std::system (3) Linux Manual Page
std::system – std::system
Synopsis
Defined in header<cstdlib>
int system(const char *command);Calls the host environment’s command processor (e.g. /bin/sh, cmd.exe, command.com) with the parameter command. Returns an implementation-defined value (usually the value that the invoked program returns).
If command is a null pointer, checks if the host environment has a command processor and returns a nonzero value if and only if the command processor exists.
Parameters
command – character string identifying the command to be run in the command processor. If a null pointer is given, command processor is checked for existence
Return value
Implementation-defined value. If command is a null pointer, returns a nonzero value if and only if the command processor exists.
Notes
On POSIX systems, the return value can be decomposed using WEXITSTATUS_and_WSTOPSIG
The related POSIX function popen makes the output generated by command available to the caller.
Example
// Run this code
#include <cstdlib>
#include <fstream>
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
std::system("ls -l >test.txt"); // execute the UNIX command "ls -l >test.txt"
std::cout << std::ifstream("test.txt").rdbuf();
}
Possible output: