Perl directory change from Windows cmd.exe

Question

According to the manual, chdir, Changes the working directory to EXPR, if possible.

This script, when executed from cmd.exe:

my $path = 'C:\\some\\path\\';
print "$path\n";
chdir("$path") or die "fail $!";

results in this output:

C:\some\path\

but when I am returned to the command prompt - I'm still at the original directory. Am I misunderstanding the purpose of chdir?

Answer 1

When a shell runs a program, it essentially forks then execs the program -- in this case, your perl script. The directory within that forked process has been changed, and then that process dies. You're then returned to the original shell process.

Answer 2

I have changing directories and command environments by using the perl -x switch to execute Perl code in embedded in a file.

@rem = '--*-Perl-*--'
@echo off
set TMPBAT=%TMP%\%0_temp.bat
perl -x -S %0 %*
if %errorlevel% == 2000 goto cleanup
goto endofperl
#!perl
#line 9

use strict;
use warnings; 
use BatchTool;


__END__
:endofperl
if exist %TMPBAT% call %TMPBAT%
:cleanup
set TMPBAT=

BatchTool is a module that writes DOS commands to $ENV{TMPBAT} if 1) it doesn't exist or 2) is older than the source script.