win32-process

This library provides analogues of the :getpriority, :setpriority, :getrlimit, :setrlimit and :uid methods for MS Windows. It also adds the new methods :job?, :get_affinity, and :create, and redefines the :kill method.

Prerequisites

ffi
sys-proctable (dev only)
test-unit 2 (dev only)

Supported Platforms

This library is supported on Windows 2000 or later.

Installation

gem install win32-process

Usage

require 'win32/process'

p Process.job? # => true or false

info = Process.create( :app_name => "notepad.exe", :creation_flags => Process::DETACHED_PROCESS, :process_inherit => false, :thread_inherit => true, :cwd => "C:\" )

p info.process_id

Developer's Notes

Removal of Process.fork in release 0.7.0

The Process.fork method was originally experimental but it has never been particularly useful in practice. On top of that, it required special implementations of the Process.waitXXX methods, so it was a maintenance issue as well.

With Ruby 1.9 now becoming standard and its addition of Process.spawn and friends (and concomitant support for the Process.waitXXX methods) I felt it was time to remove it.

You can still simulate Process.fork if you like using Process.create, which is how it was implemented internally anyway. A better solution might be to follow in the footsteps of ActiveState Perl, which uses native threads to simulate fork on Windows.

Changes in the custom Process.kill method for 0.7.0

The Process.kill method in 0.7.0 more closely matches the spec now, but the internal method for killing processes is still nicer for most signals. With the release of 0.7.0 users can now specify options that provide finer control over how a process is killed. See the documentation for details.

The removal of the custom Process.ppid method

This was added at some point in the Ruby 1.9 dev cycle so it was removed from this library.

Known Issues

JRuby doesn't seem to like SIGBRK for Process.kill.

Any issues or bugs should be reported on the project page at https://github.com/djberg96/win32-process.

License

Artistic 2.0

Copyright

Warranty

This library is provided "as is" and without any express or implied warranties, including, without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Author(s)

Park Heesob
Daniel J. Berger

chef/win32-process