What tools exist in Perl 5 for automating external programs?

Question

Besides modules that are specific to a given service (like ClearCase::Proc::ClearTool), what modules or built-in functions exist to automate external programs?

Answer 1

For programs expecting input on STDIN and output on STDOUT or STDERR there is:

• The open function
• IPC::Open2
• IPC::Open3

For programs expecting interactive input there is Expect.

For web applications there is:

• WWW::Mechanize
• WWW::Scripter
• WWW::Selenium
• WWW::HtmlUnit

For generic TCP and UDP servers there is IO::Socket.

For web services that expect SOAP there is:

• SOAP::Lite
• XML::Compile::SOAP

For XML-RPC there is RPC::XML.

For MS Windows applications there is Win32::GuiTest.

For X Windows applications there is X11::GUITest.

For applications that support DBus there is Net::DBus.

For OS X programs that support Applescript there is Mac::Glue.