module Open3
Module Open3 supports creating child processes with access to their $stdin, $stdout, and $stderr streams.
What’s Here¶ ↑
Each of these methods executes a given command in a new process or subshell, or multiple commands in new processes and/or subshells:
-
Each of these methods executes a single command in a process or subshell, accepts a string for input to $stdin, and returns string output from $stdout, $stderr, or both:
-
Open3.capture2
: Executes the command; returns the string from $stdout. -
Open3.capture2e
: Executes the command; returns the string from merged $stdout and $stderr. -
Open3.capture3
: Executes the command; returns strings from $stdout and $stderr.
-
-
Each of these methods executes a single command in a process or subshell, and returns pipes for $stdin, $stdout, and/or $stderr:
-
Open3.popen2
: Executes the command; returns pipes for $stdin and $stdout. -
Open3.popen2e
: Executes the command; returns pipes for $stdin and merged $stdout and $stderr. -
Open3.popen3
: Executes the command; returns pipes for $stdin, $stdout, and $stderr.
-
-
Each of these methods executes one or more commands in processes and/or subshells, returns pipes for the first $stdin, the last $stdout, or both:
-
Open3.pipeline_r
: Returns a pipe for the last $stdout. -
Open3.pipeline_rw
: Returns pipes for the first $stdin and the last $stdout. -
Open3.pipeline_w
: Returns a pipe for the first $stdin. -
Open3.pipeline_start
: Does not wait for processes to complete. -
Open3.pipeline
: Waits for processes to complete.
-
Each of the methods above accepts:
-
An optional hash of environment variable names and values; see Execution Environment.
-
A required string argument that is a
command_line
orexe_path
; see Argument command_line or exe_path. -
An optional hash of execution options; see Execution Options.
Constants
- VERSION
Public Class Methods
Basically a wrapper for Open3.popen3
that:
-
Creates a child process, by calling
Open3.popen3
with the given arguments (except for certain entries in hashoptions
; see below). -
Returns as string
stdout_s
the standard output of the child process. -
Returns as
status
aProcess::Status
object that represents the exit status of the child process.
Returns the array [stdout_s, status]
:
stdout_s, status = Open3.capture2('echo "Foo"') # => ["Foo\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2326047 exit 0>]
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
Unlike Process.spawn
, this method waits for the child process to exit before returning, so the caller need not do so.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in the call to Open3.popen3
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in the call to Open3.popen3
; see Execution Options.
The hash options
is given; two options have local effect in method Open3.capture2
:
-
If entry
options[:stdin_data]
exists, the entry is removed and its string value is sent to the command’s standard input:Open3.capture2('tee', stdin_data: 'Foo') # => ["Foo", #<Process::Status: pid 2326087 exit 0>]
-
If entry
options[:binmode]
exists, the entry is removed and the internal streams are set to binary mode.
The single required argument is one of the following:
-
command_line
if it is a string, and if it begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or if it contains one or more metacharacters. -
exe_path
otherwise.
Argument command_line
String argument command_line
is a command line to be passed to a shell; it must begin with a shell reserved word, begin with a special built-in, or contain meta characters:
Open3.capture2('if true; then echo "Foo"; fi') # Shell reserved word. # => ["Foo\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2326131 exit 0>] Open3.capture2('echo') # Built-in. # => ["\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2326139 exit 0>] Open3.capture2('date > date.tmp') # Contains meta character. # => ["", #<Process::Status: pid 2326174 exit 0>]
The command line may also contain arguments and options for the command:
Open3.capture2('echo "Foo"') # => ["Foo\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2326183 exit 0>]
Argument exe_path
Argument exe_path
is one of the following:
-
The string path to an executable to be called.
-
A 2-element array containing the path to an executable and the string to be used as the name of the executing process.
