process group.
val process_group_leader : job_instance -> processReturns the process group leader process.
This function is not available for jobs in the mode Same_as_caller.
val process_group_id : job_instance -> intReturns the Unix ID of the process group as number > 1.
This function is not available for jobs in the mode Same_as_caller.
type job_status =
| |
Job_running |
(* | All commands could be started, and at least one process is still running | *) |
| |
Job_partially_running |
(* | Not all commands could be started, and at least one process is still running | *) |
| |
Job_ok |
(* | all processes terminated with exit code 0 | *) |
| |
Job_error |
(* | all processes terminated but some abnormally | *) |
| |
Job_abandoned |
(* | the job has been abandoned (see | *) |
Indicates the status of the job
val job_status : job_instance -> job_statusReturns the status. The status may only change after finish_job
has been called:
run_job: status is Job_running or Job_partially_runningfinish_job: if returning normally: status is Job_ok or
Job_error. After an exception happened the other states are possible,
tooval kill_process_group : ?signal:int -> job_instance -> unitKills the process group if it is still (at least partially) running.
This operation is not available if the mode is Same_as_caller
(exception No_Unix_process_group).
Note 1: In the Unix terminology, "killing a job" only means to send a signal to the job. So the job may continue running, or it may terminate; in general we do not know this. Because of this, the job will still have an entry in the job list.
Note 2: Because sub-sub-processes are also killed, this function may send the signal to more processes than kill_processes (below). On the other hand, it is possible that sub-processes change their group ID such that it is also possible that this function sends the signal to fewer processes than kill_processes.
signal : The signal number to send (O'Caml signal numbers as
used by the Sys module). Default is Sys.sigterm.val kill_processes : ?signal:int -> job_instance -> unitKills the individual processes of the job which are still running.
signal : The signal number to send (O'Caml signal numbers as
used by the Sys module). Default is Sys.sigterm.val cancel_job : ?signal:int -> job_instance -> unitTries to get rid of a running job. If the mode is Same_as_caller, the
signal is sent to the processes individually. If the mode is
Foreground or Background, the signal is sent to the process group
corresponding to the job.
This function removes the job from the job list; i.e. it is no longer watched. Because of some magic spells it is guaranteed that the job dies immediately without becoming a zombie (provided you have a SIGCHLD handler).
signal : The signal number to send (O'Caml signal numbers as
used by the Sys module). Default is Sys.sigterm.val abandon_job : ?signal:int -> job_instance -> unitDeprecated name for cancel_job
exception Already_installed
Raised when the job handlers are already installed
val configure_job_handlers : ?catch_sigint:bool ->
?catch_sigquit:bool ->
?catch_sigterm:bool -> ?catch_sighup:bool -> ?at_exit:bool -> unit -> unitConfigures signal and at_exit handlers for jobs:
forward_signals).forward_signals).at_exit handler sends a SIGTERM to all dependent processes, too.In previous versions of Ocamlnet it was also possible to configure
catch_sigchld to set whether a SIGCHLD handler is installed. This
is now always done.
In previous versions of Ocamlnet there was also a set_sigpipe flag.
This flag is gone as a SIGPIPE handler is now always installed.
The handlers are now managed by Netsys_signal. The handlers of this
module set the keep_default flag for SIGINT, SIGQUIT, SIGTERM, and
SIGHUP, so that the default action for these signals is executed after
the forwarding to the child processes is done. By setting another
handler in Netsys_signal without that flag this behavior can be
overridden.
Note that if an uncaught exception leads to program termination, this situation will not be detected; any running jobs will not be terminated (sorry, this cannot be fixed).
This function sets only which handlers will be installed when
install_job_handlers (below) is invoked.
The function fails if the handlers are already installed.
Win32: No handlers are installed. It would be desirable to some extent
that at least at_exit is honoured, however, this is not yet done.
catch_sigint : whether to install a SIGINT handler (default: true)catch_sigquit : whether to install a SIGQUIT handler (default: true)catch_sigterm : whether to install a SIGTERM handler (default: true)catch_sighup : whether to install a SIGHUP handler (default: true)at_exit : whether to set the at_exit handler (default: true)val install_job_handlers : unit -> unitInstalls handlers as configured before.
Raises Already_installed if the handlers are already installed.
The functions add_rd_polling and add_wr_polling have been removed.
They were added prior to the merge with the equeue library. Use a
Unixqueue now, which is much more powerful.
Also no longer supported because the type system_handler is gone:
type system_handler
type process_event
val wait :
?wnohang:bool -> (* default: false *)
?wuntraced:bool -> (* default: false *)
?restart:bool -> (* default: false *)
?check_interval:float -> (* default: 0.1 *)
?read:(Unix.file_descr list) -> (* default: [] *)
?write:(Unix.file_descr list) -> (* default: [] *)
?except:(Unix.file_descr list) -> (* default: [] *)
process list ->
process_event list
val register_job : system_handler -> job_instance -> unit
val iter_job_instances : f:(job_instance -> unit) -> unit
val watch_for_zombies : unit -> unit
val process_group_expects_signals : job_instance -> boolmodule Debug:sig..end