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Module: Open3

Relationships & Source Files
Defined in: lib/open3.rb

Overview

Open3 grants you access to stdin, stdout, stderr and a thread to wait for the child process when running another program. You can specify various attributes, redirections, current directory, etc., of the program in the same way as for Process.spawn.

  • .popen3 : pipes for stdin, stdout, stderr

  • .popen2 : pipes for stdin, stdout

  • .popen2e : pipes for stdin, merged stdout and stderr

  • .capture3 : give a string for stdin; get strings for stdout, stderr

  • .capture2 : give a string for stdin; get a string for stdout

  • .capture2e : give a string for stdin; get a string for merged stdout and stderr

  • .pipeline_rw : pipes for first stdin and last stdout of a pipeline

  • .pipeline_r : pipe for last stdout of a pipeline

  • .pipeline_w : pipe for first stdin of a pipeline

  • .pipeline_start : run a pipeline without waiting

  • .pipeline : run a pipeline and wait for its completion

Constant Summary

Class Method Summary

Class Method Details

.capture2(*cmd) (mod_func)

capture2 captures the standard output of a command.

stdout_str, status = Open3.capture2([env,] cmd... [, opts])

The arguments env, cmd and opts are passed to .popen3 except opts[:stdin_data] and opts[:binmode]. See Process.spawn.

If opts[:stdin_data] is specified, it is sent to the command’s standard input.

If opts[:binmode] is true, internal pipes are set to binary mode.

Example:

# factor is a command for integer factorization.
o, s = Open3.capture2("factor", :stdin_data=>"42")
p o #=> "42: 2 3 7\n"

# generate x**2 graph in png using gnuplot.
gnuplot_commands = <<"End"
  set terminal png
  plot x**2, "-" with lines
  1 14
  2 1
  3 8
  4 5
  e
End
image, s = Open3.capture2("gnuplot", :stdin_data=>gnuplot_commands, :binmode=>true)
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 340

def capture2(*cmd)
  if Hash === cmd.last
    opts = cmd.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  stdin_data = opts.delete(:stdin_data)
  binmode = opts.delete(:binmode)

  popen2(*cmd, opts) {|i, o, t|
    if binmode
      i.binmode
      o.binmode
    end
    out_reader = Thread.new { o.read }
    if stdin_data
      begin
        if stdin_data.respond_to? :readpartial
          IO.copy_stream(stdin_data, i)
        else
          i.write stdin_data
        end
      rescue Errno::EPIPE
      end
    end
    i.close
    [out_reader.value, t.value]
  }
end

.capture2e(*cmd) (mod_func)

capture2e captures the standard output and the standard error of a command.

stdout_and_stderr_str, status = Open3.capture2e([env,] cmd... [, opts])

The arguments env, cmd and opts are passed to .popen3 except opts[:stdin_data] and opts[:binmode]. See Process.spawn.

If opts[:stdin_data] is specified, it is sent to the command’s standard input.

If opts[:binmode] is true, internal pipes are set to binary mode.

Example:

# capture make log
make_log, s = Open3.capture2e("make")
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 388

def capture2e(*cmd)
  if Hash === cmd.last
    opts = cmd.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  stdin_data = opts.delete(:stdin_data)
  binmode = opts.delete(:binmode)

  popen2e(*cmd, opts) {|i, oe, t|
    if binmode
      i.binmode
      oe.binmode
    end
    outerr_reader = Thread.new { oe.read }
    if stdin_data
      begin
        if stdin_data.respond_to? :readpartial
          IO.copy_stream(stdin_data, i)
        else
          i.write stdin_data
        end
      rescue Errno::EPIPE
      end
    end
    i.close
    [outerr_reader.value, t.value]
  }
end

.capture3(*cmd) (mod_func)

capture3 captures the standard output and the standard error of a command.

stdout_str, stderr_str, status = Open3.capture3([env,] cmd... [, opts])

The arguments env, cmd and opts are passed to .popen3 except opts[:stdin_data] and opts[:binmode]. See Process.spawn.

If opts[:stdin_data] is specified, it is sent to the command’s standard input.

If opts[:binmode] is true, internal pipes are set to binary mode.

