Running command line commands within Ruby script

Question

Is there a way to run command line commands through Ruby? I\'m trying to create a small little Ruby program that would dial out and receive/send through command line program

Answer 1

Yes this is certainly doable but the method of implementation differs dependant on whether the "command line" program in question operates in "Full screen" or command line mode. Programs written for the command line tend to read STDIN and write to STDOUT. These can be called directly within Ruby using the standard backticks methods and/or system/exec calls.

If the program operates in "Full Screen" mode like screen or vi then the approach has to be different. For programs like this you should look for a Ruby implementation of the "expect" library. This will allow you to script what you expect to see on screen and what to send when you see those particular strings appear on screen.

This is unlikely to be the best approach and you should probably look at what you are trying to achieve and find the relevant library/gem to do that rather than trying to automate an existing full screen application. As an example "Need assistance with serial port communications in Ruby" deals with Serial Port communications, a pre-cursor to dialing if that is what you want to achieve using the specific programs you mentioned.