how to execute programs in non-blocking way from scripts

Question

I have series of program files, a.out, b.out, c.out

I want to execute them one after the other after certain delay between each program. like
./a.out -input parameters
----wait for 50 sec----
./b.out -input parameters
-----wait for 100 sec----
./c.out

I want to execute b.out 50 seconds after a.out has started execution but in a non-blocking way i.e. I don't want to wait for 50sec after a.out has finished execution.

Can anyone suggest ways of doing this in linux as I'm putting this into a script that will automate tasks for me

score 11 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 12 '11 at 14:20

11

You want background processes:

./a.out -parameters & 
sleep 50 
./b.out -parameters & 
sleep 100 
./c.out &

Background processes run without blocking your terminal; you can control them in a limited way with the jobs facility.

answered Jul 12 '11 at 14:20

Kilian Foth

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score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

1

To run it in background, you can use a.out &.

For timeout, consider Timeout a command in bash without unnecessary delay .

edited May 23 '17 at 11:53

Community

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1

answered Jul 12 '11 at 14:20

Sebastian Mach

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score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 12 '11 at 14:20

-1

You could use a Bash script and the sleep program:

#!/bin/bash
./a.out -input parameters
sleep 50
./b.out -input parameters
sleep 100
./c.out

answered Jul 12 '11 at 14:20

Martey

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that would still be synchronous – Sebastian Mach Jul 12 '11 at 14:20
Oops, that's right. Kilian's answer is correct, and should be accepted. – Martey Jul 12 '11 at 14:26

how to execute programs in non-blocking way from scripts

3 Answers3