Alternative to process pipeline

Question

Shell script on which I am working is having one SQL query which fetches multiple column and multiple rows from DB:

get_names() {
    $ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus -s usr/pwd <<EOF
        SELECT id,name,age FROM table;
        Exit;
EOF
}

Then, to read this result we are piping the function's output:

get_names | while read sid p_name p_age ; do ... done.

Now, because of |, a subshell is getting created, which I need to avoid. Is there any alternative present for this issue?

We want to break that pipe statement to avoid child process of it.

A process must exist on each side of a pipe. On one side it is sqlplus on another it must something else. You could write a program to do the work of that while but that would still be a process. — grochmal
– grochmal, Commented Jul 21, 2016 at 13:30
Why must you avoid a child process? (this may help to get you the best answer). — ctrl-alt-delor
– ctrl-alt-delor, Commented Jul 21, 2016 at 14:30

Petr Skocik · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-21 15:13:10Z

3

You can use process substitution if you're on a shell that supports it (e.g., bash, ksh, or zsh):

while read sid p_name p_age ; do ...; done <  <(get_names)

This is required in bash if you want the final link of your pipeline to be your running shell (so that it may have an effect on your running shell):

for sh in bash ksh zsh; do 
     echo $sh:; $sh -c 'while read var; do i=$var
     done < <(printf "%s\n" 1 2); echo $i '
done

Output:

bash:
2
ksh:
2
zsh:
2

Whereas with a regular pipeline:

for sh in bash ksh zsh; do 
     echo $sh:; $sh -c 'printf "%s\n" 1 2 | 
         while read var; do i=$var; done ; echo $i '; 
done

the assignment doesn't stick because bash runs the while loop in a subshell rather than the current shell:

bash:

ksh:
2
zsh:
2

answered Jul 21, 2016 at 14:35

Petr Skocik

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ctrl-alt-delor · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-21 14:32:18Z

-1

You could do it all in a single python process (other languages are available).

answered Jul 21, 2016 at 14:32

ctrl-alt-delor

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2 Answers 2