use file data in command lines

karlis · 08-29-2003, 01:33 AM

I was able to get the pid number of a particular process using
ps -e | grep xeyes | cut -f2 -d" " > m
and that would put the pid of xeyes into a file called m.
But I now want to be able to use this number, in say the kill function.
Can I write something like:
kill < m
(This doesn't work, but you get the idea)
Thanks.

andrewlkho · 08-29-2003, 06:22 AM

um... I'm thinking of concatenating the file, and then using a variable, such as:
$NUM=cat m
kill $NUM
I'm not sure if this would work, but it's worth a try.

Dark_Helmet · 08-29-2003, 10:00 AM

Try this:

kill `cat m`

The back-ticks mean to replace the command inside with its output.

slapNUT · 08-29-2003, 07:27 PM

XEYES=`ps -e | grep xeyes | cut -f2 -d" " > m`
kill $XEYES

Use pidof instead, it's much easier;
XEYES=`pidof xeyes`
kill $XEYES

But all you really need to do is:
killall xeyes
or
kill `pidof xeyes`