Example:
Open3.capture2('/usr/bin/date') # => ["Fri Sep 29 01:00:39 PM CDT 2023\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2326222 exit 0>]
Ruby invokes the executable directly, with no shell and no shell expansion:
Open3.capture2('doesnt_exist') # Raises Errno::ENOENT
If one or more args
is given, each is an argument or option to be passed to the executable:
Open3.capture2('echo', 'C #') # => ["C #\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2326267 exit 0>] Open3.capture2('echo', 'hello', 'world') # => ["hello world\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2326299 exit 0>]
# File lib/open3.rb, line 775 def capture2(*cmd) if Hash === cmd.last opts = cmd.pop.dup else opts = {} end stdin_data = opts.delete(:stdin_data) binmode = opts.delete(:binmode) popen2(*cmd, opts) {|i, o, t| if binmode i.binmode o.binmode end out_reader = Thread.new { o.read } if stdin_data begin if stdin_data.respond_to? :readpartial IO.copy_stream(stdin_data, i) else i.write stdin_data end rescue Errno::EPIPE end end i.close [out_reader.value, t.value] } end
Basically a wrapper for Open3.popen3
that:
-
Creates a child process, by calling
Open3.popen3
with the given arguments (except for certain entries in hashoptions
; see below). -
Returns as string
stdout_and_stderr_s
the merged standard output and standard error of the child process. -
Returns as
status
aProcess::Status
object that represents the exit status of the child process.
Returns the array [stdout_and_stderr_s, status]
:
stdout_and_stderr_s, status = Open3.capture2e('echo "Foo"') # => ["Foo\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2371692 exit 0>]
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
Unlike Process.spawn
, this method waits for the child process to exit before returning, so the caller need not do so.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in the call to Open3.popen3
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in the call to Open3.popen3
; see Execution Options.
The hash options
is given; two options have local effect in method Open3.capture2e
:
-
If entry
options[:stdin_data]
exists, the entry is removed and its string value is sent to the command’s standard input:Open3.capture2e('tee', stdin_data: 'Foo') # => ["Foo", #<Process::Status: pid 2371732 exit 0>]
-
If entry
options[:binmode]
exists, the entry is removed and the internal streams are set to binary mode.
The single required argument is one of the following:
-
command_line
if it is a string, and if it begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or if it contains one or more metacharacters. -
exe_path
otherwise.
Argument command_line
String argument command_line
is a command line to be passed to a shell; it must begin with a shell reserved word, begin with a special built-in, or contain meta characters:
Open3.capture2e('if true; then echo "Foo"; fi') # Shell reserved word. # => ["Foo\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2371740 exit 0>] Open3.capture2e('echo') # Built-in. # => ["\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2371774 exit 0>] Open3.capture2e('date > date.tmp') # Contains meta character. # => ["", #<Process::Status: pid 2371812 exit 0>]
The command line may also contain arguments and options for the command:
Open3.capture2e('echo "Foo"') # => ["Foo\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2326183 exit 0>]
Argument exe_path
Argument exe_path
is one of the following:
-
The string path to an executable to be called.
-
A 2-element array containing the path to an executable and the string to be used as the name of the executing process.
Example:
Open3.capture2e('/usr/bin/date') # => ["Sat Sep 30 09:01:46 AM CDT 2023\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2371820 exit 0>]
Ruby invokes the executable directly, with no shell and no shell expansion:
Open3.capture2e('doesnt_exist') # Raises Errno::ENOENT
If one or more args
is given, each is an argument or option to be passed to the executable:
Open3.capture2e('echo', 'C #') # => ["C #\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2371856 exit 0>] Open3.capture2e('echo', 'hello', 'world') # => ["hello world\n", #<Process::Status: pid 2371894 exit 0>]
# File lib/open3.rb, line 902 def capture2e(*cmd) if Hash === cmd.last opts = cmd.pop.dup else opts = {} end stdin_data = opts.delete(:stdin_data) binmode = opts.delete(:binmode) popen2e(*cmd, opts) {|i, oe, t| if binmode i.binmode oe.binmode end outerr_reader = Thread.new { oe.read } if stdin_data begin if stdin_data.respond_to? :readpartial IO.copy_stream(stdin_data, i) else i.write stdin_data end rescue Errno::EPIPE end end i.close [outerr_reader.value, t.value] } end
Basically a wrapper for Open3.popen3
that:
-
Creates a child process, by calling
Open3.popen3
with the given arguments (except for certain entries in hashoptions
; see below). -
Returns as strings
stdout_s
andstderr_s
the standard output and standard error of the child process. -
Returns as
status
aProcess::Status
object that represents the exit status of the child process.
