Command-Run
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open STDOUT, '>&', $tmpfile; # redirect to tmpfile
$code->(@args); # execute code ref
open STDOUT, '>&', $save; # restore original
$tmpfile->seek(0, 0);
$output = do { local $/; <$tmpfile> }; # read captured output
The code reference sees real STDOUT/STDIN file descriptors (not tied
handles), so it behaves identically to the fork path from the
callee's perspective. `@ARGV`, `$0`, and `$_` are protected with
`local` to prevent side effects.
## How Raw Mode Works
The `raw` option controls which PerlIO layer is applied to the
temporary files used for I/O redirection:
# Normal mode (raw => 0):
binmode $tmpfile, ':encoding(utf8)'; # full encode/decode
# Raw mode (raw => 1):
binmode $tmpfile, ':utf8'; # flag only, no conversion
In the normal fork path, `:encoding(utf8)` is necessary because data
crosses process boundaries through pipes as byte streams. But in
nofork mode, caller and callee share the same Perl interpreter, so
Perl's internal string format (which is already UTF-8 internally) can
be passed directly. The `:utf8` layer simply sets Perl's UTF-8 flag
on strings read from the file without performing actual byte-level
conversion.
### PerlIO Encoding Leak
There is an additional reason to prefer `:utf8` over
`:encoding(utf8)` in long-running processes. Repeatedly pushing and
popping the `:encoding(utf8)` layer (which happens on each nofork
execution when opening and closing temporary files) causes a
cumulative performance degradation in Perl's PerlIO subsystem. This
affects **all** PerlIO operations in the process, not just the ones
using the encoding layer.
In benchmarks, nofork with `:encoding(utf8)` is actually **slower**
than fork after many iterations, due to this leak. Raw mode avoids
the issue entirely.
# Benchmark: code ref with stdin (100-byte input, 1000 iterations)
fork: 399/s (baseline)
nofork + :encoding: 316/s (0.8x â slower than fork!)
nofork + :utf8 (raw): 13,433/s (34x faster)
## Zero-Modification Callee Integration
A key advantage of this mechanism is that **callee modules typically
require no modification** to work with nofork+raw mode.
Many Perl modules use `use open` pragma or equivalent to set up
encoding layers on standard I/O:
package App::ansicolumn;
use open IO => ':utf8', ':std'; # sets :encoding(utf8) on STDIO
This works transparently because of execution order. When using
nofork mode with method chaining:
require App::ansicolumn; # (1) module loaded here
Command::Run->new
->command(\&ansicolumn, @args)
->with(stdin => $text, nofork => 1, raw => 1)
->update # (2) STDOUT redirected here
->data;
At step (1), `require` loads the module and `use open ':std'`
applies `:encoding(utf8)` to the **original** STDOUT. At step (2),
`_execute_nofork` redirects STDOUT to a fresh temporary file with
`:utf8` layer. The callee's encoding setup has already fired on the
original STDOUT and does not affect the redirected one.
This means existing modules like [App::ansicolumn](https://metacpan.org/pod/App%3A%3Aansicolumn) and
[App::ansifold](https://metacpan.org/pod/App%3A%3Aansifold) work unchanged with nofork+raw mode, achieving
significant speedups with zero code changes on the callee side.
## Caller Protection
Nofork mode executes the code reference in the same process, so care
is needed to prevent the callee from corrupting the caller's state.
The following protections are applied:
- `local $_;`
Prevents the callee from modifying the caller's `$_`. This is
critical when the caller aliases `$_` to important data (e.g.,
greple's `local *_ = shift` to alias `$_` to the content buffer).
Without this protection, a callee's `while (<>)` loop
would set `$_` to `undef` at EOF, destroying the caller's data.
- `local @ARGV`
Prevents the callee from modifying the caller's `@ARGV`.
- `$0` save/restore
Prevents the callee from permanently changing the program name.
# COMPARISON WITH SIMILAR MODULES
There are many modules on CPAN for executing external commands.
This module is designed to be simple and lightweight, with minimal
dependencies.
This module was originally developed as [App::cdif::Command](https://metacpan.org/pod/App%3A%3Acdif%3A%3ACommand) and
has been used in production as part of the [App::cdif](https://metacpan.org/pod/App%3A%3Acdif) distribution
since 2014. It has also been adopted by several unrelated modules,
which motivated its release as an independent distribution.
- [IPC::Run](https://metacpan.org/pod/IPC%3A%3ARun)
Full-featured module for running processes with support for
pipelines, pseudo-ttys, and timeouts. Very powerful but large
(135KB+) with non-core dependencies ([IO::Pty](https://metacpan.org/pod/IO%3A%3APty)). Overkill for
simple command execution.
- [Capture::Tiny](https://metacpan.org/pod/Capture%3A%3ATiny)
( run in 1.015 second using v1.01-cache-2.11-cpan-39bf76dae61 )