Execute a perl script within a perl script with arguments

Question

I have met a problem when I tried to execute a perl script within my perl script. This is a small part of a larger project that I'm working on.

Below is my perl script code:

use strict;
use warnings;
use FindBin qw($Bin);

#There are more options, but I just have one here for short example
print "Please enter template file name: "
my $template = <>;
chomp($template);

#Call another perl script which take in arguments
system($^X, "$Bin/GetResults.pl", "-templatefile $template");

the "GetResults.pl" takes in multiple arguments, I just provide one here for example. Basically, if I was to use the GetResults.pl script alone, in the command line I would type:

perl GetResults.pl -templatefile template.xml

I met two problems with the system function call above. First of all, it seems to remove the dash in front of my argument when I run my perl script resulting in invalid argument error in GetResults.pl.

Then I tried this

system($^X, "$Bin/GetResults.pl", "/\-/templatefile $template");

It seems OK since it does not complain about earlier problem, but now it says it could not find the template.xml although I have that file in the same location as my perl script as well as GetResults.pl script. If I just run GetResults.pl script alone, it works fine.

I'm wondering if there is some issue with the string comparison when I use variable $template and the real file name located on my PC (I'm using Window 7).

I'm new to Perl and hope that someone could help. Thank you in advance.

Jonathan Leffler · Accepted Answer · 2015-01-16 22:37:48Z

5

Pass the arguments as an array, just as you would with any other program (a Perl script is not special; that it is a Perl script is an implementation detail):

system($^X, "$Bin/GetResults.pl", "-templatefile", "$template");

You could line everything up in an array and use that, too:

my @args = ("$Bin/GetResults.pl", "-templatefile", "$template");
system($^X, @args);

Or even add $^X to @args. Etc.

answered Jan 16, 2015 at 22:37

Jonathan Leffler

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4 Comments

Nazar Over a year ago

Could you please also add the return from the called script to capture the return status?

Jonathan Leffler Over a year ago

I'm not sure what you mean. You can capture the return value from system by my $rv = system(…); which is trivial and obvious and … what's the problem you're after help with? perldoc -f system may assist you.

Nazar Over a year ago

The perl script "GetResults.pl" may be returning something after completion. I would like to capture that return. So, the $rv will contain the return value of that perl script?

Jonathan Leffler Over a year ago

Yes — see perldoc -f system for guidelines on how to interpret the return value from a system statement/call.

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