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) input, as if the
          string had been typed as a command at a terminal.  The
          current process waits until the shell has completed and then
          returns the exit status of the shell.

     RETURN VALUE
          system forks to create a child process that in turn performs
          exec(2) on /bin/sh in order to execute string.  If fork or
          exec fails, system returns a negative value and sets errno.
          If fork and exec succeed, the exit status of the shell is
          returned.

     FILES
          /bin/sh

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




























     April, 1990                                                     1