Can't close pipe to invalid process

cLive ;-) has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

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Re: Can't close pipe to invalid process by aitap (Curate) on Aug 29, 2015 at 16:05 UTC
I think that this behaviour is caused by the fact that Perl has to launch a shell to process a command given in a string form, and the open doesn't fail because shell does launch successfully (it's the command that fails later): `use Test::Simple tests => 3; ok !open(my $fh, '\|-', 'nonexistent program'), 'string form of open fa +ils'; ok open(my $prince, '\|-', 'nonexistent program 2>/dev/null'), 'but suc +ceeds if shell uses redirection'; ok !open(my $none, '\|-', 'nonexistent', 'program'), 'list form of open + fails, as it should'; __END__ 1..3 ok 1 - string form of open fails ok 2 - but succeeds if shell uses redirection ok 3 - list form of open fails, as it should` [download] But why does string form of open correctly fail in the first test? Perl is able to process a simple command without help of a shell, as strace shows: $ strace -f -e clone,execve perl -e'open(my $fh, "\|-", "nonexistent pr +ogram")' execve("/usr/bin/perl", ["perl", "-eopen(my $fh, \"\|-\", \"nonexisten" +...], [/* 45 vars /]) = 0 clone(child_stack=0, flags=CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID\|CLONE_CHILD_SETTID\|SIG +CHLD, child_tidptr=0xb74f7a68) = 7792 Process 7792 attached [pid 7792] execve("/home/aitap/perl5/bin/nonexistent", ["nonexistent" +, "program"], [/ 45 vars /]) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory +) [pid 7792] execve("/home/aitap/scripts/nonexistent", ["nonexistent", +"program"], [/ 45 vars /]) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) [pid 7792] execve("/home/aitap/bin/nonexistent", ["nonexistent", "pro +gram"], [/ 45 vars /]) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) [pid 7792] execve("/usr/local/bin/nonexistent", ["nonexistent", "prog +ram"], [/ 45 vars /]) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) [pid 7792] execve("/usr/bin/nonexistent", ["nonexistent", "program"], + [/ 45 vars /]) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) [pid 7792] execve("/bin/nonexistent", ["nonexistent", "program"], [/ + 45 vars /]) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) [pid 7792] execve("/usr/local/games/nonexistent", ["nonexistent", "pr +ogram"], [/ 45 vars /]) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) [pid 7792] execve("/usr/games/nonexistent", ["nonexistent", "program" +], [/ 45 vars /]) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory) [pid 7792] +++ exited with 1 +++ --- SIGCHLD {si_signo=SIGCHLD, si_code=CLD_EXITED, si_pid=7792, si_uid +=1000, si_status=1, si_utime=0, si_stime=0} --- +++ exited with 0 +++ [download] Stream redirection, however, requires a shell: $ strace -f -e clone,execve perl -e'open(my $fh, "\|-", "nonexistent pr +ogram 2>/dev/null")' execve("/usr/bin/perl", ["perl", "-eopen(my $fh, \"\|-\", \"nonexisten" +...], [/ 45 vars /]) = 0 clone(Process 7809 attached child_stack=0, flags=CLONE_CHILD_CLEARTID\|CLONE_CHILD_SETTID\|SIGCHLD, +child_tidptr=0xb753ea68) = 7809 [pid 7809] execve("/bin/sh", ["sh", "-c", "nonexistent program 2>/dev +/null"], [/ 45 vars */]) = 0 [pid 7809] +++ exited with 127 +++ --- SIGCHLD {si_signo=SIGCHLD, si_code=CLD_EXITED, si_pid=7809, si_uid +=1000, si_status=127, si_utime=0, si_stime=0} --- +++ exited with 0 +++ [download] _{Edit: spelling}	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Can't close pipe to invalid process by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Aug 29, 2015 at 19:18 UTC
What has a non-existent program got to do with the OPs question? With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday' Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". I knew I was on the right track :) In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. I'm with torvalds on this Agile (and TDD) debunked I told'em LLVM was the way to go. But did they listen!	[reply]
Re^3: Can't close pipe to invalid process by aitap (Curate) on Aug 29, 2015 at 19:38 UTC
Correct me if I'm wrong, but OP said: Turns out it was because the PATH didn't exist in the Jenkins environment. Why would the open succeed to an unknown executable? As far as I understood OP, missing PATH meant that the script was unable to run executables except by full path: `$ env LC_ALL=C PATH="" /usr/bin/perl -E'open my $fh, "-\|", $_ and say +"success" or say $! for "ls", "/bin/ls"' No such file or directory success` [download] So the question was: how does open succeed despite inability to find the executable due to empty $PATH? _{By the way, thanks for the spelling reminder.}	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: Can't close pipe to invalid process by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Aug 29, 2015 at 19:59 UTC
Re^5: Can't close pipe to invalid process by aitap (Curate) on Aug 31, 2015 at 12:34 UTC
Re^3: Can't close pipe to invalid process by cLive ;-) (Prior) on Aug 31, 2015 at 15:04 UTC
It was the not finding "prince" that caused it to fail (pretty much what aitap said). Intuitively, I would think the open should fail if the executable being piped to can't be found, but that wasn't the case. I added a test for the print, and that appears to return true. So, what I have is: `ok 3 - Opened pipe ok 4 - Piped content to prince not ok 5 - Closed pipe` [download] I'm wondering if an assumption is made internally about piping to the executable until Perl receives a return value on closing?!?	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: Can't close pipe to invalid process by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Aug 31, 2015 at 16:25 UTC
Re: Can't close pipe to invalid process by Anonymous Monk on Aug 28, 2015 at 22:03 UTC
What am I missing? Maybe a simpler test case with more diagnostics ( %!, $? ) It could die after the open Also it could be possible for print to fail and/or kill this "prince" process	[reply]
Re^2: Can't close pipe to invalid process by cLive ;-) (Prior) on Aug 28, 2015 at 22:15 UTC
Well, the print wasn't dying, because the close() test actually runs. BTW, prince is an archaic PDF generator that I've inherited, so I'm just adding tests as I go. I guess my concern is why the invalid open returned true. Seems counterintuitive.	[reply]
Re^3: Can't close pipe to invalid process by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Aug 28, 2015 at 22:50 UTC
I guess my concern is why the invalid open returned true. Because the (piped) open succeeded. It found and successfully ran the prince executable. The problem is that you are attributing the failed close to the failure to find the non-existent file; which is wrong. What you are attempting to close is the pipe to the prince executable; which fails because the executable closed its end of the pipe, when it terminated because it couldn't find the file. Bottom line: You cannot close the pipe because it is already closed. The confusion arises because you are attributing the failed close to the failure of the file to exist; rather than the fact the the pipe was already closed. With the rise and rise of 'Social' network sites: 'Computers are making people easier to use everyday' Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error. "Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority". I knew I was on the right track :) In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice. I'm with torvalds on this Agile (and TDD) debunked I told'em LLVM was the way to go. But did they listen!	[reply]
Re^4: Can't close pipe to invalid process by ikegami (Patriarch) on Aug 31, 2015 at 18:00 UTC
Re^3: Can't close pipe to invalid process by Anonymous Monk on Aug 28, 2015 at 22:34 UTC
Well, the print wasn't dying, because the close() test actually runs. You mean in your updated new code? Because the code you posted doesn't die if print fails. I guess my concern is why the invalid open returned true. Seems counterintuitive. Um, if open succeeded, and print succeeded, then it must not have been an invalid open, so nothing counterintuitive there Its very possible for a program to end after a successful open to it	[reply]


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