| .TH IM_SYSTEM 3 "7 Mar 2000" |
| .SH NAME |
| im_system \- run a command on an image |
| .SH SYNOPSIS |
| #include <vips/vips.h> |
| |
| int |
| im_system(im, cmd, out) |
| .br |
| IMAGE *im; |
| .br |
| const char *cmd; |
| .br |
| char **out; |
| |
| .SH DESCRIPTION |
| .B im_system() |
| runs a command on an image, returning the command's output as a string. This |
| string should be freed with |
| .B im_free() |
| when you've finished with it. |
| |
| The command is executed with the |
| .B system(3) |
| call; the first '%s' in the command being substituted for a filename. |
| |
| For example: |
| |
| im_system( im, "vips2dj %s | lpr", &result ) |
| |
| will run the command vips2dj(1) on the image, piping the result to the |
| printer. |
| |
| If the IMAGE is a file on disc, then the filename will be the name of the real |
| file. If the image is in memory, or the result of a computation, then a new |
| file is created in the temporary area called something like "vips_XXXXXX", and |
| that filename given to the command. The file is deleted when the command |
| finishes. |
| |
| The environment variable TMPDIR can be used to set the temporary directory. If |
| it is not set, it defaults to "/tmp". |
| |
| .SH RETURN VALUE |
| The function returns 0 on success and -1 on error. |
| .SH SEE ALSO |
| system(3), vips2dj(1) |
| .SH COPYRIGHT |
| 2000 The National Gallery and Birkbeck College |
