PerlSVC and Cwd::abs

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

I'm trying to write a service and need the current running directory for locating configuration files. I'm trying to use Cwd::abs_path($0) to get the directory and of course stripping off the exe name. The service seems to start, but the actual PerlSvc::Startup is never called. Everything up to that point seems to work fine ( i can see all the prints and even create a log file). If i comment out the use Cwd line, and also hardcode the program directory, the service runs like a charm. anyone have any ideas?

package PerlSvc;

use warnings;
use strict;
use File::Copy;


use System::System_Constants;
use Cwd qw(abs_path);
use File::Spec;
use Getopt::Long;

our $progname = Constants::APPLICATION_SERVICE_NAME_SHORT;
our $path = undef;

$path = abs_path($0);    
print "Path: " . $path . "\n";
our ($volume, $directory, $fileName) = File::Spec->splitpath($path);
my $program_dir= $volume . $directory;
print "Program Dir: " . $program_dir . "\n";

our $cscc = $program_dir . "cscc.exe";
our $serviceOptionsFile = $program_dir . "serviceOptions.xml";

our $timeout = "";
our $frequency = "";
our $schedule = "";
our $scapScan = "";
our $ovalScan = "";
our $installScan = 0;


our %Config = (ServiceName => "SCC_Service",
            DisplayName=> "SCC_Service",
            StartType   => 'auto', # auto, manual
            Interactive => 1,      # boolean
            Description => 'Service with added console',
            StartNow    => 1,
            Password => undef,
            UserName => undef,
            Dependencies => '',
            Parameters => ''    
    );

my $logfile = $program_dir. 'SCC_Service.log';
print "Logfile: $logfile\n";
Log("\n ProgName: $progname \n");



######################################################################
+####################
sub Startup
.
.
.
.
[download]

Comment on PerlSVC and Cwd::abs_path Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: PerlSVC and Cwd::abs_path by kcott (Archbishop) on May 26, 2012 at 12:53 UTC
The code you have posted seems to work fine to the extent I can test it. I left out the `sub Startup ...` and made 3 changes: `#use System::System_Constants; ... our $progname = q{Constants::APPLICATION_SERVICE_NAME_SHORT}; ... #Log("\n ProgName: $progname \n");` [download] I simply tested with: `$ cat pm_perlsvc.pl #!/usr/bin/env perl use strict; use warnings; use PerlSvc;` [download] which produces `$ pm_perlsvc.pl Path: /Users/ken/tmp/pm_perlsvc.pl Program Dir: /Users/ken/tmp/ Logfile: /Users/ken/tmp/SCC_Service.log` [download] I see you've used `File::Spec->splitpath()` to get the path elements. For portability, I would recommend using `File::Spec->catpath()` rather than the concatenation operator (`.`) when joining path elements. You haven't shown the code where you are attempting to call `PerlSvc::Startup()` which makes debugging from this end rather difficult. I notice a lot of variables declared with `our`. If they need to be declared like this, check that you're not modifying `$PerlSvc::path`, `$PerlSvc::directory`, etc. outside of the `PerlSvc` package; if `our $whatever` is not a requirement, change it to `my $whatever`. If none of that helps, post the code with the call to `PerlSvc::Startup()` for a better answer. -- Ken	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: PerlSVC and Cwd::abs_path by Anonymous Monk on Nov 05, 2015 at 15:26 UTC
It seems the `Cwd::absolutePath()` function call does not work correctly anymore (Hence the "These functions are exported only on request" in the perl doc). My current throws an error 1/5 times where the variable, even when initially initialized, throws an uninitialized error after the `$absolutePath = Cwd::absolutePath();` assignment. Solution was to use the `Cwd::cwd()` function call. PS: Scary how the absolutePath function was still used even when not exported by request.	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re: PerlSVC and Cwd::abs_path by thargas (Deacon) on May 28, 2012 at 11:55 UTC
It's unclear to me what you want. You say you want the current running directory, but then you call `abs_path($0)` which will give you a path to the script itself. If you want a path to the script, it's more usual to use cpan:FindBin. If you really want the current directory, I think you want to look at cpan:Cwd at `cwd()` or `getcwd()` instead of `abs_path()`.	[reply] [d/l] [select]