abstract out reading full output of pipes

[etc/awesome.git] / helpers.lua

diff --git a/helpers.lua b/helpers.lua
index dbee617121e5fb661cb4f01cf264cc84ea0fa6c7..4e90e169c15a570bb31aa4c6fa3f1ac9e70c5336 100644 (file)
--- a/helpers.lua
+++ b/helpers.lua
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ local debug  = require("debug")
 
 local capi   = { timer = timer }
 local io     = { open  = io.open,
-                 lines = io.lines }
+                 lines = io.lines,
+                 popen = io.popen }
 local rawget = rawget
 
 -- Lain helper functions for internal use
@@ -86,6 +87,18 @@ end
 
 -- }}}
 
+-- {{{ Pipe operations
+
+-- read the full output of a pipe (command)
+function helpers.read_pipe(cmd)
+   local f = assert(io.popen(cmd))
+   local output = f:read("*all")
+   f:close()
+   return output
+end
+
+-- }}}
+
 -- {{{ A map utility
 
 helpers.map_table = {}