> hi there, > > I've got the following example: > > system ("ping -a $hostname | cut -c20-30"); > > how do I get the following result which is (is alive) into a string > variable as I keep on getting 0 > > Please help. >
Seems like you might want to post these types of things to [EMAIL PROTECTED] as they don't have a lot to do with CGI. 'system' returns a combination of exit values from the command. The 0 indicates that the command was successful. perldoc -f system For more on parsing return values. Since you are looking for the output from the command you should consider using backticks also known as the qx operator, perldoc perlop (search for qx) Additionally you may want to read through, perldoc perlipc perldoc IPC::Open3 If you are still stuck as it introduces Open3/Open2, etc. Point your additional questions to the beginners group, lots of people there ready to help. HTH, http://danconia.org -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://learn.perl.org/> <http://learn.perl.org/first-response>