Proc::ProcessTable offers extensive searching of process relatd information, but you still cannot determine what an individual process may be doing at any one time.
As for your second note, and external source, you are the second person to recommend this (third if I count myself) and it looks like I may have to go this route.
Thanks.

In reply to Re^2: Suggestions on differentiating child processes by gnu@perl
in thread Suggestions on differentiating child processes by gnu@perl

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