3.1.32. System: call system executables

3.1.32.1. Overview

Sometimes it can be handy if SPEX interacts with the computer system, for example if you run it in command mode. You might want to check the existence of certain file, or run other programs to produce output for you, and depending on that output you want to continue SPEX.

Therefore there is an option to execute any shell type commands on your machine, using the fortran “call system” subroutine.

Another useful goody is the possibility to stop SPEX automatically if you find some condition to occur; this might be useful for example if you have a program running that calls SPEX, and depending on the outcome of SPEX you might want to terminate the execution. This is achieved in SPEX by testing for the existence of a file with a given filename; if the file exists, SPEX stops immediately execution and terminates; if the file does not exist, SPEX continues normally.

3.1.32.2. Syntax

The following syntax rules apply:

system exe #a : execute the command #a on your UNIX/linux shell.

system stop #a : stop SPEX if the file #a exists.

3.1.32.3. Examples

system exe "ls -l" : give a listing of all file names with length in the current directory.

system exe "myfortranprogram" : execute the fortran program with name “myfortranprogram”.

system stop testfile : stop SPEX if the file with name testfile exists; if this file does not exist, continue with SPEX.