alternatively, use the OPEN function with a pipe like so 
open(GNUPLOT,"gnuplot $cmd |") or die;
@output = <GNUPLOT>;
close GNUPLOT or die "error reading GNUPLOT";

[download]
this is my preferred way. The close function makes sure that buffers are flushed. From my experience as programmer...the complex lines in a program are usually not at fault...instead it's the simple lines that cause problems. print $cmd to stdout just to make sure it has what you think it has. regarding apache user permissions...you can replicate how it works on the webserver by su - nobody, or whatever the apache user is, and try to run the program on the command line, i.e. gnuplot $whatever_your_cmd_is

In reply to Re: ticked off with backticks by aquarium
in thread ticked off with backticks by bret.foreman

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.