system(3S)                                             system(3S)



     NAME
          system - issue a shell command

     SYNOPSIS
          #include <stdio.h>

          int system (string)
          char *string;

     DESCRIPTION
          system causes string to be given to sh(1) as input, as if
          the string had been typed as a command at a terminal.  The
          current process waits until the shell has completed, then
          returns the exit status of the shell.

     FILES
          /bin/sh

     SEE ALSO
          sh(1), exec(2).

     DIAGNOSTICS
          system forks to create a child process that in turn performs
          exec(2) on /bin/sh in order to execute string.  If the fork
          or exec fails, system returns a negative value and sets
          errno.





























     Page 1                                        (last mod. 1/14/87)