Re: Spawn()

[tp@odn.de (Thomas Preymesser)]

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On Sun, 20 Sep 1998 11:41:56 GMT, dewarr@my-dejanews.com wrote:

Hi.

>In article <B229FC4896684F827@194.45.232.5>,
>  t.preymesser@msn.sub.org (Thomas Preymesser) wrote:
>> Hi.
>>
>> Can someone show me an example how to use the procedure
>> "Spawn" in gnat?
>> I'm a little bit confused with these access-types.
>
>The documentation on how to use such routines is always
>found in the package specification in the corresponding
>g-xxx.ads file (use gnatkr to find the file name):
>
>   type Argument_List is array (Positive range <>) of String_Access;
>   --  Type used for argument list in call to Spawn. The lower bound
>   --  of the array should be 1, and the length of the array indicates
>   --  the number of arguments.
>
>   type Argument_List_Access is access all Argument_List;
>   --  Type used to return an Argument_List without dragging in secondary
>   --  stack.
>
>   procedure Spawn
>     (Program_Name : String;
>      Args         : Argument_List;
>      Success      : out Boolean);
>   --  The first parameter of function Spawn is the full path name of the
>   --  executable. The second parameter contains the arguments to be passed
>   --  to the program. Success is false if the program could not be spawned
>   --  or its execution completed unsuccessfully. Note that the caller will
>   --  be blocked until the execution of the spawned program is complete.

yes, i have read these specs but they don't describe how to use the
procedures - they describe the function of a procedure/function and
the types of the parameters.
 
>Rather than give an example, which then is likely to get
>copied without real understanding, why not ask a specific
>question as to what is unclear in the above.

OK, how can i convert a list of Parameters of type string to a
variable of type Parameter_List?

What�s the problem with giving an example for a specific
function-call? Nearly all man-pages of C-functions shows an example of
how to use the function?  

> The above
>documentation *should* be all that an Ada programmer needs
>to call Spawn,

Sure, but i am an experienced C programmer, not an experienced Ada
programmer who knows all aspects of the Ada language. 

-Thomas