Examples:

# dot is a command of graphviz.
graph = <<'End'
  digraph g {
    a -> b
  }
End
drawn_graph, dot_log = Open3.capture3("dot -v", :stdin_data=>graph)

o, e, s = Open3.capture3("echo abc; sort >&2", :stdin_data=>"foo\nbar\nbaz\n")
p o #=> "abc\n"
p e #=> "bar\nbaz\nfoo\n"
p s #=> #<Process::Status: pid 32682 exit 0>

# generate a thumbnail image using the convert command of ImageMagick.
# However, if the image is really stored in a file,
# system("convert", "-thumbnail", "80", "png:#{filename}", "png:-") is better
# because of reduced memory consumption.
# But if the image is stored in a DB or generated by the gnuplot Open3.capture2 example,
# Open3.capture3 should be considered.
#
image = File.read("/usr/share/openclipart/png/animals/mammals/sheep-md-v0.1.png", :binmode=>true)
thumbnail, err, s = Open3.capture3("convert -thumbnail 80 png:- png:-", :stdin_data=>image, :binmode=>true)
if s.success?
  STDOUT.binmode; print thumbnail
end
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 279

def capture3(*cmd)
  if Hash === cmd.last
    opts = cmd.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  stdin_data = opts.delete(:stdin_data) || ''
  binmode = opts.delete(:binmode)

  popen3(*cmd, opts) {|i, o, e, t|
    if binmode
      i.binmode
      o.binmode
      e.binmode
    end
    out_reader = Thread.new { o.read }
    err_reader = Thread.new { e.read }
    begin
      if stdin_data.respond_to? :readpartial
        IO.copy_stream(stdin_data, i)
      else
        i.write stdin_data
      end
    rescue Errno::EPIPE
    end
    i.close
    [out_reader.value, err_reader.value, t.value]
  }
end

.pipeline(*cmds) (mod_func)

pipeline starts a list of commands as a pipeline. It waits for the completion of the commands. No pipes are created for stdin of the first command and stdout of the last command.

status_list = Open3.pipeline(cmd1, cmd2, ... [, opts])

Each cmd is a string or an array. If it is an array, the elements are passed to Process.spawn.

cmd:
  commandline                              command line string which is passed to a shell
  [env, commandline, opts]                 command line string which is passed to a shell
  [env, cmdname, arg1, ..., opts]          command name and one or more arguments (no shell)
  [env, [cmdname, argv0], arg1, ..., opts] command name and arguments including argv[0] (no shell)

Note that env and opts are optional, as Process.spawn.

Example:

fname = "/usr/share/man/man1/ruby.1.gz"
p Open3.pipeline(["zcat", fname], "nroff -man", "less")
#=> [#<Process::Status: pid 11817 exit 0>,
#    #<Process::Status: pid 11820 exit 0>,
#    #<Process::Status: pid 11828 exit 0>]

fname = "/usr/share/man/man1/ls.1.gz"
Open3.pipeline(["zcat", fname], "nroff -man", "colcrt")

# convert PDF to PS and send to a printer by lpr
pdf_file = "paper.pdf"
printer = "printer-name"
Open3.pipeline(["pdftops", pdf_file, "-"],
               ["lpr", "-P#{printer}"])

# count lines
Open3.pipeline("sort", "uniq -c", :in=>"names.txt", :out=>"count")

# cyclic pipeline
r,w = IO.pipe
w.print "ibase=14\n10\n"
Open3.pipeline("bc", "tee /dev/tty", :in=>r, :out=>w)
#=> 14
#   18
#   22
#   30
#   42
#   58
#   78
#   106
#   202
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 687

def pipeline(*cmds)
  if Hash === cmds.last
    opts = cmds.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [], []) {|ts|
    ts.map(&:value)
  }
end

.pipeline_r(*cmds, &block) (mod_func)

pipeline_r starts a list of commands as a pipeline with a pipe which connects to stdout of the last command.

Open3.pipeline_r(cmd1, cmd2, ... [, opts]) {|last_stdout, wait_threads|
  #...
}

last_stdout, wait_threads = Open3.pipeline_r(cmd1, cmd2, ... [, opts])
#...
last_stdout.close

Each cmd is a string or an array. If it is an array, the elements are passed to Process.spawn.

cmd:
  commandline                              command line string which is passed to a shell
  [env, commandline, opts]                 command line string which is passed to a shell
  [env, cmdname, arg1, ..., opts]          command name and one or more arguments (no shell)
  [env, [cmdname, argv0], arg1, ..., opts] command name and arguments including argv[0] (no shell)

Note that env and opts are optional, as for Process.spawn.

