Provided by: libnetpbm-dev_11.05.02-1.1build1_amd64 
Name
pm_system - run a Netpbm program with program input and output
Synopsis
#include <netpbm/pm_system.h>
pm_system(void stdinFeeder(int, void *),
void * const feederParm,
void stdoutAccepter(int, void *),
void * const accepterParm,
const char * const shellCommand);
pm_system_lp(const char * const progName,
void stdinFeeder(int, void *),
void * const feederParm,
void stdoutAccepter(int, void *),
void * const accepterParm,
...);
pm_system_vp(const char * const progName,
const char ** const argArray,
void stdinFeeder(int, void *),
void * const feederParm,
void stdoutAccepter(int, void *),
void * const accepterParm);
pm_system2(void stdinFeeder(int, void *),
void * const feederParm,
void stdoutAccepter(int, void *),
void * const accepterParm,
const char * const shellCommand,
int * const termStatusP );
pm_system2_lp(const char * const progName,
void stdinFeeder(int, void *),
void * const feederParm,
void stdoutAccepter(int, void *),
void * const accepterParm,
int * const terminationStatusP,
...);
pm_system2_vp(const char * const progName,
const char ** const argArray,
void stdinFeeder(int, void *),
void * const feederParm,
void stdoutAccepter(int, void *),
void * const accepterParm,
int * const termStatusP);
Example
This simple example converts a PNM image on Standard Input to a JFIF (JPEG) image on
Standard Output. In this case, pm_system() is doing no more than system() would do.
pm_system(NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, "pnmtojpeg");
This example does the same thing, but moves the data through memory buffers to illustrate
use with memory buffers, and we throw in a stage to shrink the image too:
#include <netpbm/pm_system.h>
char pnmData[100*1024]; /* Input file better be < 100K */
char jfifData[100*1024];
struct bufferDesc pnmBuffer;
struct bufferDesc jfifBuffer;
unsigned int jfifSize;
pnmBuffer.size = fread(pnmData, 1, sizeof(pnmData), stdin);
pnmBuffer.buffer = pnmData;
pnmBuffer.bytesTransferredP = NULL;
jfifBuffer.size = sizeof(jfifData);
jfifBuffer.buffer = jfifData;
jfifBuffer.bytesTransferredP = &jfifSize;
pm_system(&pm_feed_from_memory, &pnmBuffer,
&pm_accept_to_memory, &jfifBuffer,
"pamscale .5 | pnmtojpeg");
fwrite(jfifData, 1, jfifSize, stdout);
This example reads an image into libnetpbm PAM structures, then brightens it, then writes
it out, to illustrate use of pm_system with PAM structures.
#include <netpbm/pam.h>
#include <netpbm/pm_system.h>
struct pam inpam;
struct pam outpam;
tuple ** inTuples;
tuple ** outTuples;
struct pamtuples inPamtuples;
struct pamtuples outPamtuples;
inTuples = pnm_readpam(stdin, &inpam, sizeof(inpam));
outpam = inpam;
inPamtuples.pamP = &inpam;
inPamtuples.tuplesP = &inTuples;
outPamtuples.pamP = &outpam;
outPamtuples.tuplesP = &outTuples;
pm_system(&pm_feed_from_pamtuples, &inPamtuples,
&pm_accept_to_pamtuples, &outPamtuples,
"pambrighten -value +100");
outpam.file = stdout;
pnm_writepam(&outpam, outTuples);
DESCRIPTION
These library functions are part of Netpbm(1).
pm_system() is a lot like the standard C library system() subroutine. It runs a shell and
has that shell execute a shell command that you specify. But pm_system() gives you more
control over the Standard Input and Standard Output of that shell command than system().
system() passes to the shell command as Standard Input and Output whatever is the Standard
Input and Output of the process that calls system(). But with pm_system(), you specify as
arguments subroutines to execute to generate the shell command's Standard Input stream and
to process the shell command's Standard Output stream.
Your Standard Input feeder subroutine can generate the stream in limitless ways.
pm_system() gives it a file descriptor of a pipe to which to write the stream it
generates. pm_system() hooks up the other end of that pipe to the shell command's
Standard Input.
Likewise, your Standard Output accepter subroutine can do anything it wants with the
stream it gets. pm_system() gives it a file descriptor of a pipe from which to read the
stream. pm_system() hooks up the other end of that pipe to the shell command's Standard
Output.
The argument stdinFeeder is a function pointer that identifies your Standard Input feeder
subroutine. pm_system() runs it in a child process and waits for that process to
terminate (and accepts its completion status) before returning. feederParm is the
argument that pm_system() passes to the subroutine; it is opaque to pm_system().
If you pass stdinFeeder = NULL, pm_system() simply passes your current Standard Input
stream to the shell command (as system() would do), and does not create a child process.
The argument stdoutAccepter is a function pointer that identifies your Standard Output
accepter subroutine. pm_system() calls it in the current process. accepterParm is an
argument analogous to feederParm.
