CODEWITHSUNDEEP
clinuxunixforkexec
chickenman
chickenman

Reputation: 798

returning error when execvp does not find program

int spawn( char* program, char** args) {

pid_t child_pid;
child_pid = fork(); 

if( child_pid > 0) {  /
        wait(NULL);
        return (int)child_pid;
}

else {
    if(execvp(program, args) == -1){
        exit(EXIT_FAILURE); 
    }
    return (int)child_pid; 
    }
}

I know this code is kind of messy but please bear with me: I'm trying to create my own shell. This is the function that will spin up a new child process and execute the code. However, I am unable to return an error when I type in a string.

For example, if I type 'heyman' I just get 'heyman' back while I'd like to get some sort of error ('heyman' is not a command) back.

I was hoping the exit(EXIT_FAILURE) would do that but it has not. Would appreciate if anyone could help me here

Upvotes: 0

Views: 563

Answers (1)

Barmar
Barmar

Reputation: 780769

Use perror() to report the error.

if (execvp(program, args) == -1) {
    perror("execvp");
    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}

There's no need to use return (int)child_pid in the child function. If execvp() succeeds, none of the code after it runs; if it fails, you report the error and exit.

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions