Module:        Proc::Simple.pm    Version 1.12

Author:        Michael Schilli

Description:   Proc::Simple helps controlling background processes. It 
               provides "Process Objects" that mimic their real world
               counterparts.

               A Process object can be activated, i.e. the corresponding
               process can be started either with a shell-like 
               command line or by specifying a perl subroutine. The
               'start' Method of the process object is non-blocking, i.e.
               it returns immediately and runs the specified process in 
               background mode. Every process object provides a 'poll' method 
               that tells if the corresponding process is still running 
               and the 'kill' method can be used to finally terminate it
               or send and arbitrary UNIX-signal.

Logic:       
               use Proc::Simple;

               $myproc = Proc::Simple->new();        # New process object

               $myproc->start("sleep 10");           # Start Shell process
           OR
               $myproc->start(sub { sleep 10; });    # Start Perl Sub

               print "alive!\n" if $myproc->poll();  # Poll Process

               $myproc->kill("SIGUSR1");             # Send signal
               $myproc->kill();                      # Terminate 


Changes:       from 1.1:  Process is now called Proc::Simple to fit in the
                          CPAN namespace, corrections Andreas Koenig suggested.
               from 1.11: binkley's error: threw out waitpid, wait is
			  performed by signal handler now.

Release Date:  96/05/22

Requirements:  Perl 5.002


Manpages:      Embedded in Proc/Simple.pm as usual:

               pod2man Proc/Simple.pm | nroff -man | more

Installation:

	       perl Makefile.PL
	       make 
	       make test
	       make install

Copyright:     (c) 1996 Michael Schilli. All rights reserved. This program
               is free software, you can redistribute it and/or modify it
               under the same terms as Perl itself.

Have fun!

Michael Schilli schilli@tep.e-technik.tu-muenchen.de