system(3) BSD Library Functions Manual system(3)
NAME
system -- pass a command to the shell
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <stdlib.h>
int
system(const char *command);
DESCRIPTION
The system() function hands the argument command to the command inter-
preter sh(1). The calling process waits for the shell to finish execut-
ing the command, ignoring SIGINT and SIGQUIT, and blocking SIGCHLD.
If command is a NULL pointer, system() will return non-zero if the com-
mand interpreter sh(1) is available, and zero if it is not.
RETURN VALUES
The system() function returns the exit status of the shell as returned by
waitpid(2), or -1 if an error occurred when invoking fork(2) or
waitpid(2). A return value of 127 means the execution of the shell
failed.
SEE ALSO
sh(1), execve(2), fork(2), waitpid(2), popen(3)
STANDARDS
The system() function conforms to ISO/IEC 9899:1990 (``ISO C90'') and is
expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2'') compatible.
BSD June 4, 1993 BSD
Mac OS X 10.8 - Generated Fri Aug 31 15:46:27 CDT 2012