12. SubProcess

The subprocess object is a built-in object that provides process communication functions between external applications using pipes.

Functional overview:

  • Provides the ability to respectively pipe standard input (stdin), standard output (stdout), and standard error output (stderr) of an external application and send and receive data in real time.
  • Provides the function to send specific signals to external applications.
  • Provides the function to retrieve the exit code of an external application.

Limitations:

  • The number of command execution resources that can be used is 5. (Version 00.00.03+) (Previous version: 3)


subprocess Global Object

Methods()/PropertiesSummaryVersionNote
subprocess.create()Creates a command execution instance.


subprocess.create(cmd[,options])

Creates a command execution instance.

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
cmdstring, ArraymandatorySpecify the command execution path in string. If command arguments are required, specify them separated by spaces after the command execution path. If a string containing a space character is to be treated as a single argument, enclose the target string range in single quote ' or double quote ". The maximum number of command characters is 4095 bytes and the maximum number of command argument including command execution path is 32.

Specify the command execution path in an array of strings. If command arguments are required, specify them additionally in the element after the command execution path. The maximum length of the array is 32, and the total size of the string length of each element plus 1 must be within 4096 bytes.		Using redirects or pipes to execute multiple commands in combination is not supported.

(Array supported: Version 00.00.03+)
optionsObjectoptionalOptions
Refer to Options for details.
return{Exec}, null-{Exec} : Generated {Exec}
null : If instance creation fails due to lack of resources		If the parameter is abnormal, an exception occurs.

Options

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
readBuffSizenumberoptionalRead buffer size [Byte]
Range: 1 - 2,147,483,647
The default value is 4096.
abortSigNonumberoptionalSignal number for forced termination
Specify the signal number to be sent when forcibly aborting the command execution process by .abort() method call, etc. Note that the execution process must always be terminable by this signal number.
Range: 1(SIGHUP), 2(SIGINT), 9(SIGKILL), 15(SIGTERM)
The default value is 15(SIGTERM).

The following is a usage example.
When handling simple commands, it is useful to specify by string.
If the command argument contains single quote ' or double quote ", or when handling complex commands, it is useful to specify by array.

var exec = subprocess.create('date');
var exec = subprocess.create("uname -a");
var exec = subprocess.create("ls -l /tmp");
var exec = subprocess.create("cat /tmp/memo.txt");
var exec = subprocess.create("tail -f /tmp/memo.txt");
var exec = subprocess.create('/usr/bin/myApp "hello world"');
var exec = subprocess.create('/home/user/start.sh "abc" 1 2 3');

var exec = subprocess.create(['date']);
var exec = subprocess.create(['uname', '-a']);
var exec = subprocess.create(['ls', '-l', "/tmp"]);
var exec = subprocess.create(['cat', "/tmp/memo.txt"]);
var exec = subprocess.create(['tail', '-f', "/tmp/memo.txt"]);
var exec = subprocess.create(['/usr/bin/myApp', "hello world"]);
var exec = subprocess.create(['/home/user/start.sh', "abc", '1', '2', '3']);
var exec = subprocess.create(['bash', '-c', 'echo "hello world"']);
var exec = subprocess.create(['bash', '-c', "echo \"hello world\""]);
var exec = subprocess.create(['bash', '-c', "grep processor /proc/cpuinfo | wc -l"]);


{Exec}

Methods()/PropertiesSummaryVersionNote
.on()Registers an event handler.
.execute()Starts command execution.
.read()Reads standard output (stdout) data received from the command execution process.
.readError()Reads standard error output (stderr) data received from the command execution process.
.write()Sends data to the standard input (stdin) of the command execution process.
.sendSignal()Sends the specified signal to the command execution process.
.isBusy()Gets the execution status of the command execution process.
.getResult()Gets the exit code of the command execution process.
.abort()Aborts the command execution process forcibly.
.release()Releases a command execution resource.


Details

.on(event,callback)

Registers an event handler.

