LPM: hlp with h2ph :) sorry

[Rich Bowen]

repett0 at sac.uky.edu wrote:
> 
> I have been a lurker for a long time on this list and need some help.  I
> had to run a program for a class using anykind of scripting and I choose
> perl so I can start getting some skillz...  However, Im having problems on
> finding the best way to get a syscall to work.  In solaris(at least most
> shells) you can type 'clear' to clear the screen or 'ls' to list files.
> How do you make these calls in a perl script without exiting the script.

The first part I can answer for you. And there are two answers, sort of.
OK, three.

To call system calls, use the `` notation. Those are "backticks" which
are on the key at the top left with the tilde (~), also known to Math
majors as a twiddle.

So, to call ls, do ...

@results = `ls`;

OR

You can use the system() function, which behaves rather differently.

system(ls);

Might not do what you want.

Finally, there's a Perl module called Shell.pm so that you can do stuff
like

 use Shell;
 cp("/etc/passwd", "/tmp/passwd");

By the way, don't do that

Rich
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