Otterscript: Usage of Success exit code or EXEC operation - clarifications

[fabio.xodo_3872]

Hi, I tried to find it in the Forum and documentation but without success.

I have an Otterscript in Buildmaster which should perform different code depending on the success or not of an Exec (or PSExec) command.

How can I do it?

IS there any variable containing the exit code of the command, that I can test in an IF THEN ELSE?

Or does an exit code different than the Success exit code raise an exception and thus I need to put it in a TRY/CATH?

Thanks

[atripp]

Hi @fabio-xodo_3872 ,

This is not captured in an output variable, but you can control which exit code means success or failure:

Exec MyProcess.exe
(
    SuccessExitCode: "> 0"
);

Another alternative is to write a PowerShell script that captures the output as a variable, if you need to do logic based on multiple codes.

We could always add support for capturing it as an output variable as well.

hope that helps,
Alana

[scusson_9923]

Hi Alana,

Are you planning on adding a return value for an Exec operation?  In my job, I call an otter script which calls pwsh via Exec and would like to send an email based on its return (success\failure).

Thanks!
Scott

[dean-houston]

Hi @scusson_9923 ,

Exec (or Execute-Process) runs an operating system process, so that's where the return code comes in.

If you're doing something like a PSCall, then you can create output parameters/variables in the script, and then test those values.

-- Dean

[scusson_9923]

@dean-houston Hi Dean,

I am having a difficult time understanding the workflow here.

As an experiment, I run a ps1 which sets $Fail to "true" as an Ad Hoc job:

InedoCore::Exec
(
    FileName: pwsh,
    WorkingDirectory: C:\,
    Arguments: test.ps1,
    ErrorOutputLogLevel: Error,
    OutputLogLevel: Information,
    SuccessExitCode: == 0
);

if $Fail == "true"
{
    InedoCore::Send-Email
    (
        ...
    );
}

I get this: Could not resolve variable $Fail.

Do you have a working example? I must be missing something.

Also, what is the purpose of SuccessExitCode if you cannot test on it?

Thanks!
Scott

[dean-houston]

Hi @scusson_9923 ,

Sorry, I misunderstood; I thought you were doing PSExec.

In this case you are just executing the pwsh process, so you need to figure out how to have that process return an exit code.

I don't know if that's the same as powershell.exe, but a AI told me "To return an error code from a PowerShell script, the exit statement followed by the desired error code should be used."

So I guess exit -1 or something like that?

-- Dean

[scusson_9923]

@dean-houston Hi Dean,

I did try setting the return of my PowerShell test script to exit -1 which fails the InedoCore::Exec call as expected. I just need to capture that failure and test on it.

Thanks,
Scott

[scusson_9923]

Any updates on this?

Thanks!
Scott

[atripp]

Hi @scusson_9923 ,

Can you clarify what update you're looking for?

Are you looking for help on how to capture a failure and test on it?

Thanks,
Alana

[scusson_9923]

Hi Alana,

What I am trying to do is capture the result (success or fail) of this call:

InedoCore::Exec
(
    FileName: pwsh,
    WorkingDirectory: C:\,
    Arguments: test.ps1,
    ErrorOutputLogLevel: Error,
    OutputLogLevel: Information,
    SuccessExitCode: == 0
);

My understanding is that currently InedoCore::Exec does not have a return value. I was hoping for something like:

$ret = InedoCore::Exec
(
 ...
);

if $ret == "0"
{
    // do operations for success
}
else
{
   // do operations for failure
}

Thanks!
Scott

[atripp]

Hi @scusson_9923 ,

Thanks for clarifying. You're right, the result is not available as a variable. Instead, the Operation will fail, which means you'd want to handle this via a try/catch.

try
{
    InedoCore::Exec
    (
        FileName: pwsh,
        WorkingDirectory: C:\,
        Arguments: test.ps1,
        ErrorOutputLogLevel: Error,
        OutputLogLevel: Information,
        SuccessExitCode: == 0
    );

    ... operations for success...
}
catch
{
    ... operations upon failure ...
}

Hope that helps,
Alana

[scusson_9923]

Hi Alana,

This seems to work for what I am trying to accomplish.

Thanks!

Scott