Returns the array [stdout_s, stderr_s, status]
:
stdout_s, stderr_s, status = Open3.capture3('echo "Foo"') # => ["Foo\n", "", #<Process::Status: pid 2281954 exit 0>]
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
Unlike Process.spawn
, this method waits for the child process to exit before returning, so the caller need not do so.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in the call to Open3.popen3
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in the call to Open3.popen3
; see Execution Options.
The hash options
is given; two options have local effect in method Open3.capture3
:
-
If entry
options[:stdin_data]
exists, the entry is removed and its string value is sent to the command’s standard input:Open3.capture3('tee', stdin_data: 'Foo') # => ["Foo", "", #<Process::Status: pid 2319575 exit 0>]
-
If entry
options[:binmode]
exists, the entry is removed and the internal streams are set to binary mode.
The single required argument is one of the following:
-
command_line
if it is a string, and if it begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or if it contains one or more metacharacters. -
exe_path
otherwise.
Argument command_line
String argument command_line
is a command line to be passed to a shell; it must begin with a shell reserved word, begin with a special built-in, or contain meta characters:
Open3.capture3('if true; then echo "Foo"; fi') # Shell reserved word. # => ["Foo\n", "", #<Process::Status: pid 2282025 exit 0>] Open3.capture3('echo') # Built-in. # => ["\n", "", #<Process::Status: pid 2282092 exit 0>] Open3.capture3('date > date.tmp') # Contains meta character. # => ["", "", #<Process::Status: pid 2282110 exit 0>]
The command line may also contain arguments and options for the command:
Open3.capture3('echo "Foo"') # => ["Foo\n", "", #<Process::Status: pid 2282092 exit 0>]
Argument exe_path
Argument exe_path
is one of the following:
-
The string path to an executable to be called.
-
A 2-element array containing the path to an executable and the string to be used as the name of the executing process.
Example:
Open3.capture3('/usr/bin/date') # => ["Thu Sep 28 05:03:51 PM CDT 2023\n", "", #<Process::Status: pid 2282300 exit 0>]
Ruby invokes the executable directly, with no shell and no shell expansion:
Open3.capture3('doesnt_exist') # Raises Errno::ENOENT
If one or more args
is given, each is an argument or option to be passed to the executable:
Open3.capture3('echo', 'C #') # => ["C #\n", "", #<Process::Status: pid 2282368 exit 0>] Open3.capture3('echo', 'hello', 'world') # => ["hello world\n", "", #<Process::Status: pid 2282372 exit 0>]
# File lib/open3.rb, line 648 def capture3(*cmd) if Hash === cmd.last opts = cmd.pop.dup else opts = {} end stdin_data = opts.delete(:stdin_data) || '' binmode = opts.delete(:binmode) popen3(*cmd, opts) {|i, o, e, t| if binmode i.binmode o.binmode e.binmode end out_reader = Thread.new { o.read } err_reader = Thread.new { e.read } begin if stdin_data.respond_to? :readpartial IO.copy_stream(stdin_data, i) else i.write stdin_data end rescue Errno::EPIPE end i.close [out_reader.value, err_reader.value, t.value] } end
Basically a wrapper for Process.spawn
that:
-
Creates a child process for each of the given
cmds
by callingProcess.spawn
. -
Pipes the
stdout
from each child to thestdin
of the next child, or, for the last child, to the caller’sstdout
. -
Waits for the child processes to exit.
