[ale] Quick script question

[Danny Cox]

Douglas,

On Mon, 2003-03-03 at 21:59, Douglas Bridges wrote:
> I am trying to write a script to do something simple, but I have run across a 
> little problem.  My script is trying to fire off a program with many 
> permutations of parameters. When it receives a valid parameter, it fires up a 
> GUI.  When it gets an invalid parameter, it errors out returning an error 
> code ($? = 1).  How can I check to see if the GUI was fired up in a bash 
> script so that I can automatically try all of these different parameters.  
> The GUI fires up within 2 seconds, so if I don't get an error code within 
> that time, I can kill the process and assume it worked.

	How about:

	$ARGS="some args"
	while :		# always true
	do
		gui_start_proggy $ARGS &
		PID=$!
		sleep 3		# sleep 2 may only get you 1.1 secs
		if [ -d /proc/$PID ]
		then
			exit	# GUI started
		else
			wait $PID	# reap the child
			ARGS=$(permute $ARGS)
		fi
	done

or something like that. ;-)

-- 
kernel, n.: A part of an operating system that preserves the
medieval traditions of sorcery and black art.

Danny

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