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1 @c Copyright (C) 1996, 1997 John W. Eaton |
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2 @c This is part of the Octave manual. |
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3 @c For copying conditions, see the file gpl.texi. |
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4 |
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5 @node System Utilities, Tips, Audio Processing, Top |
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6 @chapter System Utilities |
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7 |
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8 This chapter describes the functions that are available to allow you to |
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9 get information about what is happening outside of Octave, while it is |
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10 still running, and use this information in your program. For example, |
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11 you can get information about environment variables, the current time, |
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12 and even start other programs from the Octave prompt. |
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13 |
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14 @menu |
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15 * Timing Utilities:: |
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16 * Filesystem Utilities:: |
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17 * Controlling Subprocesses:: |
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18 * Process ID Information:: |
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19 * Environment Variables:: |
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20 * Current Working Directory:: |
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21 * Password Database Functions:: |
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22 * Group Database Functions:: |
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23 * System Information:: |
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24 @end menu |
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25 |
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26 @node Timing Utilities, Filesystem Utilities, System Utilities, System Utilities |
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27 @section Timing Utilities |
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28 |
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29 Octave's core set of functions for manipulating time values are |
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30 patterned after the corresponding functions from the standard C library. |
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31 Several of these functions use a data structure for time that includes |
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32 the following elements: |
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33 |
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34 @table @code |
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35 @item usec |
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36 Microseconds after the second (0-999999). |
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37 |
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38 @item sec |
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39 Seconds after the minute (0-61). This number can be 61 to account |
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40 for leap seconds. |
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41 |
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42 @item min |
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43 Minutes after the hour (0-59). |
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44 |
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45 @item hour |
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46 Hours since midnight (0-23). |
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47 |
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48 @item mday |
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49 Day of the month (1-31). |
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50 |
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51 @item mon |
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52 Months since January (0-11). |
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53 |
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54 @item year |
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55 Years since 1900. |
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56 |
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57 @item wday |
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58 Days since Sunday (0-6). |
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59 |
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60 @item yday |
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61 Days since January 1 (0-365). |
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62 |
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63 @item isdst |
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64 Daylight Savings Time flag. |
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65 |
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66 @item zone |
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67 Time zone. |
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68 @end table |
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69 |
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70 @noindent |
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71 In the descriptions of the following functions, this structure is |
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72 referred to as a @var{tm_struct}. |
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73 |
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74 @DOCSTRING(time) |
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75 |
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76 @DOCSTRING(ctime) |
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77 |
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78 @DOCSTRING(gmtime) |
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79 |
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80 @DOCSTRING(localtime) |
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81 |
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82 @DOCSTRING(mktime) |
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83 |
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84 @DOCSTRING(asctime) |
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85 |
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86 @DOCSTRING(strftime) |
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87 |
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88 Most of the remaining functions described in this section are not |
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89 patterned after the standard C library. Some are available for |
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90 compatiblity with @sc{Matlab} and others are provided because they are |
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91 useful. |
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92 |
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93 @DOCSTRING(clock) |
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94 |
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95 @DOCSTRING(date) |
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96 |
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97 @DOCSTRING(etime) |
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98 |
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99 @DOCSTRING(cputime) |
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100 |
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101 @DOCSTRING(is_leap_year) |
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102 |
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103 @DOCSTRING(tic) |
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104 |
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105 @DOCSTRING(pause) |
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106 |
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107 @DOCSTRING(sleep) |
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108 |
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109 @DOCSTRING(usleep) |
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110 |
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111 @node Filesystem Utilities, Controlling Subprocesses, Timing Utilities, System Utilities |
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112 @section Filesystem Utilities |
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113 |
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114 Octave includes the following functions for renaming and deleting files, |
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115 creating, deleting, and reading directories, and for getting information |
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116 about the status of files. |
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117 |
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118 @DOCSTRING(rename) |
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119 |
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120 @DOCSTRING(unlink) |
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121 |
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122 @DOCSTRING(readdir) |
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123 |
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124 @DOCSTRING(mkdir) |
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125 |
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126 @DOCSTRING(rmdir) |
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127 |
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128 @DOCSTRING(mkfifo) |
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129 |
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130 @DOCSTRING(umask) |
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131 |
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132 @DOCSTRING(stat) |
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133 |
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134 @DOCSTRING(glob) |
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135 |
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136 @DOCSTRING(file_in_path) |
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137 |
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138 @DOCSTRING(tilde_expand) |
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139 |
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140 @node Controlling Subprocesses, Process ID Information, Filesystem Utilities, System Utilities |
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141 @section Controlling Subprocesses |
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142 |
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143 Octave includes some high-level commands like @code{system} and |
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144 @code{popen} for starting subprocesses. If you want to run another |
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145 program to perform some task and then look at its output, you will |
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146 probably want to use these functions. |
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147 |
