I thought this was defined only on *nix systems. On Windows, "fork" (from task.ijs) invokes a dll (CreateProcessF=: 'CreateProcessA > i x *c x x i i x x *c *c' cdk).
Since we're on the subject, I'd like to re-iterate what I've noted before that "fork" behaves quite differently between J6 and J7. In J6, it spins off a completely separate process and returns control to the invoker. In J7, the output from the spun-off process gets sent back, apparently asynchrnously, to the invoking session. Also, the invoking session seems to inherit the environment of the forked process. On Sun, Jan 8, 2012 at 9:29 PM, Ian Clark <earthspo...@gmail.com> wrote: > AFAICS the purpose of 2!:1 (spawn) is to launch an asynchronous > process, eg a separate, parallel J session, and resume immediately it > is launched. Am I right? > > On my Mac it doesn't do that. (I can't establish what it does under > Windows because I don't have a Windows machine just now). > > Sure, it starts the specified process, but then the original J session > freezes solid until the spawned process terminates. This behavior is > no different from 2!:0 except to discard any returned value. > > Absence of this facility is preventing me from doing a lot of the > things I want to. In particular I can't play a sound without my app > hanging until the sound has finished playing. Nor can I write a server > in J and have it fire off a client. I have to launch the client > manually. > > Has nobody reported this behavior before? Any chance of getting it > fixed? Anyone know a workaround (such as a dll/dylib call)? > > JVERSION > Installer: j602a_mac_intel.dmg > Engine: j602/2008-03-03/16:45 > Library: 6.02.057 > > JVERSION > Engine: j701/2011-01-10/11:25 build: Feb 6 2011 16:16:29 > Library: 7.01.052 > Platform: Darwin 64 > Installer: j701a_mac64.dmg > > InstallPath: /Applications/j64-701 > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm > -- Devon McCormick, CFA ^me^ at acm. org is my preferred e-mail ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
