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· Jun 26, 2017

How to execute external unix/windows commands from COS

#API #Callout #Caché

I would like  to invoke some unix/windows commands from COS, any API could do that?

Also, I would like to set up  some Environment Variables for this process which would execute  the above external command.

Anyway to achieve that?

Thanks for your help.

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Nikita Savchenko · Jun 26, 2017

Joining this question.

It would also be nice if someone could describe how to catch and process I/O at this point. Ideally I am looking for something like:

set pseudocode = ##class(Any.Util).Execute("cmd") // let's say on Windows
do pseudocode.Write("ipconfig")
// loop may go here
set data = pseudocode.Read()
// loop may close here
// ... and the data is the stdout of the process!

 

 Thanks.

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Timothy Leavitt · Jun 26, 2017

At a low level, there are two options:

Pipes / command pipes - useful if you want to be able to read command output OR write to the command. Unfortunately, you have to pick one or the other. To answer Nikita's question - maybe there's some tricky way around this by building a command that redirects stdout to a file, which is read using a separate device?

$zf(-1) / $zf(-2) - these are a little bit easier to use. $zf(-1) spawns a child process and waits for it to return; $zf(-2) doesn't wait.

Needless to say, if you're building these into an application, make sure that you're careful about building user input into the commands that you execute. wink

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