NAME

       system - execute a shell command

SYNOPSIS

       #include <stdlib.h>

       int system (const char * string);

DESCRIPTION

       system()  executes a command specified in string by calling /bin/sh -c string, and returns
       after the command has been completed.  During execution of the command,  SIGCHLD  will  be
       blocked, and SIGINT and SIGQUIT will be ignored.

RETURN VALUE

       The  value returned is 127 if the execve() call for /bin/sh fails, -1 if there was another
       error and the return code of the command otherwise.

       If the value of string is NULL, system() returns nonzero if the shell  is  available,  and
       zero if not.

       system() does not affect the wait status of any other children.

CONFORMING TO

       ANSI C, POSIX.2, BSD 4.3

BUGS

       It  is  extremely  unfortunate that the libc version of system() ignores interrupts.  This
       makes programs that call it from  a  loop  uninterruptable.   This  means  that  for  such
       purposes one should not use system() but a private version like (warning: untested code!)

       int my_system (const char *command) {
           int pid, status;

           if (command == 0)
               return 1;
           pid = fork();
           if (pid == -1)
               return -1;
           if (pid == 0) {
               char *argv[4];
               argv[0] = "sh";
               argv[1] = "-c";
               argv[2] = command;
               argv[3] = 0;
               execve("/bin/sh", argv, environ);
               exit(127);
           }
           do {
               if (waitpid(pid, &status, 0) == -1) {
                   if (errno != EINTR)
                       return -1;
               } else
                   return status;
           } while(1);
       }

       Do  not  use  system() from a program with suid or sgid privileges, because strange values
       for some environment variables might be used to subvert system integrity.  Use the exec(3)
       family  of functions instead, but not execlp(3) or execvp(3).  system() will not, in fact,
       work properly from programs with suid or sgid privileges on systems on  which  /bin/sh  is
       bash  version  2,  since bash 2 drops privileges on startup.  (Debian uses a modified bash
       which does not do this when invoked as sh.)

       The check for the availability of /bin/sh is not actually performed; it is always  assumed
       to  be  available.  ISO C specifies the check, but POSIX.2 specifies that the return shall
       always be non-zero, since a system without the shell is not conforming,  and  it  is  this
       that is implemented.

       It  is possible for the shell command to return 127, so that code is not a sure indication
       that the execve() call failed; check errno to make sure.

SEE ALSO

       sh(1), signal(2), exec(3)