Not returning from batch file

alexanderp98 has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I'm having problems returning from a batch file called by the system command. The batch file completes but never returns to the calling perl script. What am I missing here? Here's a snippet of my code:

newbug.bat:

@echo off
echo this is some message
echo another message
echo yet another message
goto fini

:fini
echo "Exiting..."
exit /b
[download]

fascanner.pl:

...
$Jira_command_line="newbug $Jira_bug_category $Jira_bug_number trunk $
+TRUNK $sernum";
print "Calling '$Jira_command_line'\n";
#$i = system("$Jira_command_line");  ### original line but doesn't wor
+k
$i = system("cmd /c $Jira_command_line");  ### this also doesn't work
print "\n********** Initial FA of $sernum complete! **********\n";
[download]

I noticed that "Exiting..." is displayed so it should be exiting, but somewhere hangs between leaving the batch file and returning to my perl script. Any ideas why? Thanks for your help.

I'm running ActivePerl 5.12 on Win XP and I've also tried ActivePerl 5.14, but still have the same issue.

Comment on Not returning from batch file Select or Download Code

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Re: Not returning from batch file by ikegami (Patriarch) on Aug 17, 2011 at 18:36 UTC
I cannot replicate, but I used Win7. I'd be happier if you actually posted runnable code. ("..." is a syntax error...)	[reply]
Re^2: Not returning from batch file by alexanderp98 (Novice) on Aug 17, 2011 at 18:39 UTC
I added the ... to mean there's other code above the code I entered.	[reply]
Re^3: Not returning from batch file by ikegami (Patriarch) on Aug 17, 2011 at 18:43 UTC
Which means it still won't run if I remove the "...". Like I said, you didn't post runnable code. The real problem is that the output you describe does not originate from code you posted. Reduce the code to something minimal first, then post this code's output.	[reply]
Re: Not returning from batch file by Gulliver (Monk) on Aug 17, 2011 at 20:03 UTC
'exit /b' exits the script but not the command interpreter according to 'help exit'. ~~Sounds to me like Perl is waiting for cmd to die. Remove 'exit /b' and try again or close out the new command box opened by the batch file and see if your Perl script starts again.~~ Update: I just tried it with a toy version and like ikegami I don't see the problem. I'm using XP. I was mistaken in thinking system() opened another dos box.	[reply]
Re^2: Not returning from batch file by ikegami (Patriarch) on Aug 17, 2011 at 21:47 UTC
`exit /b` will only exit the batch file, not the whole interpreter, but the interpreter is set to exit once the batch exits. `exit` and `exit /b` have the same effect here.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: Not returning from batch file by RichardK (Parson) on Aug 18, 2011 at 11:32 UTC
Might your problem be that system expects a list not a string? I've had system do odd things in the past due to that! you could try something like this `my @Jira_command_line= qw/newbug $Jira_bug_category $Jira_bug_number trunk $TRUNK $sernum/; print "Calling '",join(',',@Jira_command_line),"'\n"; $i = system(@Jira_command_line);` [download] BTW Not Tested at all as I don't run windows here.	[reply] [d/l]