• Configured via a markup language file
  • Provide a way to query current status and runtime statistics from the steps being executed
  • Be a turnkey solution that does not required a lot of work to install on a new system

Two out of three ain't bad :) And the third could be added fairly simply using a thread and a listener:

#! perl -slw
use strict;

my( %scripts, %deps, %sched, @starts );
while( <DATA> ) {
    chomp;
    my( $name, $script, @deps ) = split '[ \t:,]+';
    $scripts{ $name } = $script;
    if( @deps ) {
        $deps{ $name } = { map{ $_ => 1 } @deps };
        push @{ $sched{ $_ } }, $name for @deps;
    }
    else {
        push @starts, $name;
    }
}

my %running = map{ system( 1, $scripts{ $_ } ) => $_ } @starts;
while( keys %running ) {
    my $donePid = wait;
    my $done = delete $running{ $donePid } or next;
    for my $action ( @{ $sched{ $done } } ) {
        delete $deps{ $action }{ $done };
        next if keys %{ $deps{ $action } };
        $running{ system( 1, $scripts{ $action } ) } = $action;
    }
}

__DATA__
Action1:  action1.pl
Action1a: action1a.pl  Action1
Action2:  action2.pl
Action2a: action2a.pl  Action2
Action3:  action3.pl   Action1a, Action2a
Action4:  action4.pl   Action3
Action5:  action5.pl   Action4
Action6:  action6.pl   Action5
Action7:  action7.pl   Action5
Action8:  action8.pl  Action6, Action7
Action9:  action9.pl   Action8
Action10: action10.pl  Action1a, Action2a
Action11: action11.pl  Action8

[download]

And a run against action scripts that print "starting"; sleep 10; print "Ending":

[ 1:14:45.39] C:\test>980970
Action1 starting
Action2 starting
Action1 ending
Action2 ending
Action1a starting
Action2a starting
Action1a ending
Action2a ending
Action3 starting
Action10 starting
Action3 ending
Action10 ending
Action4 starting
Action4 ending
Action5 starting
Action5 ending
Action6 starting
Action7 starting
Action6 ending
Action7 ending
Action8 starting
Action8 ending
Action9 starting
Action11 starting
Action9 ending
Action11 ending

[download]

Of course, it needs some error checking and system(1, ... ) only works on Windows, so that would need changing for other OSs, but as a starting point it shows that you don't need to get complicated for something like this.

With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday'
Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

The start of some sanity?

In reply to Re: Threaded Application Sequencing/Rendezvous by BrowserUk
in thread Threaded Application Sequencing/Rendezvous by learnedbyerror

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