If you pass stdoutAccepter = NULL, pm_system() simply passes your current Standard Output
stream to the shell command (as system() would do.
The argument shellCommand is a null-terminated string containing the shell command that
the shell is to execute. It can be any command that means something to the shell and can
take a pipe for Standard Input and Output. Example:
pambrighten -vale +100 | pamdepth 255 | pamscale .5
pm_system() creates a child process to run the shell and waits for that process to
terminate (and accepts its completion status) before returning.
If the shell fails, i.e. does not exit voluntarily with zero exit status, pm_system calls
pm_error(), which normally issues an error message to Standard Error and exits the
program. Use pm_system2() if you don't want that.
Note that the 'termination status' of a Unix process is a value which is a combination of
1) whether the process exited voluntarily or was killed by the operating system; 2) in the
case of termination by the OS, what class of signal did it; and 3) in the case of
voluntary exit, what 'exit status' the program declared.
Interface Header File
These interfaces are declared by <netpbm/pm_system.h<.
pm_system2()
This is the same as pm_system() except that rather than respond to the shell process'
termination status, it just returns it to you (via your termStatusP argument).
pm_system_lp()
pm_system_lp() is like pm_system() except that instead of running a shell, which in turn
typically runs another program, you run a program of your choice directly.
Argument progName identifies the program to run, the same way as with execlp() or a shell
command: if it contains a slash (/), it is the full name of the file that contains the
program. If not, it is a name to be looked up in the system's program search path
(determined by the PATH environment variable).
You identify the arguments to the program the same way as for execlp(): with the variable
arguments at the end of the pm_system_lp() argument list. Each is a NUL-terminated
string. The last argument must be NULL to tell pm_system_lp() where the arguments end.
Note that the first argument ("arg0") to a program is conventionally the first word of the
command used to run the program, as if it were being run for a shell command. In other
words, typically the name of the program.
Example:
pm_system_lp("pnmtojpeg", NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
"pnmtojpeg", "mypicture.jpg", "-quality=50", NULL);
pm_system_lp() is much safer than pm_system() when your program computes the arguments or
gets them from a user. If you build a shell command using such arguments, unless you're
really careful, you may end up building a shell command that does something very different
from what you intended, because the argument could contain characters that mean something
to the shell such as "|".
pm_system_lp() can also be considerably faster that pm_system(), since it skips the whole
running of the shell.
If the process fails, i.e. produces nonzero termination status, pm_system_lp calls
pm_error(), which normally issues an error message to Standard Error and exits the
program. Use pm_system2_lp() if you don't want that.
pm_system2_lp()
This is the same as pm_system_lp() except that rather than respond to the process'
termination status, it just returns it to you (via your termStatusP argument).
pm_system_vp()
pm_system_vp() is like pm_system_lp() except that instead of supplying the program
arguments as variable arguments, you supply them as an array, as with execvp(). A NULL
element in the array identifies the end of the arguments.
Example:
const char * argArray[3];
argArray[0] = "pnmtojpeg";
argArray[1] = "-quality=50";
argArray[2] = NULL;
pm_system_vp("pnmtojpeg", argArray, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
If the process fails, i.e. produces nonzero termination status, pm_system_vp calls
pm_error(), which normally issues an error message to Standard Error and exits the
program. Use pm_system2_vp() if you don't want that.
pm_system2_vp()
This is the same as pm_system_vp() except that rather than respond to the process'
termination status, it just returns it to you (via your termStatusP argument).
Applications
The point of pm_system() and friends is to allow you to write a C program that uses other
programs internally, as a shell script would. This is particularly desirable with Netpbm,
because Netpbm consists of a lot of programs that perform basic graphic manipulations and
you'd like to be able to build a program that does a more sophisticated graphic
manipulation by calling the more basic Netpbm programs. These building block programs
typically take input from Standard Input and write output to Standard Output.
The obvious alternative is to use a higher level language -- Bourne Shell or Perl, for
example. But often you want your program to do manipulations of your graphical data that
are easier and more efficient in C. Or you want to use the Netpbm subroutine library in
your program. The Netpbm subroutine library is a C-linkage library; the subroutines in it
are not usable from a Bourne Shell or Perl program.
A typical use of pm_system() is to place the contents of some graphical image file in
memory, run a Netpbm program against it, and have what would ordinarily go into an output
file in memory too, for further processing. To do that, you can use the memory buffer
Standard Input feeder and Standard Output accepter described below.
If your program uses the Netpbm subroutine library to read, write, and manipulate images,
you may have an image in an array of PAM tuples. If you want to manipulate that image
with a Netpbm program (perhaps remap the colors using pnmremap), you can use the pamtuple
Standard Input feeder and Standard Output acceptor described below.
Broken Pipe Behavior
When you set up a shell command to take input from a pipe, as you do with pm_system(), you
need to understand how pipes work with respect to the programs at either end of the pipe
agreeing to how much data is to be transferred. Here are some notes on that.
