boost/boost_1_91_0/libs/process/doc/reference/shell.adoc

shell.hpp

This utility class parses command lines into tokens and allows users to execute processes based on textual inputs.

In v1, this was possible directly when starting a process, but has been removed based on the security risks associated with this.

By making the shell parsing explicitly, it encourages a user to run a sanity check on the executable before launching it.

Example

asio::io_context ctx;

auto cmd = shell("my-app --help");
auto exe = cmd.exe();
check_if_malicious(exe);

process proc{ctx, exe, cmd.args()};

/// Utility to parse commands
struct shell
{
  shell() = default;
  template<typename Char, typename Traits>
  shell(basic_string_view<Char, Traits> input);

  shell(basic_cstring_ref<char_type> input);
  shell(const shell &) = delete;
  shell(shell && lhs) noexcept;
  shell& operator=(const shell &) = delete;
  shell& operator=(shell && lhs) noexcept;


  // the length of the parsed shell, including the executable
  int argc() const ;
  char_type** argv() const;

  char_type** begin() const;
  char_type** end()   const;

  bool empty() const;
  std::size_t size() const;

  // Native representation of the arguments to be used - excluding the executable
  args_type args() const;
  template<typename Environment = environment::current_view>
  filesystem::path exe(Environment && env = environment::current()) const;
};