How do I execute a shell-command in background?
elisp, emacs
Solution
I think the problem is konsole.
(shell-command "xterm &")
does what you expect, opening an xterm in a new window and returning control to Emacs. However,
(shell-command "konsole &")
opens and closes konsole immediately. Something about the way konsole is started seems to be causing the problem. I think KDE apps have their own system for launching apps, but I'm not sure. In any case, I don't think the problem is on the Emacs side here.
Problem
Here's a simple defun to run a shell script: ``` (defun bk-konsoles () "Calls: bk-konsoles.bash" (interactive) (shell-command (concat (expand-file-name "~/its/plts/goodies/bk-konsoles.bash ") (if (buffer-file-name) (file-name-directory (buffer-file-name))) " &") nil nil)) ``` If I start a program with no ampersand - it start the script, but blocks emacs until I close the program, if I don't put ampersand it gives error: ``` /home/boris/its/plts/goodies/bk-konsoles.bash /home/boris/scl/geekgeek/: exited abnormally with code 1. ``` Edit: So now I'm using: ``` (defun bk-konsoles () "Calls: bk-konsoles.bash" (interactive) (shell-command (concat (expand-file-name "~/its/plts/goodies/bk-konsoles.bash ") (if (buffer-file-name) (file-name-directory (buffer-file-name))) " & disown") nil nil) (kill-buffer "*Shell Command Output*")) ``` Edit 2: Nope - doesn't work: ``` (defun bk-konsoles () "Calls: bk-konsoles.bash" (interactive) (let ((curDir default-directory)) ;; (shell-command (concat "nohup " (expand-file-name "~/its/plts/goodies/bk-konsoles.bash ") curDir) nil nil) (shell-command (concat (expand-file-name "~/its/plts/goodies/bk-konsoles.bash ") curDir "& disown") nil nil) (kill-buffer "*Shell Command Output*"))) ``` keeps emacs busy - either with `disown`, or `nohup`. Here's a script I'm running if it might be of help: bk-konsoles.bash