Return codes from a system() call

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

How do I find out what the return code from a system() call means? Sorry, I looked all over google and couldn't find an answer for this seemly simple question.

Comment on Return codes from a system() call

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Re: Return codes from a system() call by Fletch (Bishop) on Jan 28, 2008 at 17:52 UTC
That's because it's only seemingly simple. The return value is whatever exit status the command you executed returned. The only general convention is that 0 indicates success and not-zero means something went some degree of wrong. You have to look at the documentation for whatever it is you ran to know exactly what it means when `/usr/bin/fnord` exited with status 23. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie. The cake is a lie.	[reply]
Re^2: Return codes from a system() call by oltranzista (Initiate) on Jan 29, 2008 at 20:38 UTC
Oh, okay. This makes more sense to me now. Thanks for the help!	[reply]
Re: Return codes from a system() call by moritz (Cardinal) on Jan 28, 2008 at 18:11 UTC
In the documentation.	[reply]