Re^3: Strange system call failure in OS X

[Anonymous Monk]

Do I break it into a separate item for each argument?

Yes, it is  system "/usr/bin/foobar", "arg", "arg", "--arg=arg" ...

Any need for quotes?

No. Quotes are for the shell.

See system/exec.., kinda dense/long, but essentially  system q{single "st" "ri" "ng"} could be open to shell interpolation/invoke the shell, while  system "single", "st", "ri", "ng" will avoid the shell

So list is preferable because you don't have to quote to a particular shell , just quote for perl

perlop#Quote and Quote like Operators discusses making a list with qw" st ri ng ";

While you're in a learning mood, get a free copy of Modern Perl

See also

• perlrun
• Behind the GUI lives the Shell
• Windows Command Line Interpreter|Shell|DOS Prompt|Batch Files|Scripting
• Csh Programming Considered Harmful
• How Command Line Parameters Are Parsed
• http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html#Quoting
• String::ShellQuote/Win32::ShellQuote, Re: system() implementation on Windows (again), Re^3: system() implementation on Windows (again), Everyone quotes command line arguments the wrong way
• Proc::Background
• The Windows NT Command Shell
• exec always invokes the shell? win32, System, exec different behaviour with spaces