How can I invoke linux programs from C#/Mono?

Question

I've been using MonoDevelop and Make to execute some build taks on a C project under linux, but I decided to abandon Make and switch to NAnt since I am more proficient in writing C# programs than Make/shell scripts, so I decided to write a custom NAnt task in C# to replace my Makefile. So, how can I invoke GCC or other shell commands from C#?

I also need to know how to block the execution until GCC returns.

Answer 1

Maybe this will help:

http://mono-project.com/Howto_PipeOutput

It's essentially the same as .NET on Windows.

Answer 2

It's the same as on Windows - use System.Diagnostics.Process. Beware that if you redirect stdout/stderr and the buffers fill up (which is entirely possible using GCC) it can deadlock, so harvest those into StringBuilders.

var psi = new Process.StartInfo ("gcc", "-gcc -arguments") {
    RedirectStandardError = true,
    RedirectStandardOutput = true,
    UseShellExecute = false,
};
var error  = new System.Text.StringBuilder ();
var output = new System.Text.StringBuilder ();

var p = Process.Start (psi);
p.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
p.OutputDataReceived +=
    (object s, DataReceivedEventArgs e) => output.Append (e.Data);
p.ErrorDataReceived  +=
    (object s, DataReceivedEventArgs e) => output.Append (e.Data);

p.WaitForExit ();

FWIW, you might like to consider using custom tasks for MSBuild (i.e. Mono's "xbuild") instead of NAnt, because MonoDevelop's project files are MSBuild files, and MonoDevelop has xbuild integration.