Windows 10 and Win32::Process

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

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Re: Windows 10 and Win32::Process by dasgar (Priest) on Jun 27, 2018 at 13:37 UTC
But as fork does not exist under Windows... Actually, you can use fork in Windows. However, Perl will emulate fork by using threads (see this note in perlport). When I first was looking into doing things in parallel, I looked at fork and threads. I couldn't get my head wrapped around how to use fork, but I was understanding threads so I started using threads. Later I learned that on Windows, Perl uses threads to emulate fork so I stayed with threads. I haven't had any issues using threads, but you do need to keep in mind that not all modules are thread safe. If you do use threads and want to use a worker threads model to limit the number of threads being used, you'll find Thread::Queue to be useful and probably threads::shared as well. Another alternative you could consider is MCE, which I have not used. The module's author has helped folks here on PerlMonks with issues in using/learning MCE. I am thinking of using the Win32::Process module...What makes me suspicious is that the version number is still 0.16... A module that hasn't been updated in a long time does not necessarily mean that it has been neglected. Sometimes a module's author will reach a stage where he/she feels that the module is "complete" and not in need of updating. Although I have not used Win32::Process myself, I have seen some posts where folks are using/suggesting the module, so I wouldn't write off the use of that module just because it hasn't been updated in a while.	[reply]
Re^2: Windows 10 and Win32::Process by Veltro (Hermit) on Jun 27, 2018 at 14:16 UTC
A module that hasn't been updated in a long time does not necessarily mean that it has been neglected... +1 for your answers and I absolutely agree with this reasoning. I just wish to note that unfortunately the last two times that I used Win32 to do something both functions were not working properly. It makes me careful using that module. Functions that did not work for me where killing a process and using the millisecond sleep.	[reply]
Re^3: Windows 10 and Win32::Process by AnomalousMonk (Archbishop) on Jun 27, 2018 at 14:29 UTC
... the last two times that I used Win32 to do something both functions were not working properly. ... Functions that did not work for me [were] ... Just to be clear, do I understand correctly that we're talking about some functions in the Win32::Process module? Give a man a fish: `<%-{-{-{-<`	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: Windows 10 and Win32::Process by Veltro (Hermit) on Jun 27, 2018 at 14:57 UTC
Re: Windows 10 and Win32::Process by Lotus1 (Vicar) on Jun 27, 2018 at 14:26 UTC
In addition to what dasgar said here are a few nodes I found on super search that mention Win32::Process or related modules. Win32::CreateProcess problem, Re: Reading output of external program without Shell, Starting an Application on another PC, Re^4: Multiple system commands in parallel, Re: Capturing errors from 3-arg pipe open in ActivePerl 5.020, Re^4: Executing perl program from another perl program and capturing the output, Re^7: Running a perl script as a system command in another thread hangs while main thread reading from STDIN, various questions about Win32::Process,	[reply]
Re: Windows 10 and Win32::Process by Marshall (Canon) on Jun 27, 2018 at 18:09 UTC
Its been years since I looked at a similar issue, but perhaps another idea for you would be to launch the external command with open() and then use async I/O to read the file handle, perhaps with sysread()? If you use normal buffered synchronous I/O the file handle will "block". Just and idea that might be worth considering. I've done async I/O with Perl before, but its been years ago and I am hazy on the details, but I remember that it worked.	[reply]