Re: Why can't I start up lynx with these arguments?

The problem is in this line here:

$search .= "&btnG=Google+Search";
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The & in the exec'd line is causing the lynx process to background itself, thus giving you the defunct lynx process.
You are effectively doing:
lynx www.google.com/searcn?q=whatever&btnG=Google+Search --cookies whatever
(Presuming the last '$search =' is actually supposed to be '$search .=', which would also screw things up)

To stop the process from being backgrounded, double-escape the & symbol. (Once to escape the & for the shell, and once for perl itself to pass the \ through to the shell).

$search .= "\\&btnG=Google+Search";
[download]

JP
-- Alexander Widdlemouse undid his bellybutton and his bum dropped off --

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Re: Re: Why can't I start up lynx with these arguments? by Saint Aardvark (Acolyte) on Jul 26, 2001 at 19:18 UTC
Thanks to everyone who replied...When I saw the double-escape answer, I smacked myself on the forehead and uttered the Sacred Syllable "D'oh!" While I like w3m well enough, I'm used to lynx. And this was meant to be a way of learning better how to do a quick and dirty hack, rather than parse search results for other nefarious ends. I am now blessing your keyboard...	[reply]