Mummerplot kills Docker

[joshfactorial]

I have noticed a behavior where running mummerplot within a docker container causes the container to exit prematurely, issuing a 127 exit code. I believe I have traced the issue to the kill line in this block;

#-- parent runs gnuplot
        if ( $child ) {
            RunGP( );
            kill 1, $child;
        }

What I've observed is that if I run mummerplot within Docker, even if the run itself is successful, it kills the docker container as it exits, resulting in Docker issuing the 127 exit code. This is a problem within Nextflow, as it will detect the process as failing. I've tried two fixes, both seem to solve the immediate problem, but I'm curious if anyone can shed light on what the kill lines are supposed to do.

Solution 1:

#-- parent runs gnuplot
        if ( $child ) {
            RunGP( );
            kill $child;
        }

Solution 2:

#-- parent runs gnuplot
        if ( $child ) {
            RunGP( );
        }

Both seem to work, in that they don't kill Docker, do produce the png file (assuming I've updated GNUPLOT_EXE to "gnuplot" from the default of "false"). However, my knowledge of perl is pretty limited. What do I lose by removing these lines?

[Hanjiewu]

same issue