Example:

Open3.pipeline_r("zcat /var/log/apache2/access.log.*.gz",
                 [{"LANG"=>"C"}, "grep", "GET /favicon.ico"],
                 "logresolve") {|o, ts|
  o.each_line {|line|
    #...
  }
}

Open3.pipeline_r("yes", "head -10") {|o, ts|
  p o.read      #=> "y\ny\ny\ny\ny\ny\ny\ny\ny\ny\n"
  p ts[0].value #=> #<Process::Status: pid 24910 SIGPIPE (signal 13)>
  p ts[1].value #=> #<Process::Status: pid 24913 exit 0>
}
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 518

def pipeline_r(*cmds, &block)
  if Hash === cmds.last
    opts = cmds.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  out_r, out_w = IO.pipe
  opts[:out] = out_w

  pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [out_w], [out_r], &block)
end

.pipeline_run(cmds, pipeline_opts, child_io, parent_io) (mod_func)

This method is for internal use only.
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 700

def pipeline_run(cmds, pipeline_opts, child_io, parent_io) # :nodoc:
  if cmds.empty?
    raise ArgumentError, "no commands"
  end

  opts_base = pipeline_opts.dup
  opts_base.delete :in
  opts_base.delete :out

  wait_thrs = []
  r = nil
  cmds.each_with_index {|cmd, i|
    cmd_opts = opts_base.dup
    if String === cmd
      cmd = [cmd]
    else
      cmd_opts.update cmd.pop if Hash === cmd.last
    end
    if i == 0
      if !cmd_opts.include?(:in)
        if pipeline_opts.include?(:in)
          cmd_opts[:in] = pipeline_opts[:in]
        end
      end
    else
      cmd_opts[:in] = r
    end
    if i != cmds.length - 1
      r2, w2 = IO.pipe
      cmd_opts[:out] = w2
    else
      if !cmd_opts.include?(:out)
        if pipeline_opts.include?(:out)
          cmd_opts[:out] = pipeline_opts[:out]
        end
      end
    end
    pid = spawn(*cmd, cmd_opts)
    wait_thrs << Process.detach(pid)
    r&.close
    w2&.close
    r = r2
  }
  result = parent_io + [wait_thrs]
  child_io.each(&:close)
  if defined? yield
    begin
      return yield(*result)
    ensure
      parent_io.each(&:close)
      wait_thrs.each(&:join)
    end
  end
  result
end

.pipeline_rw(*cmds, &block) (mod_func)

pipeline_rw starts a list of commands as a pipeline with pipes which connect to stdin of the first command and stdout of the last command.

Open3.pipeline_rw(cmd1, cmd2, ... [, opts]) {|first_stdin, last_stdout, wait_threads|
  #...
}

first_stdin, last_stdout, wait_threads = Open3.pipeline_rw(cmd1, cmd2, ... [, opts])
#...
first_stdin.close
last_stdout.close

Each cmd is a string or an array. If it is an array, the elements are passed to Process.spawn.

cmd:
  commandline                              command line string which is passed to a shell
  [env, commandline, opts]                 command line string which is passed to a shell
  [env, cmdname, arg1, ..., opts]          command name and one or more arguments (no shell)
  [env, [cmdname, argv0], arg1, ..., opts] command name and arguments including argv[0] (no shell)

Note that env and opts are optional, as for Process.spawn.

The options to pass to Process.spawn are constructed by merging opts, the last hash element of the array, and specifications for the pipes between each of the commands.

Example:

Open3.pipeline_rw("tr -dc A-Za-z", "wc -c") {|i, o, ts|
  i.puts "All persons more than a mile high to leave the court."
  i.close
  p o.gets #=> "42\n"
}

Open3.pipeline_rw("sort", "cat -n") {|stdin, stdout, wait_thrs|
  stdin.puts "foo"
  stdin.puts "bar"
  stdin.puts "baz"
  stdin.close     # send EOF to sort.
  p stdout.read   #=> "     1\tbar\n     2\tbaz\n     3\tfoo\n"
}
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 462

def pipeline_rw(*cmds, &block)
  if Hash === cmds.last
    opts = cmds.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  in_r, in_w = IO.pipe
  opts[:in] = in_r
  in_w.sync = true

  out_r, out_w = IO.pipe
  opts[:out] = out_w

  pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [in_r, out_w], [in_w, out_r], &block)
end

.pipeline_start(*cmds, &block) (mod_func)

pipeline_start starts a list of commands as a pipeline. No pipes are created for stdin of the first command and stdout of the last command.