-
Returns an array of
Process::Status
objects (one for each child).
Example:
wait_threads = Open3.pipeline('ls', 'grep R') # => [#<Process::Status: pid 2139200 exit 0>, #<Process::Status: pid 2139202 exit 0>]
Output:
Rakefile README.md
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in each call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in each call to Process.spawn
‘ see Execution Options.
Each remaining argument in cmds
is one of:
-
A
command_line
: a string that begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or contains one or more metacharacters. -
An
exe_path
: the string path to an executable to be called. -
An array containing a
command_line
or anexe_path
, along with zero or more string arguments for the command.
See Argument command_line or exe_path.
# File lib/open3.rb, line 1334 def pipeline(*cmds) if Hash === cmds.last opts = cmds.pop.dup else opts = {} end pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [], []) {|ts| ts.map(&:value) } end
Basically a wrapper for Process.spawn
that:
-
Creates a child process for each of the given
cmds
by callingProcess.spawn
. -
Pipes the
stdout
from each child to thestdin
of the next child, or, for the last child, to the caller’sstdout
.
The method does not wait for child processes to exit, so the caller must do so.
With no block given, returns a 2-element array containing:
-
The
stdout
stream of the last child process. -
An array of the wait threads for all of the child processes.
Example:
last_stdout, wait_threads = Open3.pipeline_r('ls', 'grep R') # => [#<IO:fd 5>, [#<Process::Waiter:0x000055e8de2f9898 dead>, #<Process::Waiter:0x000055e8de2f94b0 sleep>]] puts last_stdout.read wait_threads.each do |wait_thread| wait_thread.join end
Output:
Rakefile README.md
With a block given, calls the block with the stdout
stream of the last child process, and an array of the wait processes:
Open3.pipeline_r('ls', 'grep R') do |last_stdout, wait_threads| puts last_stdout.read wait_threads.each do |wait_thread| wait_thread.join end end
Output:
Rakefile README.md
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in each call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in each call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Options.
Each remaining argument in cmds
is one of:
-
A
command_line
: a string that begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or contains one or more metacharacters. -
An
exe_path
: the string path to an executable to be called. -
An array containing a
command_line
or anexe_path
, along with zero or more string arguments for the command.
See Argument command_line or exe_path.
# File lib/open3.rb, line 1104 def pipeline_r(*cmds, &block) if Hash === cmds.last opts = cmds.pop.dup else opts = {} end out_r, out_w = IO.pipe opts[:out] = out_w pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [out_w], [out_r], &block) end
Basically a wrapper for Process.spawn
that:
-
Creates a child process for each of the given
cmds
by callingProcess.spawn
. -
Pipes the
stdout
from each child to thestdin
of the next child, or, for the first child, from the caller’sstdin
, or, for the last child, to the caller’sstdout
.
The method does not wait for child processes to exit, so the caller must do so.
With no block given, returns a 3-element array containing:
-
The
stdin
stream of the first child process. -
The
stdout
stream of the last child process. -
An array of the wait threads for all of the child processes.
Example:
first_stdin, last_stdout, wait_threads = Open3.pipeline_rw('sort', 'cat -n') # => [#<IO:fd 20>, #<IO:fd 21>, [#<Process::Waiter:0x000055e8de29ab40 sleep>, #<Process::Waiter:0x000055e8de29a690 sleep>]] first_stdin.puts("foo\nbar\nbaz") first_stdin.close # Send EOF to sort. puts last_stdout.read wait_threads.each do |wait_thread| wait_thread.join end
Output:
1 bar 2 baz 3 foo
With a block given, calls the block with the stdin
stream of the first child, the stdout
stream of the last child, and an array of the wait processes:
Open3.pipeline_rw('sort', 'cat -n') do |first_stdin, last_stdout, wait_threads| first_stdin.puts "foo\nbar\nbaz" first_stdin.close # send EOF to sort. puts last_stdout.read wait_threads.each do |wait_thread| wait_thread.join end end
Output:
1 bar 2 baz 3 foo
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in each call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in each call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Options.
