Unix Shell Implementing Cat in C - File Descriptor Issue - c

Question

I've about got my practice implementation of a Unix shell done, except I'm having an issue with implementing cat when its output is to a file; IE: cat foo.txt > bar.txt - outputting foo's contents to bar.
Let's start from the main function & then I'll define the submethods:
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
printf("[MYSHELL] $ ");
while (TRUE) {
user_input = getchar();
switch (user_input) {
case EOF:
exit(-1);
case '\n':
printf("[MYSHELL] $ ");
break;
default:
// parse input into cmd_argv - store # commands in cmd_argc
handle_user_input();
//determine input and execute foreground/background process
execute_command();
}
background = 0;
}
printf("\n[MYSHELL] $ ");
return 0;
}
handle_user_input just populates the cmd_argv array to execute the user_input, and removes the > and sets an output flag if the user wishes to output to a file. This is the meat of that method:
while (buffer_pointer != NULL) {
cmd_argv[cmd_argc] = buffer_pointer;
buffer_pointer = strtok(NULL, " ");
if(strcmp(cmd_argv[cmd_argc], ">") == 0){
printf("\nThere was a '>' in %s # index: %d for buffer_pointer: %s \n", *cmd_argv,cmd_argc,buffer_pointer);
cmd_argv[cmd_argc] = strtok(NULL, " ");
output = 1;
}
cmd_argc++;
if(output){
filename = buffer_pointer;
printf("The return of handling input for filename %s = %s + %s \n", buffer_pointer, cmd_argv[0], cmd_argv[1]);
return;
}
}
execute_command is then called, interpreting the now populated cmd_argv. Just to give you an idea of the big picture. Obviously, none of these cases match and the create_process method is called:
int execute_command()
{
if (strcmp("pwd", cmd_argv[0]) == 0){
printf("%s\n",getenv("PATH"));
return 1;
}
else if(strcmp("cd", cmd_argv[0]) == 0){
change_directory();
return 1;
}
else if (strcmp("jobs", cmd_argv[0]) == 0){
display_job_list();
return 1;
}
else if (strcmp("kill", cmd_argv[0]) == 0){
kill_job();
}
else if (strcmp("EOT", cmd_argv[0]) == 0){
exit(1);
}
else if (strcmp("exit", cmd_argv[0]) == 0){
exit(-1);
}
else{
create_process();
return;
}
}
Pretty straight forward, right?
create_process is where I'm having issues.
void create_process()
{
status = 0;
int pid = fork();
background = 0;
if (pid == 0) {
// child process
if(output){
printf("Output set in create process to %d\n",output);
output = 0;
int output_fd = open(filename, O_RDONLY);
printf("Output desc = %d\n",output_fd);
if (output_fd > -1) {
dup2(output_fd, STDOUT_FILENO);
close(output_fd);
} else {
perror("open");
}
}
printf("Executing command, but STDOUT writing to COMMAND PROMPT instead of FILE - as I get the 'open' error above \n");
execvp(*cmd_argv,cmd_argv);
// If an error occurs, print error and exit
fprintf (stderr, "unknown command: %s\n", cmd_argv[0]);
exit(0);
} else {
// parent process, waiting on child process
waitpid(pid, &status, 0);
if (status != 0)
fprintf (stderr, "error: %s exited with status code %d\n", cmd_argv[0], status);
}
return;
}
My printed output_fd = -1, and I manage to get the perror("open") inside the else stating: open: No such file or directory. It then prints that it's "writing to COMMAND PROMPT instead of FILE", as I display to the console. Then executes execvp which handles cat foo.txt, but prints it to the console instead of the file.
I realize it shouldn't at this point, as having output_fd = -1 isnt desirable and should be returning another value; but I cant figure out how to use file descriptors correctly in order to open a new/existing file with cat foo.txt > bar.txt and write to it, as WELL AS GET BACK to the command line's stdin.
I have managed to output to the file, but then lose getting back the correct stdin. Could someone please direct me here? I feel like I'm going in circles over something silly I'm doing wrong or looking over.
Any help is greatly GREATLY appreciated.

Answer 1

Why do you use O_RDONLY if you want to write to the file? My guess is that you should use something like:
int output_fd = open(filename, O_WRONLY|O_CREAT, 0666);
(The 0666 is to set up the access rights when creating).
And obviously, if you can't open a redicted file, you shouldn't launch the command.

Answer 2

First, obvious thing I notice is that you've opened the file O_RDONLY. Not going to work so well for output!
Second, basic process for redirecting the output is:
open file for writing
dup stdout so you can keep a copy if needed. same with stderr if redirecting.
fcntl your duplicate to CLOEXEC (alternatively, use dup3)
dup2 file to stdout
exec the command
and finally, are you really passing around command names as global variables? I think this will come back to haunt you once you try and implement cat foo | ( cat bar; echo hi; cat ) > baz or somesuch.