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From: jdb@reef.cis.ufl.edu (Brian K. W. Hook)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Spawning processes in DOS
Message-ID: <27813@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>
Date: 4 Apr 91 14:51:43 GMT
References: <1991Apr3.133226.22304@ibmpa.awdpa.ibm.com> <1374@bragi.ctron.com>
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Lines: 30

In article <1374@bragi.ctron.com> dj@balrog.ctron.com (DJ Delorie) writes:
|>In article <1991Apr3.133226.22304@ibmpa.awdpa.ibm.com> dougs@claude1.rchland.ibm.com (J Doug Smith) writes:
|>> I'm trying to write an application that will run another program and
|>> get that program's output so it can be displayed to the user (much
|>> like an editor runs a compiler and sends the compiler's output to the
|>> user).  Does anyone have any Ideas on how to accomplish this?  Execing
|>> another programs certainly is no problem, I just don't see how to get
|>> the output from that program.
|>
|>The only safe way (ie: compatible) is:
|>
|>  . . .
|>  rc = system("cc -c foo.c > /tmp/blat 2>&1");
|>  rf = fopen("/tmp/blat", "r");
|>  . . .
|>
|>but watch out for the 2>&1 on DOS :-)
|>
|>DJ
|>dj@ctron.com

Unfortunately, this assumes that you can trap the program's output using
standard redirection.  What about programs that write direct to video
memory?  Most of my programs do, and when I redirect them I get blank
files.  Same with redirecting input...I don't use the standard DOS int to
get a character, I use bioskey() under Turbo C.

Any way around this?

Brian