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
eventstringmandatoryEvent name
Names that can be used are: stdout, stderr, exit
callbackfunctionmandatoryExecutes callback processing when an event occurs.
returnundefined--If the parameter is abnormal, an exception occurs.

event : ’stdout’

Executes callback processing when standard output (stdout) data is received from the command execution process and data is stored in the read buffer.

event : ’stderr’

Executes callback processing when standard error output (stderr) data is received from the command execution process and the data is stored in the read buffer.

event : ’exit’

Executes callback processing when the command execution process is exited.

Note that if the process exits with data in the standard output (stdout) and standard error output (stderr) read buffers, the callback process will not be executed immediately. It is necessary to read all data with the .read() and/or .readError() method.

.execute()

Starts command execution.
The command will be executed with Superuser (root) privileges.

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
returnboolean-true: Success
false: Failure

.read([isBin])

Reads standard output (stdout) data received from the command execution process.

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
isBinbooleanoptionalSpecify the readout data format.
true: Readout in binary data format
false: Readout in string format
The default value is false.
returnArrayBuffer, string-Readout data
The return type is determined by isBin.
If isBin is true, the type is ArrayBuffer; otherwise, the type is string.		The readout data will be less than or equal to the size specified by readBuffSize. If there is no readout data, the size will be 0.
If the parameter is abnormal, an exception occurs.

.readError([isBin])

Reads standard error output (stderr) data received from the command execution process.

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
isBinbooleanoptionalSpecify the readout data format.
true: Readout in binary data format
false: Readout in string format
The default value is false.
returnArrayBuffer, string-Readout data
The return type is determined by isBin.
If isBin is true, the type is ArrayBuffer; otherwise, the type is string.		The readout data will be less than or equal to the size specified by readBuffSize. If there is no readout data, the size will be 0.
If the parameter is abnormal, an exception occurs.

.write(data)

Sends data to the standard input (stdin) of the command execution process.

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
datastring, ArrayBuffermandatorySent data
returnnumber-Sent data size
If the sending fails, -1 is returned.		If the parameter is abnormal, an exception occurs.

.sendSignal(sigNo)

Sends the specified signal to the command execution process.

NameTypeM/OSummary             Note
sigNonumbermandatorySignal number
Range: 1 - 31
returnboolean-true: Success
false: Failure		If the parameter is abnormal, an exception occurs.

.isBusy()

Gets the execution status of the command execution process.

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
returnboolean-Execution state
true: In process
false: Terminated or stopped state

.getResult()

Gets the exit code of the command execution process.
This method is used after the command execution process is exited.

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
return{ExecStatus}-{ExecStatus} : Exit code

{ExecStatus}

The exit code and the exit signal number are basically exclusive, with either one having the invalid value -1.
If the command has not been executed or is in progress, all property values are set to -1.

NameTypeSummaryNote
.exitCodenumberExit code of the command execution process (0 - 255)
The exit code is set when the command execution process exits normally.
.sigNonumberExit signal number of the command execution process
If the command execution process is terminated by a signal, the signal number that caused the termination is set.
.wstatusnumberExit Status Information (Reference data)
This value is the original data in which the exit code and the exit signal information are stored.

.abort()

Aborts the command execution process forcibly.
This method is valid only when the command is in progress.

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
returnundefined--

.release()

Releases a command execution resource.
The command in execution will be forced to terminate.

NameTypeM/OSummaryNote
returnundefined--


Object Usage Examples

Sample 1

This is a sample of executing a command.
Execute the uname -a command to display system information.

var exec = subprocess.create("uname -a");

exec.execute();

while(1) {
    var resp = exec.read();
    if(resp.length) {
        print('response : ' + resp);
    }
    if(!exec.isBusy()) {
        break;
    }
}

exec.release();
exec = undefined;
print('done');

Sample 2

This is a sample of executing a command using the .on() event callback.
Execute the uname -a command to display system information.

var done = false;
var exec = subprocess.create("uname -a");

exec.on('stdout', function() {
    var resp = exec.read();
    print('response : ' + resp);
});
exec.on('exit', function() {
    done = true;
});

exec.execute();

while(1) {
    if(done) {
        break;
    }
}

exec.release();
exec = undefined;
print('done');

Sample 3

This is a sample that directly executes a shell command from neqto.js via the bash command.
Periodically executes commands while maintaining command execution resources and displays disk usage of the /tmp area.

