Executing unix commands in ObjC

Question

How to write a program for executing the 'ls' command in ObjC ? Any API available ?

Thanks

Answer 1

NSTask is your friend if speed isn't necessary. If it is, use the native system calls.

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If you're only concerned about listing the contents of a directory, read the Guide about Low-Level File Management. Especially Listing the Contents of a Directory could be interesting.$

If that still isn't fast enough, use the C API. See this question: How do you get a directory listing in C.

Answer 2

As far as I'm aware, Objective C is built on C so you should have access to all the standard UNIXy capabilities, among them:

• system().
• fork().
• exec() family.
• popen().

Answer 3

Don't forget about posix_spawn(), for when you need to exert dictatorial-level control over your sub-processes.

Of course, if you're just looking to do file system management and introspection from Cocoa proper, look no further than NSFileManager.