# os

### MODULE

os

### MODULE SUMMARY

Operating System Specific Functions

### DESCRIPTION

The functions in this module are operating system specific. Careless use of these functions will result in programs that will only run on a specific platform. On the other hand, with careful use these functions can be of help in enabling a program to run on most platforms.

### EXPORTS

cmd(Command) -> string()

Types:

Command = string() | atom()

Executes Command in a command shell of the target OS, captures the standard output of the command and returns this result as a string. This function is a replacement of the previous unix:cmd/1; on a Unix platform they are equivalent.

Examples:

    LsOut = os:cmd("ls"), % on unix platform
    DirOut = os:cmd("dir"), % on Win32 platform

Note that in some cases, standard output of a command when called from another program (for example, os:cmd/1) may differ, compared to the standard output of the command when called directly from an OS command shell.

find_executable(Name) -> Filename | false
find_executable(Name, Path) -> Filename | false

Types:

Name = string()
Path = string()
Filename = string()

These two functions look up an executable program given its name and a search path, in the same way as the underlying operating system. find_executable/1 uses the current execution path (that is, the environment variable PATH on Unix and Windows).

Path, if given, should conform to the syntax of execution paths on the operating system. The absolute filename of the executable program Name is returned, or false if the program was not found.

getenv() -> [string()]

Returns a list of all environement variables. Each environment variable is given as a single string on the format "VarName=Value", where VarName is the name of the variable and Value its value.

getenv(VarName) -> Value | false

Types:

VarName = string()
Value = string()

Returns the Value of the environment variable VarName, or false if the environment variable is undefined.

getpid() -> Value

Types:

Value = string()

Returns the process identifier of the current Erlang emulator in the format most commonly used by the operating system environment. Value is returned as a string containing the (usually) numerical identifier for a process. On Unix, this is typically the return value of the getpid() system call. On VxWorks, Value contains the task id (decimal notation) of the Erlang task. On Windows, the process id as returned by the GetCurrentProcessId() system call is used.

putenv(VarName, Value) -> true

Types:

VarName = string()
Value = string()

Sets a new Value for the environment variable VarName.

type() -> {Osfamily, Osname} | Osfamily

Types:

Osfamily = win32 | unix | vxworks
Osname = atom()

Returns the Osfamily and, in some cases, Osname of the current operating system.

On Unix, Osname will have same value as uname -s returns, but in lower case. For example, on Solaris 1 and 2, it will be sunos.

In Windows, Osname will be either nt (on Windows NT), or windows (on Windows 95).

On VxWorks the OS family alone is returned, that is vxworks.

Note

Think twice before using this function. Use the filename module if you want to inspect or build file names in a portable way. Avoid matching on the Osname atom.

version() -> {Major, Minor, Release} | VersionString

Types:

Major = Minor = Release = integer()
VersionString = string()

Returns the operating system version. On most systems, this function returns a tuple, but a string will be returned instead if the system has versions which cannot be expressed as three numbers.

Note

Think twice before using this function. If you still need to use it, always call os:type() first.

kernel 2.12.1
Copyright © 1991-2008 Ericsson AB