catch the output of a command

Anonymous Monk has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I want to put the output of a command into an array, so
that I can operate on these output. The following is my
approach; but I feel it's very awkful. Do you have any
good ideas? Thanks in advance.

my $tmpfile = rand();
system("netstat > $tmpfile");
open(MYIN, "$tmpfile");
@connectInfo = <MYIN>;
close(MYIN);
unlink($tmpfile);

# The following codes work on @connectInfo
[download]

Comment on catch the output of a command Download Code

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Re: catch the output of a command by dvergin (Monsignor) on Aug 01, 2001 at 19:31 UTC
You are looking for backticks. The single line: @connectInfo = `netstat`; ought to produce the same result as your code. Or: `@connectInfo = qx(netstat);` means the same thing. Go to perlman:perlop and search for the second occurance of 'qx' to read a full discussion. Update: Note that the phrase "You're confusing the purpose of system()..." in tachyon's response is not directed at you. It is directed to the question it follows. You have used `system()` in a correct manner to produce a working but (as you suggested) un-Perlish bit of code. HTH... david	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: catch the output of a command by tachyon (Chancellor) on Aug 01, 2001 at 19:33 UTC
Here is the answer from perlfaq8 Why can't I get the output of a command with system()? You're confusing the purpose of system() and backticks (``). system() runs a command and returns exit status information (as a 16 bit value: the low 7 bits are the signal the process died from, if any, and the high 8 bits are the actual exit value). Backticks (``) run a command and return what it sent to STDOUT. $exit_status = system("mail-users"); $output_string = `ls`; [download] Update This is the verbatim FAQ test. There is nothing per se wrong with your use of system in the example. I was to lazy to do more than cut and paste this. cheers tachyon s&&rsenoyhcatreve&&&s&n.+t&"$'$`$\"$\&"&ee&&y&srve&&d&&print	[reply] [d/l]
Re: catch the output of a command by maverick (Curate) on Aug 01, 2001 at 21:57 UTC
You can also do it like `open(MYIN,"netstat \|") \|\| die "Can't netstat: $!"; @connectInfo = <MYIN>; . . .` [download] The advantage with this is that you get to check the status of the command. /\/\averick	[reply] [d/l]

Update