var timerInterval = 1000; //ms
var maxNumOfTimes = 20;

var shellCmd = "df -h /tmp | sed '1d' | awk '{print $5}'";
//var exec = subprocess.create('bash -c "' + shellCmd + '"');
var exec = subprocess.create(['bash', '-c', shellCmd]);

var resp = false;
var done = false;
exec.on('stdout', function() { resp = true; });
exec.on('exit', function() { done = true; });

var trigger = false;
var tm = setInterval(function() {
    if(trigger) print('overwritten');
    trigger = true;
}, timerInterval);

var cnt = 0;
var state = 0;
while(1) {
    if(state == 0) {
        if(trigger) {
            exec.execute();
            cnt++;
            state++;
        }
    } else if(state == 1) {
        if(resp) {
            var result = exec.read();
            print(cnt, result.replace(/\n/g, ''));
            state++;
        }
    } else if(state == 2) {
        if(done) {
            trigger = false;
            resp = false;
            state = 0;
            if(cnt >= maxNumOfTimes) break;
        }
    }
}

clearInterval(tm);
exec.release();
exec = undefined;
print('script done');

Sample 4

This is a sample that executes a shell script file placed externally.
Launches the following test shell script (test.sh) to display the standard output and standard error output received from the shell script. Also, after a certain period of time, sends "end" via standard input and terminates the shell script.

Before executing this script, it is necessary to place "test.sh" under /tmp and add execution permission.

test.sh

#!/bin/bash
CNT=0
while true; do
    read -t 1 ENTER
    if [ -n "$ENTER" ]; then
        echo "$ENTER"
        break
    fi
    if [ $((${CNT} % 2)) = 1 ]; then
        echo "$CNT" 1>&2
    else
        echo "$CNT"
    fi
    CNT=$((CNT+1))
done

neqto.js

var delay = 10000; //ms

var done = false;
var exec = subprocess.create('/tmp/test.sh');
if(!exec) { throw new Error('Subprocess is out of resource'); }

exec.on('stdout', function() {
    var str = exec.read();
    print('stdout : ' + str.replace(/\n/g, ''));
});
exec.on('stderr', function() {
    var str = exec.readError();
    print('stderr : ' + str.replace(/\n/g, ''));
});
exec.on('exit', function() {
    done = true;
});

exec.execute();

var tm = setTimeout(function() {
    exec.write('end\n');
}, delay);

while(1) {
    if(done) {
        var res = exec.getResult();
        print('.exitCode : ' + res.exitCode)
        print('.sigNo : ' + res.sigNo)
        break;
    }
}

clearTimeout(tm);
exec.release();
exec = undefined;
print('script done');

Sample 5

This is a sample of executing a shell script directly from on neqto.js utilizing the bash command.
Place the "test.sh" used in Sample 4 on neqto.js and execute it directly.

var delay = 10000; //ms

var shellCmd =
"CNT=0\n" +
"while true; do\n" +
    "read -t 1 ENTER\n" +
    "if [ -n \"$ENTER\" ]; then\n" +
        "echo \"$ENTER\"\n" +
        "break\n" +
    "fi\n" +
    "if [ $((${CNT} % 2)) = 1 ]; then\n" +
        "echo \"$CNT\" 1>&2\n" +
    "else\n" +
        "echo \"$CNT\"\n" +
    "fi\n" +
    "CNT=$((CNT+1))\n" +
"done\n" +
"";

var done = false;
var exec = subprocess.create(['bash', '-c', shellCmd]);
if(!exec) { throw new Error('Subprocess is out of resource'); }

exec.on('stdout', function() {
    var str = exec.read();
    print('stdout : ' + str.replace(/\n/g, ''));
});
exec.on('stderr', function() {
    var str = exec.readError();
    print('stderr : ' + str.replace(/\n/g, ''));
});
exec.on('exit', function() {
    done = true;
});

exec.execute();

var tm = setTimeout(function() {
    exec.write('end\n');
}, delay);

while(1) {
    if(done) {
        var res = exec.getResult();
        print('.exitCode : ' + res.exitCode)
        print('.sigNo : ' + res.sigNo)
        break;
    }
}

clearTimeout(tm);
exec.release();
exec = undefined;
print('script done');


Updated: 2023-04-20
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