Check to see if process exists

[Baartmans, Hans]

Is there good way to execute a UNIX 'ps' command from Perl and check to see
if a process is running or exists?  For instance, I would like to check to
see if Sendmail is running.  Under a UNIX shell command you can execute,
'/usr/bin/ps -ef | grep sendmail'.

Is there an easy way to do this in Perl?

Thanks in advance!!!

Hans