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I have a binary file on Unix, which when executed asks the user for inputs. The inputs to this binary file are given manually. I want to automate the procedure, since I know the inputs already. I can't modify the binary file. How can I do this ? Is this possible via shell script or even with ant targets ?

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2 Answers

up vote 5 down vote accepted

If the program reads from standard input (as opposed to direct from the terminal), you could do something like

echo -e "answer1\nanswer2\nanswer3\n" | your_program

A here document may be more readable:

your_program <<'EOF'
answer1
answer2
answer3
EOF
do_more_stuff

(You can pick any string instead of EOF, just make sure to use the same in <<'somestring' and to mark the end of the input. The string must not appear as an input line. The end-of-input mark must not be indented.)

If you need more complex interaction then an expect script is what you want.

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up vote 0 down vote

If you have many inputs, you can also put these inputs into a file

in.txt:
input1
input2
...
intputn

And call binary like this :

binary < in.txt
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