How do I examine the status of a process?

[Delfer]

IS THERE ANY FUNCTION THAT LET ME KNOW WHETHER IT IS IN EXISTENCE AND HOW TO USE THE FUNCTION? CAN YOU ADVISE ME ON THIS MATTER? MANY THANKS

[stephen]

In general, you can use "kill" with signal number zero to check on the existence of a process. See 'man perlipc' for details. Here's code:

use strict;

MAIN:
{
    my $pid = $ARGV[0];

    if (kill 0 => $pid) {

        print STDOUT "Process '$pid' exists\n";

    }
    else {
        print STDOUT "Process '$pid' does not exist\n";
    }

}

[IndyZ]

Hope you can get that capslock key fixed. I recommend prying it off with a screwdriver, then using a little rubbing alchohol to loosen up the dirt.

[rawdog]

it's wise just to avoid using it altogether, i think. -e. e. cummings

[nickcave25]

it's wise just to avoid using it altogether, i think. -e. e. cummings

that and that pesky period key - e e   cummings

[Anonymous Monk]

depends - which OS are you using? If you're using some *nix try this:

ps aux | grep perl

[Anonymous Monk]

There is a pm out there that will do this. Nice little package. However, I have forgotten where it is. Could be useful.