Call a shell script from C

Question

I would like to ask, how to call a shell script with parameters in C. I have found this, but it seems not working.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

char script = "script.sh";

system(script);

Thanks in advance!

"not working" how? Did you see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4187908/c-program-calling-shell-script ? — BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft, Jul 18 '11 at 19:02

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 18 '11 at 19:05

2

const char * script = "script.sh";

instead of

char script = "script.sh";

Note the «*» sign...

the system function needs a char *, not a single char (a string, not a character).

answered Jul 18 '11 at 19:05

Macmade

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thanks! `sh: add_arp.sh: not found` ive got this error. the script is in the same folder as `c` file. do i miss something? – shaggy Jul 18 '11 at 19:13
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but, any idea how to pass some args from C to shell? – shaggy Jul 18 '11 at 19:23
true, but if i need to pass args stored in variable in C? – shaggy Jul 18 '11 at 19:29
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@shaggy: Use sprintf or similar to create your full command line. – Paŭlo Ebermann Jul 18 '11 at 19:33

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 18 '11 at 19:27

Basic error: Here you have given a string into the char. That is "char script" can hold only 1 character. For this you need char * script = "script.sh";

Shell Script error: Make sure it is "const char *", also you provide the full path of the script file"script.sh" or whatever command you want to run.

Also you have to add #!/bin/bash on the top after including the libraries.

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 18 '11 at 19:03

0

That's correct if you're passing a valid path to an executable.

http://linux.die.net/man/3/system

You should check the return value and errno for errors.

answered Jul 18 '11 at 19:03

Brian L

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Call a shell script from C

3 Answers3