Each remaining argument in cmds
is one of:
-
A
command_line
: a string that begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or contains one or more metacharacters. -
An
exe_path
: the string path to an executable to be called. -
An array containing a
command_line
or anexe_path
, along with zero or more string arguments for the command.
See Argument command_line or exe_path.
# File lib/open3.rb, line 1014 def pipeline_rw(*cmds, &block) if Hash === cmds.last opts = cmds.pop.dup else opts = {} end in_r, in_w = IO.pipe opts[:in] = in_r in_w.sync = true out_r, out_w = IO.pipe opts[:out] = out_w pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [in_r, out_w], [in_w, out_r], &block) end
Basically a wrapper for Process.spawn
that:
-
Creates a child process for each of the given
cmds
by callingProcess.spawn
. -
Does not wait for child processes to exit.
With no block given, returns an array of the wait threads for all of the child processes.
Example:
wait_threads = Open3.pipeline_start('ls', 'grep R') # => [#<Process::Waiter:0x000055e8de9d2bb0 run>, #<Process::Waiter:0x000055e8de9d2890 run>] wait_threads.each do |wait_thread| wait_thread.join end
Output:
Rakefile README.md
With a block given, calls the block with an array of the wait processes:
Open3.pipeline_start('ls', 'grep R') do |wait_threads| wait_threads.each do |wait_thread| wait_thread.join end end
Output:
Rakefile README.md
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in each call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in each call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Options.
Each remaining argument in cmds
is one of:
-
A
command_line
: a string that begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or contains one or more metacharacters. -
An
exe_path
: the string path to an executable to be called. -
An array containing a
command_line
or anexe_path
, along with zero or more string arguments for the command.
See Argument command_line or exe_path.
# File lib/open3.rb, line 1272 def pipeline_start(*cmds, &block) if Hash === cmds.last opts = cmds.pop.dup else opts = {} end if block pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [], [], &block) else ts, = pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [], []) ts end end
Basically a wrapper for Process.spawn
that:
-
Creates a child process for each of the given
cmds
by callingProcess.spawn
. -
Pipes the
stdout
from each child to thestdin
of the next child, or, for the first child, pipes the caller’sstdout
to the child’sstdin
.
The method does not wait for child processes to exit, so the caller must do so.
With no block given, returns a 2-element array containing:
-
The
stdin
stream of the first child process. -
An array of the wait threads for all of the child processes.
Example:
first_stdin, wait_threads = Open3.pipeline_w('sort', 'cat -n') # => [#<IO:fd 7>, [#<Process::Waiter:0x000055e8de928278 run>, #<Process::Waiter:0x000055e8de923e80 run>]] first_stdin.puts("foo\nbar\nbaz") first_stdin.close # Send EOF to sort. wait_threads.each do |wait_thread| wait_thread.join end
Output:
1 bar 2 baz 3 foo
With a block given, calls the block with the stdin
stream of the first child process, and an array of the wait processes:
Open3.pipeline_w('sort', 'cat -n') do |first_stdin, wait_threads| first_stdin.puts("foo\nbar\nbaz") first_stdin.close # Send EOF to sort. wait_threads.each do |wait_thread| wait_thread.join end end
Output:
1 bar 2 baz 3 foo
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in each call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in each call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Options.
Each remaining argument in cmds
is one of:
-
A
command_line
: a string that begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or contains one or more metacharacters. -
An
exe_path
: the string path to an executable to be called. -
An array containing a
command_line
or anexe_path
, along with zero or more string arguments for the command.
See Argument command_line or exe_path.