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148 Octave also provides several very low-level Unix-like functions which |
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149 can also be used for starting subprocesses, but you should probably only |
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150 use them if you can't find any way to do what you need with the |
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151 higher-level functions. |
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152 |
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153 @DOCSTRING(system) |
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154 |
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155 @DOCSTRING(popen) |
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156 |
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157 @DOCSTRING(pclose) |
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158 |
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159 @DOCSTRING(popen2) |
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160 |
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161 @DOCSTRING(EXEC_PATH) |
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162 |
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163 In most cases, the following functions simply decode their arguments and |
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164 make the corresponding Unix system calls. For a complete example of how |
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165 they can be used, look at the definition of the function @code{popen2}. |
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166 |
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167 @DOCSTRING(fork) |
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168 |
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169 @DOCSTRING(exec) |
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170 |
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171 @DOCSTRING(pipe) |
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172 |
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173 @DOCSTRING(dup2) |
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174 |
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175 @DOCSTRING(waitpid) |
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176 |
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177 @DOCSTRING(fcntl) |
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178 |
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179 @node Process ID Information, Environment Variables, Controlling Subprocesses, System Utilities |
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180 @section Process, Group, and User IDs |
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181 |
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182 @DOCSTRING(getpgrp) |
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183 |
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184 @DOCSTRING(getpid) |
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185 |
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186 @DOCSTRING(getppid) |
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187 |
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188 @DOCSTRING(geteuid) |
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189 |
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190 @DOCSTRING(getuid) |
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191 |
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192 @DOCSTRING(getegid) |
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193 |
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194 @DOCSTRING(getgid) |
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195 |
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196 @node Environment Variables, Current Working Directory, Process ID Information, System Utilities |
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197 @section Environment Variables |
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198 |
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199 @DOCSTRING(getenv) |
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200 |
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201 @DOCSTRING(putenv) |
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202 |
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203 @node Current Working Directory, Password Database Functions, Environment Variables, System Utilities |
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204 @section Current Working Directory |
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205 |
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206 @DOCSTRING(cd) |
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207 |
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208 @DOCSTRING(ls) |
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209 |
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210 @DOCSTRING(pwd) |
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211 |
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212 @node Password Database Functions, Group Database Functions, Current Working Directory, System Utilities |
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213 @section Password Database Functions |
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214 |
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215 Octave's password database functions return information in a structure |
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216 with the following fields. |
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217 |
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218 @table @code |
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219 @item name |
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220 The user name. |
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221 |
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222 @item passwd |
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223 The encrypted password, if available. |
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224 |
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225 @item uid |
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226 The numeric user id. |
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227 |
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228 @item gid |
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229 The numeric group id. |
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230 |
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231 @item gecos |
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232 The GECOS field. |
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233 |
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234 @item dir |
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235 The home directory. |
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236 |
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237 @item shell |
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238 The initial shell. |
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239 @end table |
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240 |
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241 In the descriptions of the following functions, this data structure is |
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242 referred to as a @var{pw_struct}. |
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243 |
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244 @DOCSTRING(getpwent) |
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245 |
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246 @DOCSTRING(getpwuid) |
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247 |
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248 @DOCSTRING(getpwnam) |
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249 |
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250 @DOCSTRING(setpwent) |
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251 |
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252 @DOCSTRING(endpwent) |
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253 |
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254 @node Group Database Functions, System Information, Password Database Functions, System Utilities |
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255 @section Group Database Functions |
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256 |
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257 Octave's group database functions return information in a structure |
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258 with the following fields. |
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259 |
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260 @table @code |
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261 @item name |
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262 The user name. |
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263 |
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264 @item passwd |
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265 The encrypted password, if available. |
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266 |
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267 @item gid |
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268 The numeric group id. |
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269 |
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270 @item mem |
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271 The members of the group. |
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272 @end table |
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273 |
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274 In the descriptions of the following functions, this data structure is |
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275 referred to as a @var{grp_struct}. |
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276 |
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277 @DOCSTRING(getgrent) |
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278 |
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279 @DOCSTRING(getgrgid) |
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280 |
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281 @DOCSTRING(getgrnam) |
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282 |
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283 @DOCSTRING(setgrent) |
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284 |
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285 @DOCSTRING(endgrent) |
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286 |
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287 @node System Information, , Group Database Functions, System Utilities |
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288 @section System Information |
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289 |
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290 @DOCSTRING(computer) |
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291 |
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292 @DOCSTRING(isieee) |
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293 |
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294 @DOCSTRING(OCTAVE_VERSION) |
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295 |
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296 @DOCSTRING(octave_config_info) |
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297 |
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298 @DOCSTRING(getrusage) |
