Autogenerated HTML docs for v1.5.4.2-156-ge3c5
diff --git a/technical/api-run-command.txt b/technical/api-run-command.txt index 19d2f64..dfbf9ac 100644 --- a/technical/api-run-command.txt +++ b/technical/api-run-command.txt
@@ -1,10 +1,171 @@ run-command API =============== -Talk about <run-command.h>, and things like: +The run-command API offers a versatile tool to run sub-processes with +redirected input and output as well as with a modified environment +and an alternate current directory. -* Environment the command runs with (e.g. GIT_DIR); -* File descriptors and pipes; -* Exit status; +A similar API offers the capability to run a function asynchronously, +which is primarily used to capture the output that the function +produces in the caller in order to process it. -(Hannes, Dscho, Shawn) + +Functions +--------- + +`start_command`:: + + Start a sub-process. Takes a pointer to a `struct child_process` + that specifies the details and returns pipe FDs (if requested). + See below for details. + +`finish_command`:: + + Wait for the completion of a sub-process that was started with + start_command(). + +`run_command`:: + + A convenience function that encapsulates a sequence of + start_command() followed by finish_command(). Takes a pointer + to a `struct child_process` that specifies the details. + +`run_command_v_opt`, `run_command_v_opt_dir`, `run_command_v_opt_cd_env`:: + + Convenience functions that encapsulate a sequence of + start_command() followed by finish_command(). The argument argv + specifies the program and its arguments. The argument opt is zero + or more of the flags `RUN_COMMAND_NO_STDIN`, `RUN_GIT_CMD`, or + `RUN_COMMAND_STDOUT_TO_STDERR` that correspond to the members + .no_stdin, .git_cmd, .stdout_to_stderr of `struct child_process`. + The argument dir corresponds the member .dir. The argument env + corresponds to the member .env. + +`start_async`:: + + Run a function asynchronously. Takes a pointer to a `struct + async` that specifies the details and returns a pipe FD + from which the caller reads. See below for details. + +`finish_async`:: + + Wait for the completeion of an asynchronous function that was + started with start_async(). + + +Data structures +--------------- + +* `struct child_process` + +This describes the arguments, redirections, and environment of a +command to run in a sub-process. + +The caller: + +1. allocates and clears (memset(&chld, '0', sizeof(chld));) a + struct child_process variable; +2. initializes the members; +3. calls start_command(); +4. processes the data; +5. closes file descriptors (if necessary; see below); +6. calls finish_command(). + +The .argv member is set up as an array of string pointers (NULL +terminated), of which .argv[0] is the program name to run (usually +without a path). If the command to run is a git command, set argv[0] to +the command name without the 'git-' prefix and set .git_cmd = 1. + +The members .in, .out, .err are used to redirect stdin, stdout, +stderr as follows: + +. Specify 0 to request no special redirection. No new file descriptor + is allocated. The child process simply inherits the channel from the + parent. + +. Specify -1 to have a pipe allocated; start_command() replaces -1 + by the pipe FD in the following way: + + .in: Returns the writable pipe end into which the caller writes; + the readable end of the pipe becomes the child's stdin. + + .out, .err: Returns the readable pipe end from which the caller + reads; the writable end of the pipe end becomes child's + stdout/stderr. + + The caller of start_command() must close the so returned FDs + after it has completed reading from/writing to it! + +. Specify a file descriptor > 0 to be used by the child: + + .in: The FD must be readable; it becomes child's stdin. + .out: The FD must be writable; it becomes child's stdout. + .err > 0 is not supported. + + The specified FD is closed by start_command(), even if it fails to + run the sub-process! + +. Special forms of redirection are available by setting these members + to 1: + + .no_stdin, .no_stdout, .no_stderr: The respective channel is + redirected to /dev/null. + + .stdout_to_stderr: stdout of the child is redirected to the + parent's stderr (i.e. *not* to what .err or + .no_stderr specify). + +To modify the environment of the sub-process, specify an array of +string pointers (NULL terminated) in .env: + +. If the string is of the form "VAR=value", i.e. it contains '=' + the variable is added to the child process's environment. + +. If the string does not contain '=', it names an environement + variable that will be removed from the child process's envionment. + +To specify a new initial working directory for the sub-process, +specify it in the .dir member. + + +* `struct async` + +This describes a function to run asynchronously, whose purpose is +to produce output that the caller reads. + +The caller: + +1. allocates and clears (memset(&asy, '0', sizeof(asy));) a + struct async variable; +2. initializes .proc and .data; +3. calls start_async(); +4. processes the data by reading from the fd in .out; +5. closes .out; +6. calls finish_async(). + +The function pointer in .proc has the following signature: + + int proc(int fd, void *data); + +. fd specifies a writable file descriptor to which the function must + write the data that it produces. The function *must* close this + descriptor before it returns. + +. data is the value that the caller has specified in the .data member + of struct async. + +. The return value of the function is 0 on success and non-zero + on failure. If the function indicates failure, finish_async() will + report failure as well. + + +There are serious restrictions on what the asynchronous function can do +because this facility is implemented by a pipe to a forked process on +UNIX, but by a thread in the same address space on Windows: + +. It cannot change the program's state (global variables, environment, + etc.) in a way that the caller notices; in other words, .out is the + only communication channel to the caller. + +. It must not change the program's state that the caller of the + facility also uses.