# File lib/open3.rb, line 1195 def pipeline_w(*cmds, &block) if Hash === cmds.last opts = cmds.pop.dup else opts = {} end in_r, in_w = IO.pipe opts[:in] = in_r in_w.sync = true pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [in_r], [in_w], &block) end
Basically a wrapper for Process.spawn
that:
-
Creates a child process, by calling
Process.spawn
with the given arguments. -
Creates streams
stdin
andstdout
, which are the standard input and standard output streams in the child process. -
Creates thread
wait_thread
that waits for the child process to exit; the thread has methodpid
, which returns the process ID of the child process.
With no block given, returns the array [stdin, stdout, wait_thread]
. The caller should close each of the two returned streams.
stdin, stdout, wait_thread = Open3.popen2('echo') # => [#<IO:fd 6>, #<IO:fd 7>, #<Process::Waiter:0x00007f58d52dbe98 run>] stdin.close stdout.close wait_thread.pid # => 2263572 wait_thread.value # => #<Process::Status: pid 2263572 exit 0>
With a block given, calls the block with the three variables (two streams and the wait thread) and returns the block’s return value. The caller need not close the streams:
Open3.popen2('echo') do |stdin, stdout, wait_thread| p stdin p stdout p wait_thread p wait_thread.pid p wait_thread.value end
Output:
#<IO:fd 6> #<IO:fd 7> #<Process::Waiter:0x00007f58d59a34b0 sleep> 2263636 #<Process::Status: pid 2263636 exit 0>
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
Unlike Process.spawn
, this method waits for the child process to exit before returning, so the caller need not do so.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in the call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in the call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Options.
The single required argument is one of the following:
-
command_line
if it is a string, and if it begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or if it contains one or more metacharacters. -
exe_path
otherwise.
Argument command_line
String argument command_line
is a command line to be passed to a shell; it must begin with a shell reserved word, begin with a special built-in, or contain meta characters:
Open3.popen2('if true; then echo "Foo"; fi') {|*args| p args } # Shell reserved word. Open3.popen2('echo') {|*args| p args } # Built-in. Open3.popen2('date > date.tmp') {|*args| p args } # Contains meta character.
Output (similar for each call above):
# => [#<IO:(closed)>, #<IO:(closed)>, #<Process::Waiter:0x00007f7577dfe410 dead>]
The command line may also contain arguments and options for the command:
Open3.popen2('echo "Foo"') { |i, o, t| o.gets } "Foo\n"
Argument exe_path
Argument exe_path
is one of the following:
-
The string path to an executable to be called.
-
A 2-element array containing the path to an executable and the string to be used as the name of the executing process.
Example:
Open3.popen2('/usr/bin/date') { |i, o, t| o.gets } # => "Thu Sep 28 09:41:06 AM CDT 2023\n"
Ruby invokes the executable directly, with no shell and no shell expansion:
Open3.popen2('doesnt_exist') { |i, o, t| o.gets } # Raises Errno::ENOENT
If one or more args
is given, each is an argument or option to be passed to the executable:
Open3.popen2('echo', 'C #') { |i, o, t| o.gets } # => "C #\n" Open3.popen2('echo', 'hello', 'world') { |i, o, t| o.gets } # => "hello world\n"
Related:
-
Open3.popen2e
: Makes the standard input and the merge of the standard output and standard error streams of the child process available as separate streams. -
Open3.popen3
: Makes the standard input, standard output, and standard error streams of the child process available as separate streams.
# File lib/open3.rb, line 365 def popen2(*cmd, &block) if Hash === cmd.last opts = cmd.pop.dup else opts = {} end in_r, in_w = IO.pipe opts[:in] = in_r in_w.sync = true out_r, out_w = IO.pipe opts[:out] = out_w popen_run(cmd, opts, [in_r, out_w], [in_w, out_r], &block) end
Basically a wrapper for Process.spawn
that:
-
Creates a child process, by calling
Process.spawn
with the given arguments. -
Creates streams
stdin
,stdout_and_stderr
, which are the standard input and the merge of the standard output and standard error streams in the child process. -
Creates thread
wait_thread
that waits for the child process to exit; the thread has methodpid
, which returns the process ID of the child process.
