SYNOPSIS
exec ?switches? arg ?arg...?
DESCRIPTION
This command treats its arguments as the specification of one or more subprocesses to execute. The arguments take the form of a standard shell pipeline where each arg becomes one word of a command, and each distinct command becomes a subprocess.
If the initial arguments to exec start with
-keepnewline -
Retains a trailing newline in the pipeline's output. Normally a trailing newline will be deleted.
-- -
Marks the end of switches. The argument following this one will be treated as the first arg even if it starts with a
- .
If an arg (or pair of arg's) has one of the forms described below then it is used by exec to control the flow of input and output among the subprocess(es). Such arguments will not be passed to the subprocess(es). In forms such as < fileName fileName may either be in a separate argument from < or in the same argument with no intervening space (that is, <fileName).
- |
-
Separates distinct commands in the pipeline. The standard output of the preceding command will be piped into the standard input of the next command.
- |&
-
Separates distinct commands in the pipeline. Both standard output and standard error of the preceding command will be piped into the standard input of the next command. This form of redirection overrides forms such as 2> and >&.
- < fileName
-
The file named by fileName is opened and used as the standard input for the first command in the pipeline.
- <@ fileId
-
FileId must be the identifier for an open file, such as the return value from a previous call to open. It is used as the standard input for the first command in the pipeline. FileId must have been opened for reading.
- << value
-
Value is passed to the first command as its standard input.
- > fileName
-
Standard output from the last command is redirected to the file named fileName, overwriting its previous contents.
- 2> fileName
-
Standard error from all commands in the pipeline is redirected to the file named fileName, overwriting its previous contents.
- >& fileName
-
Both standard output from the last command and standard error from all commands are redirected to the file named fileName, overwriting its previous contents.
- >> fileName
-
Standard output from the last command is redirected to the file named fileName, appending to it rather than overwriting it.
- 2>> fileName
-
Standard error from all commands in the pipeline is redirected to the file named fileName, appending to it rather than overwriting it.
- >>& fileName
-
Both standard output from the last command and standard error from all commands are redirected to the file named fileName, appending to it rather than overwriting it.
- >@ fileId
-
FileId must be the identifier for an open file, such as the return value from a previous call to open. Standard output from the last command is redirected to fileId's file, which must have been opened for writing.
- 2>@ fileId
-
FileId must be the identifier for an open file, such as the return value from a previous call to open. Standard error from all commands in the pipeline is redirected to fileId's file. The file must have been opened for writing.
- >&@ fileId
-
FileId must be the identifier for an open file, such as the return value from a previous call to open. Both standard output from the last command and standard error from all commands are redirected to fileId's file. The file must have been opened for writing.
If standard output has not been redirected then the exec command returns the standard output from the last command in the pipeline. If any of the commands in the pipeline exit abnormally or are killed or suspended, then exec will return an error and the error message will include the pipeline's output followed by error messages describing the abnormal terminations; the errorCode variable will contain additional information about the last abnormal termination encountered. If any of the commands writes to its standard error file and that standard error isn't redirected, then exec will return an error; the error message will include the pipeline's standard output, followed by messages about abnormal terminations (if any), followed by the standard error output.
If the last character of the result or error message
is a newline then that character is normally deleted
from the result or error message.
This is consistent with other Tcl return values, which don't
normally end with newlines.
However, if
If standard input isn't redirected with < or << or <@ then the standard input for the first command in the pipeline is taken from the application's current standard input.
If the last arg is & then the pipeline will be executed in background. In this case the exec command will return a list whose elements are the process identifiers for all of the subprocesses in the pipeline. The standard output from the last command in the pipeline will go to the application's standard output if it hasn't been redirected, and error output from all of the commands in the pipeline will go to the application's standard error file unless redirected.
The first word in each command is taken as the command name; tilde-substitution is performed on it, and if the result contains no slashes then the directories in the PATH environment variable are searched for an executable by the given name. If the name contains a slash then it must refer to an executable reachable from the current directory. No glob expansion or other shell-like substitutions are performed on the arguments to commands.
PORTABILITY ISSUES
- Windows (all versions)
-
Reading from or writing to a socket, using the @ fileId notation, does not work. When reading from a socket, a 16-bit DOS application will hang and a 32-bit application will return immediately with end-of-file. When either type of application writes to a socket, the information is instead sent to the console, if one is present, or is discarded.
