I'm trying to write IDL script called, for example, a.pro. In the end of this script I want to execute shell script b. I'm trying to do it using spawn command. But I also need to pass some parameters (variables values) to this shell script from IDL script. How can I do that?
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You could use the `EXECUTE` function on a string and pass the variable in that way. – honeste_vivere Aug 01 '16 at 12:28
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The [tag:idl] tag is for Interface Description Language. – asynchronos Aug 01 '16 at 16:49
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The command you send to SPAWN is just a string; create the string any way you like. I prefer using C-style format codes:
filename = 'output.log'
n_lines = 50
cmd = string(n_lines, filename, format='(%"tail -%d %s")')
; cmd = 'tail -50 output.log'
spawn, cmd, output
mgalloy
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There are two ways to call SPAWN to accomplish what you want:
Call the script, b, directly:
spawn, ['b', arg1, arg2], /noshell
Advantages:
- Faster, because it doesn't create a new instance of
bash. - Safer, because you don't have to escape or quote the arguments.
Format as a bash terminal string:
script_path = 'b'
cmd = strjoin([script_path, arg1, arg2], ' ')
spawn, cmd
Advantages:
- Sometimes easier, because you can just use the format you're used to seeing from
bash.
In most instances, you should call scripts and other programs (besides IDL) directly with spawn, /noshell, because the speed gains are substantial, and the safety may be considerable.
Pi Marillion
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