With no block given, returns the array [stdin, stdout_and_stderr, wait_thread]
. The caller should close each of the two returned streams.
stdin, stdout_and_stderr, wait_thread = Open3.popen2e('echo') # => [#<IO:fd 6>, #<IO:fd 7>, #<Process::Waiter:0x00007f7577da4398 run>] stdin.close stdout_and_stderr.close wait_thread.pid # => 2274600 wait_thread.value # => #<Process::Status: pid 2274600 exit 0>
With a block given, calls the block with the three variables (two streams and the wait thread) and returns the block’s return value. The caller need not close the streams:
Open3.popen2e('echo') do |stdin, stdout_and_stderr, wait_thread| p stdin p stdout_and_stderr p wait_thread p wait_thread.pid p wait_thread.value end
Output:
#<IO:fd 6> #<IO:fd 7> #<Process::Waiter:0x00007f75777578c8 sleep> 2274763 #<Process::Status: pid 2274763 exit 0>
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
Unlike Process.spawn
, this method waits for the child process to exit before returning, so the caller need not do so.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in the call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in the call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Options.
The single required argument is one of the following:
-
command_line
if it is a string, and if it begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or if it contains one or more metacharacters. -
exe_path
otherwise.
Argument command_line
String argument command_line
is a command line to be passed to a shell; it must begin with a shell reserved word, begin with a special built-in, or contain meta characters:
Open3.popen2e('if true; then echo "Foo"; fi') {|*args| p args } # Shell reserved word. Open3.popen2e('echo') {|*args| p args } # Built-in. Open3.popen2e('date > date.tmp') {|*args| p args } # Contains meta character.
Output (similar for each call above):
# => [#<IO:(closed)>, #<IO:(closed)>, #<Process::Waiter:0x00007f7577d8a1f0 dead>]
The command line may also contain arguments and options for the command:
Open3.popen2e('echo "Foo"') { |i, o_and_e, t| o_and_e.gets } "Foo\n"
Argument exe_path
Argument exe_path
is one of the following:
-
The string path to an executable to be called.
-
A 2-element array containing the path to an executable and the string to be used as the name of the executing process.
Example:
Open3.popen2e('/usr/bin/date') { |i, o_and_e, t| o_and_e.gets } # => "Thu Sep 28 01:58:45 PM CDT 2023\n"
Ruby invokes the executable directly, with no shell and no shell expansion:
Open3.popen2e('doesnt_exist') { |i, o_and_e, t| o_and_e.gets } # Raises Errno::ENOENT
If one or more args
is given, each is an argument or option to be passed to the executable:
Open3.popen2e('echo', 'C #') { |i, o_and_e, t| o_and_e.gets } # => "C #\n" Open3.popen2e('echo', 'hello', 'world') { |i, o_and_e, t| o_and_e.gets } # => "hello world\n"
Related:
-
Open3.popen2
: Makes the standard input and standard output streams of the child process available as separate streams, with no access to the standard error stream. -
Open3.popen3
: Makes the standard input, standard output, and standard error streams of the child process available as separate streams.
# File lib/open3.rb, line 508 def popen2e(*cmd, &block) if Hash === cmd.last opts = cmd.pop.dup else opts = {} end in_r, in_w = IO.pipe opts[:in] = in_r in_w.sync = true out_r, out_w = IO.pipe opts[[:out, :err]] = out_w popen_run(cmd, opts, [in_r, out_w], [in_w, out_r], &block) ensure if block in_r.close in_w.close out_r.close out_w.close end end
Basically a wrapper for Process.spawn
that:
-
Creates a child process, by calling
Process.spawn
with the given arguments. -
Creates streams
stdin
,stdout
, andstderr
, which are the standard input, standard output, and standard error streams in the child process. -
Creates thread
wait_thread
that waits for the child process to exit; the thread has methodpid
, which returns the process ID of the child process.