Open3.pipeline_start(cmd1, cmd2, ... [, opts]) {|wait_threads|
  #...
}

wait_threads = Open3.pipeline_start(cmd1, cmd2, ... [, opts])
#...

Each cmd is a string or an array. If it is an array, the elements are passed to Process.spawn.

cmd:
  commandline                              command line string which is passed to a shell
  [env, commandline, opts]                 command line string which is passed to a shell
  [env, cmdname, arg1, ..., opts]          command name and one or more arguments (no shell)
  [env, [cmdname, argv0], arg1, ..., opts] command name and arguments including argv[0] (no shell)

Note that env and opts are optional, as for Process.spawn.

Example:

# Run xeyes in 10 seconds.
Open3.pipeline_start("xeyes") {|ts|
  sleep 10
  t = ts[0]
  Process.kill("TERM", t.pid)
  p t.value #=> #<Process::Status: pid 911 SIGTERM (signal 15)>
}

# Convert pdf to ps and send it to a printer.
# Collect error message of pdftops and lpr.
pdf_file = "paper.pdf"
printer = "printer-name"
err_r, err_w = IO.pipe
Open3.pipeline_start(["pdftops", pdf_file, "-"],
                     ["lpr", "-P#{printer}"],
                     :err=>err_w) {|ts|
  err_w.close
  p err_r.read # error messages of pdftops and lpr.
}
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 619

def pipeline_start(*cmds, &block)
  if Hash === cmds.last
    opts = cmds.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  if block
    pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [], [], &block)
  else
    ts, = pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [], [])
    ts
  end
end

.pipeline_w(*cmds, &block) (mod_func)

pipeline_w starts a list of commands as a pipeline with a pipe which connects to stdin of the first command.

Open3.pipeline_w(cmd1, cmd2, ... [, opts]) {|first_stdin, wait_threads|
  #...
}

first_stdin, wait_threads = Open3.pipeline_w(cmd1, cmd2, ... [, opts])
#...
first_stdin.close

Each cmd is a string or an array. If it is an array, the elements are passed to Process.spawn.

cmd:
  commandline                              command line string which is passed to a shell
  [env, commandline, opts]                 command line string which is passed to a shell
  [env, cmdname, arg1, ..., opts]          command name and one or more arguments (no shell)
  [env, [cmdname, argv0], arg1, ..., opts] command name and arguments including argv[0] (no shell)

Note that env and opts are optional, as for Process.spawn.

Example:

Open3.pipeline_w("bzip2 -c", :out=>"/tmp/hello.bz2") {|i, ts|
  i.puts "hello"
}
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 560

def pipeline_w(*cmds, &block)
  if Hash === cmds.last
    opts = cmds.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  in_r, in_w = IO.pipe
  opts[:in] = in_r
  in_w.sync = true

  pipeline_run(cmds, opts, [in_r], [in_w], &block)
end

.popen2(*cmd, &block) (mod_func)

popen2 is similar to .popen3 except that it doesn’t create a pipe for the standard error stream.

Block form:

Open3.popen2([env,] cmd... [, opts]) {|stdin, stdout, wait_thr|
  pid = wait_thr.pid # pid of the started process.
  #...
  exit_status = wait_thr.value # Process::Status object returned.
}

Non-block form:

stdin, stdout, wait_thr = Open3.popen2([env,] cmd... [, opts])
#...
stdin.close  # stdin and stdout should be closed explicitly in this form.
stdout.close

See Process.spawn for the optional hash arguments env and opts.

Example:

Open3.popen2("wc -c") {|i,o,t|
  i.print "answer to life the universe and everything"
  i.close
  p o.gets #=> "42\n"
}

Open3.popen2("bc -q") {|i,o,t|
  i.puts "obase=13"
  i.puts "6 * 9"
  p o.gets #=> "42\n"
}

Open3.popen2("dc") {|i,o,t|
  i.print "42P"
  i.close
  p o.read #=> "*"
}
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 146

def popen2(*cmd, &block)
  if Hash === cmd.last
    opts = cmd.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  in_r, in_w = IO.pipe
  opts[:in] = in_r
  in_w.sync = true

  out_r, out_w = IO.pipe
  opts[:out] = out_w

  popen_run(cmd, opts, [in_r, out_w], [in_w, out_r], &block)
end

.popen2e(*cmd, &block) (mod_func)

popen2e is similar to .popen3 except that it merges the standard output stream and the standard error stream.