The Tk console text widget does not provide real standard IO capabilities. Under Tk, when redirecting from standard input, all applications will see an immediate end-of-file; information redirected to standard output or standard error will be discarded.
Either forward or backward slashes are accepted as path separators for arguments to Tcl commands. When executing an application, the path name specified for the application may also contain forward or backward slashes as path separators. Bear in mind, however, that most Windows applications accept arguments with forward slashes only as option delimiters and backslashes only in paths. Any arguments to an application that specify a path name with forward slashes will not automatically be converted to use the backslash character. If an argument contains forward slashes as the path separator, it may or may not be recognized as a path name, depending on the program.
Additionally, when calling a 16-bit DOS or Windows 3.X application, all path names must use the short, cryptic, path format (for example, using applba~1.def instead of applbakery.default).
Two or more forward or backward slashes in a row in a path refer to a network path. For example, a simple concatenation of the root directory c:/ with a subdirectory /windows/system will yield c://windows/system (two slashes together), which refers to the mount point called system on the machine called windows (and the c:/ is ignored), and is not equivalent to c:/windows/system, which describes a directory on the current computer. The file join command should be used to concatenate path components.
- Windows NT
-
When attempting to execute an application, exec first searches for the name as it was specified. Then, in order, .com, .exe, and .bat are appended to the end of the specified name and it searches for the longer name. If a directory name was not specified as part of the application name, the following directories are automatically searched in order when attempting to locate the application:
-
The directory from which the Tcl executable was loaded.
-
The current directory.
-
The Windows NT 32-bit system directory.
-
The Windows NT 16-bit system directory.
-
The Windows NT home directory.
-
The directories listed in the path.
In order to execute the shell builtin commands like dir and copy, the caller must prepend cmd.exe /c to the desired command.
-
- Windows 95
-
When attempting to execute an application, exec first searches for the name as it was specified. Then, in order, .com, .exe, and .bat are appended to the end of the specified name and it searches for the longer name. If a directory name was not specified as part of the application name, the following directories are automatically searched in order when attempting to locate the application:
-
The directory from which the Tcl executable was loaded.
-
The current directory.
-
The Windows 95 system directory.
-
The Windows 95 home directory.
-
The directories listed in the path.
In order to execute the shell builtin commands like dir and copy, the caller must prepend command.com /c to the desired command.
Once a 16-bit DOS application has read standard input from a console and then quit, all subsequently run 16-bit DOS applications will see the standard input as already closed. 32-bit applications do not have this problem and will run correctly, even after a 16-bit DOS application thinks that standard input is closed. There is no known workaround for this bug at this time.
Redirection between the NUL: device and a 16-bit application does not always work. When redirecting from NUL:, some applications may hang, others will get an infinite stream of 0x01 bytes, and some will actually correctly get an immediate end-of-file; the behavior seems to depend upon something compiled into the application itself. When redirecting greater than 4K or so to NUL:, some applications will hang. The above problems do not happen with 32-bit applications.
All DOS 16-bit applications are run synchronously. All standard input from a pipe to a 16-bit DOS application is collected into a temporary file; the other end of the pipe must be closed before the 16-bit DOS application begins executing. All standard output or error from a 16-bit DOS application to a pipe is collected into temporary files; the application must terminate before the temporary files are redirected to the next stage of the pipeline. This is due to a workaround for a Windows 95 bug in the implementation of pipes, and is how the standard Windows 95 DOS shell handles pipes itself.
Certain applications, such as command.com, should not be executed interactively. Applications which directly access the console window, rather than reading from their standard input and writing to their standard output may fail, hang Tcl, or even hang the system if their own private console window is not available to them.
-
- Macintosh
-
The exec command is not implemented and does not exist under Macintosh.
- UNIX
-
The exec command is fully functional and works as described.
PORTABILITY
Windows 10. Windows Server 2016. Windows Server 2019. Windows 11. Windows Server 2022. Windows Server 2025.
AVAILABILITY
PTC MKS Toolkit for Power Users
PTC MKS Toolkit for System Administrators
PTC MKS Toolkit for Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Interoperability
PTC MKS Toolkit for Professional Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers
PTC MKS Toolkit for Enterprise Developers 64-Bit Edition
SEE ALSO
- Commands:
- open
PTC MKS Toolkit 10.5 Documentation Build 40.