With no block given, returns the array [stdin, stdout, stderr, wait_thread]
. The caller should close each of the three returned streams.
stdin, stdout, stderr, wait_thread = Open3.popen3('echo') # => [#<IO:fd 8>, #<IO:fd 10>, #<IO:fd 12>, #<Process::Waiter:0x00007f58d5428f58 run>] stdin.close stdout.close stderr.close wait_thread.pid # => 2210481 wait_thread.value # => #<Process::Status: pid 2210481 exit 0>
With a block given, calls the block with the four variables (three streams and the wait thread) and returns the block’s return value. The caller need not close the streams:
Open3.popen3('echo') do |stdin, stdout, stderr, wait_thread| p stdin p stdout p stderr p wait_thread p wait_thread.pid p wait_thread.value end
Output:
#<IO:fd 6> #<IO:fd 7> #<IO:fd 9> #<Process::Waiter:0x00007f58d53606e8 sleep> 2211047 #<Process::Status: pid 2211047 exit 0>
Like Process.spawn
, this method has potential security vulnerabilities if called with untrusted input; see Command Injection.
Unlike Process.spawn
, this method waits for the child process to exit before returning, so the caller need not do so.
If the first argument is a hash, it becomes leading argument env
in the call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Environment.
If the last argument is a hash, it becomes trailing argument options
in the call to Process.spawn
; see Execution Options.
The single required argument is one of the following:
-
command_line
if it is a string, and if it begins with a shell reserved word or special built-in, or if it contains one or more metacharacters. -
exe_path
otherwise.
Argument command_line
String argument command_line
is a command line to be passed to a shell; it must begin with a shell reserved word, begin with a special built-in, or contain meta characters:
Open3.popen3('if true; then echo "Foo"; fi') {|*args| p args } # Shell reserved word. Open3.popen3('echo') {|*args| p args } # Built-in. Open3.popen3('date > date.tmp') {|*args| p args } # Contains meta character.
Output (similar for each call above):
[#<IO:(closed)>, #<IO:(closed)>, #<IO:(closed)>, #<Process::Waiter:0x00007f58d52f28c8 dead>]
The command line may also contain arguments and options for the command:
Open3.popen3('echo "Foo"') { |i, o, e, t| o.gets } "Foo\n"
Argument exe_path
Argument exe_path
is one of the following:
-
The string path to an executable to be called.
-
A 2-element array containing the path to an executable and the string to be used as the name of the executing process.
Example:
Open3.popen3('/usr/bin/date') { |i, o, e, t| o.gets } # => "Wed Sep 27 02:56:44 PM CDT 2023\n"
Ruby invokes the executable directly, with no shell and no shell expansion:
Open3.popen3('doesnt_exist') { |i, o, e, t| o.gets } # Raises Errno::ENOENT
If one or more args
is given, each is an argument or option to be passed to the executable:
Open3.popen3('echo', 'C #') { |i, o, e, t| o.gets } # => "C #\n" Open3.popen3('echo', 'hello', 'world') { |i, o, e, t| o.gets } # => "hello world\n"
Take care to avoid deadlocks. Output streams stdout
and stderr
have fixed-size buffers, so reading extensively from one but not the other can cause a deadlock when the unread buffer fills. To avoid that, stdout
and stderr
should be read simultaneously (using threads or IO.select
).
Related:
-
Open3.popen2
: Makes the standard input and standard output streams of the child process available as separate streams, with no access to the standard error stream. -
Open3.popen2e
: Makes the standard input and the merge of the standard output and standard error streams of the child process available as separate streams.
# File lib/open3.rb, line 218 def popen3(*cmd, &block) if Hash === cmd.last opts = cmd.pop.dup else opts = {} end in_r, in_w = IO.pipe opts[:in] = in_r in_w.sync = true out_r, out_w = IO.pipe opts[:out] = out_w err_r, err_w = IO.pipe opts[:err] = err_w popen_run(cmd, opts, [in_r, out_w, err_w], [in_w, out_r, err_r], &block) end