Block form:

Open3.popen2e([env,] cmd... [, opts]) {|stdin, stdout_and_stderr, wait_thr|
  pid = wait_thr.pid # pid of the started process.
  #...
  exit_status = wait_thr.value # Process::Status object returned.
}

Non-block form:

stdin, stdout_and_stderr, wait_thr = Open3.popen2e([env,] cmd... [, opts])
#...
stdin.close  # stdin and stdout_and_stderr should be closed explicitly in this form.
stdout_and_stderr.close

See Process.spawn for the optional hash arguments env and opts.

Example:

# check gcc warnings
source = "foo.c"
Open3.popen2e("gcc", "-Wall", source) {|i,oe,t|
  oe.each {|line|
    if /warning/ =~ line
      #...
    end
  }
}
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 195

def popen2e(*cmd, &block)
  if Hash === cmd.last
    opts = cmd.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  in_r, in_w = IO.pipe
  opts[:in] = in_r
  in_w.sync = true

  out_r, out_w = IO.pipe
  opts[[:out, :err]] = out_w

  popen_run(cmd, opts, [in_r, out_w], [in_w, out_r], &block)
ensure
  if block
    in_r.close
    in_w.close
    out_r.close
    out_w.close
  end
end

.popen3(*cmd, &block) (mod_func)

Open stdin, stdout, and stderr streams and start external executable. In addition, a thread to wait for the started process is created. The thread has a pid method and a thread variable :pid which is the pid of the started process.

Block form:

Open3.popen3([env,] cmd... [, opts]) {|stdin, stdout, stderr, wait_thr|
  pid = wait_thr.pid # pid of the started process.
  #...
  exit_status = wait_thr.value # Process::Status object returned.
}

Non-block form:

stdin, stdout, stderr, wait_thr = Open3.popen3([env,] cmd... [, opts])
pid = wait_thr[:pid]  # pid of the started process
#...
stdin.close  # stdin, stdout and stderr should be closed explicitly in this form.
stdout.close
stderr.close
exit_status = wait_thr.value  # Process::Status object returned.

The parameters env, cmd, and opts are passed to Process.spawn. A commandline string and a list of argument strings can be accepted as follows:

Open3.popen3("echo abc") {|i, o, e, t| ... }
Open3.popen3("echo", "abc") {|i, o, e, t| ... }
Open3.popen3(["echo", "argv0"], "abc") {|i, o, e, t| ... }

If the last parameter, opts, is a Hash, it is recognized as an option for Process.spawn.

Open3.popen3("pwd", :chdir=>"/") {|i,o,e,t|
  p o.read.chomp #=> "/"
}

wait_thr.value waits for the termination of the process. The block form also waits for the process when it returns.

Closing stdin, stdout and stderr does not wait for the process to complete.

You should be careful to avoid deadlocks. Since pipes are fixed length buffers, popen3(“prog”) {|i, o, e, t| o.read } deadlocks if the program generates too much output on stderr. You should read stdout and stderr simultaneously (using threads or IO.select). However, if you don’t need stderr output, you can use .popen2. If merged stdout and stderr output is not a problem, you can use .popen2e. If you really need stdout and stderr output as separate strings, you can consider .capture3.

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 85

def popen3(*cmd, &block)
  if Hash === cmd.last
    opts = cmd.pop.dup
  else
    opts = {}
  end

  in_r, in_w = IO.pipe
  opts[:in] = in_r
  in_w.sync = true

  out_r, out_w = IO.pipe
  opts[:out] = out_w

  err_r, err_w = IO.pipe
  opts[:err] = err_w

  popen_run(cmd, opts, [in_r, out_w, err_w], [in_w, out_r, err_r], &block)
end

.popen_run(cmd, opts, child_io, parent_io) (mod_func)

This method is for internal use only.
[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/open3.rb', line 220

def popen_run(cmd, opts, child_io, parent_io) # :nodoc:
  pid = spawn(*cmd, opts)
  wait_thr = Process.detach(pid)
  child_io.each(&:close)
  result = [*parent_io, wait_thr]
  if defined? yield
    begin
      return yield(*result)
    ensure
      parent_io.each(&:close)
      wait_thr.join
    end
  end
  result
end