It is normal to read a pipe before the process on the other end has written the data you
hope to read, and it is normal to write to a pipe before the process on the other end has
tried to read your data. Writes to a pipe can be buffered until the reading end requests
the data. A process reading or writing a pipe can block until the other end is ready. Or
a read or write can complete with an indication that the other end is not ready at the
moment and therefore no data, or less data than was requested, was transferred.
The pipe is normally controlled by the writing end. When you read from a pipe, you keep
reading until the program on the other end of the pipe closes it, and then you get an end-
of-file indication. You then normally close the reading end of the pipe, since it is no
longer useful.
When you close the reading end of a pipe before getting the end-of-file indication and the
writer subsequently tries to write to the pipe, that is an error condition for the writer.
In a typical default Unix environment, that error causes the writer to receive a SIGPIPE
signal and that signal causes the writer process to terminate abnormally. But if,
alternatively, the writer has ordered that SIGPIPE be blocked, ignored, or handled, the
signal does not cause the death of the writer. Instead, the write operation simply
completes with an error indication.
Standard Feeders And Acceptors
You can supply anything you like as a Standard Input feeder or Standard Output acceptor,
but the Netpbm subroutine library comes with a few that perform commonly needed functions.
Memory Buffer
These routines are for when you just want to treat an area of memory as a file. If the
shell command would ordinarily read a 513 byte regular file from its Standard Input, you
want it to take 513 bytes from a certain address in your process' memory. Whatever bytes
the shell command wants to write to its output file you want it to store at another
address in your process' memory.
The Standard Input feeder for this is called pm_feed_from_memory. The Standard Output
accepter is pm_accept_to_memory.
For both of these, the argument is a pointer to a struct bufferDesc, which is defined as
follows:
struct bufferDesc {
unsigned int size;
unsigned char * buffer;
unsigned int * bytesTransferredP;
};
size is the size of the memory buffer and buffer is its location in memory (address). The
Standard Input feeder will attempt to feed the entire buffer to the shell command's
Standard Input; the Standard Output accepter will not accept any more data from the shell
command's Standard Output than will fit in the buffer. Both return the actual amount of
data read or written, in bytes, at the location identified by bytesTransferredP. Unless
bytesTransferredP is NULL.
Because a process typically terminates abnormally when it is not able to write everything
to a pipe that it wanted to, bytesTransferredP is not usually useful in the Standard Input
feeder case.
File Stream
These routines are for using an actual file as input or output.
I.e. Standard Input comes from a file and Standard Output goes to a file.
You open the file and create a libc file stream (type FILE) from it and pass
that stream object to the standard input feeder or standard output accepter.
When you do this (using output as an example), your process writes to
Standard Output, which is a pipe, the standard output accepter then reads
from that pipe into a buffer, and then the standard output accepter writes
from that buffer to your file. You could alternatively just arrange for the
Standard Input or Output of your process to be the file and skip a copy, but
it might be more complex coding.
Note that if the calling program's Standard Output is already set up
as the file to which you want your process' output to go, you
don't need this. All you have to do is decline to specify a Standard
Output accepter (use NULL in place of the Standard Output accepter pointer)
and your process' output will go there.
The Standard Input feeder for this is called pm_feed_from_filestream. The Standard Output
accepter is pm_accept_to_filestream.
For both of these, the argument is a pointer to a Standard C library
FILE object.
Example:
int termStatus;
FILE * myFileP;
myFileP = fopen('tmp/myfile', 'r');
pm_system2(pm_feed_from_filestream, myFileP,
NULL, NULL,
'grep myword', &termstatus);
These routines were new in Netpbm 11.05 (December 2023).
Pamtuple
These routines are for when you have images in memory in the data structures used by the
PAM family of subroutines in the Netpbm library -- i.e. struct PAM and an array of struct
tuple. With these routines, you can run a Netpbm program against such an image just as
you would against the same image in a regular file.
The Standard Input feeder for this is called pm_feed_from_pamtuples. The Standard Output
accepter is pm_accept_to_pamtuples.
For both of these, the argument is the address of a struct pamtuples, which is defined as
follows:
struct pamtuples {
struct pam * pamP;
tuple *** tuplesP;
};
For the Standard Input feeder, you supply a struct pam, valid up through the tuple_type
member (except it doesn't matter what the file member is) and array of tuples.
For the Standard Output Accepter, you supply only space in memory for the struct pam and
the address of the tuple array. The routine fills in the struct pam up through the
tuple_type member (except leaves the file member undefined) and allocates space for the
tuple array with malloc(). You are responsible for freeing that memory.
HISTORY
pm_system() was introduced in Netpbm 10.13 (January 2003).
pm_system_lp() and pm_system_vp() were introduced in Netpbm 10.40 (September 2007).
pm_system2(), pm_system2_lp(), and pm_system2_vp() were introduce in Netpbm 10.75 (June
2016).
DOCUMENT SOURCE
This manual page was generated by the Netpbm tool 'makeman' from HTML source. The master
documentation is at
http://netpbm.sourceforge.net/doc/libsystem.html
netpbm documentation Netpbm subroutine library: pm_system() subroutine, etc.(3)