How to get pid of process executed with system() command in c++

c++, pid, process

Solution

Simple answer: you can't.

The purpose of `system()` is to block when command is being executed.

But you can 'cheat' like this:

pid_t system2(const char * command, int * infp, int * outfp)
{
    int p_stdin[2];
    int p_stdout[2];
    pid_t pid;

    if (pipe(p_stdin) == -1)
        return -1;

    if (pipe(p_stdout) == -1) {
        close(p_stdin[0]);
        close(p_stdin[1]);
        return -1;
    }

    pid = fork();

    if (pid < 0) {
        close(p_stdin[0]);
        close(p_stdin[1]);
        close(p_stdout[0]);
        close(p_stdout[1]);
        return pid;
    } else if (pid == 0) {
        close(p_stdin[1]);
        dup2(p_stdin[0], 0);
        close(p_stdout[0]);
        dup2(p_stdout[1], 1);
        dup2(::open("/dev/null", O_RDONLY), 2);
        /// Close all other descriptors for the safety sake.
        for (int i = 3; i < 4096; ++i)
            ::close(i);

        setsid();
        execl("/bin/sh", "sh", "-c", command, NULL);
        _exit(1);
    }

    close(p_stdin[0]);
    close(p_stdout[1]);

    if (infp == NULL) {
        close(p_stdin[1]);
    } else {
        *infp = p_stdin[1];
    }

    if (outfp == NULL) {
        close(p_stdout[0]);
    } else {
        *outfp = p_stdout[0];
    }

    return pid;
}

Here you can have not only PID of the process, but also it's STDIN and STDOUT. Have fun!

Problem

When we use `system()` command, program wait until it complete but I am executing a `process` using `system()` and using load balance server due to which program comes to next line just after executing system command. Please note that that `process` may not be complete. ``` system("./my_script"); // after this I want to see whether it is complete or not using its pid. // But how do i Know PID? IsScriptExecutionComplete(); ```

Original source

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