Question 1

How to install reproc on Ubuntu without a package manager?

Accepted Answer

Build from source using CMake: clone the repo, run 'cmake -B build', 'cmake --build build', and 'cmake --install build'. Alternatively, use CMake's FetchContent in your project to download it automatically.

Question 2

reproc vs Boost.Process: which should I use?

Accepted Answer

reproc is lighter and focused on cross-platform C/C++, while Boost.Process is part of the larger Boost ecosystem with more features but heavier dependencies. Choose reproc for minimalism and Boost.Process if you already use Boost.

Question 3

Is reproc safe for multithreaded code?

Accepted Answer

It has limitations: you cannot call the same operation on the same child process from multiple threads simultaneously. Reading and writing from different threads is fine, but waiting on the same process from two threads will cause issues.

Question 4

How to handle errors in reproc++?

Accepted Answer

reproc++ integrates with std::error_code; methods return error codes that can be matched against std::errc enums. Use reproc_strerror for string representations, and check the examples for error handling patterns.

Question 5

Why does reproc require ignoring SIGPIPE on Linux?

Accepted Answer

On POSIX, writing to a closed stdin pipe can terminate the parent with SIGPIPE. Ignoring it allows reproc_write to return REPROC_EPIPE instead, providing better error handling. The README strongly recommends this setup.

Question 6

Can reproc run shell commands directly?

Accepted Answer

Yes, but you need to pass the shell executable and command as arguments, similar to system calls. For example, use args like {'sh', '-c', 'command', NULL} to execute shell commands safely.

reproc

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