Child processes redefined

[ojpotter at fred.cs.washington.edu]

Thank you to everyone that responded to my earlier problem.  Unfortunately
I must  have phrased my question incorrectly.  Many of suggested that system()
would do exactly what I wanted.  I had already looked at system() before posting
this problem and it wasn't quite what I need.  I want to use these external
executables as runtime functions.  I want to pass them parameters and get a
calculated return value back.  I want my program to be able to configure the
functions it uses according to a configuration file.

Example:

One line of the configuration file might read:

SIGNAL_GENERATOR=HP3325A

And out of that I want my program to build an execute path string that will
call the specified executable and get the value returned from the executable
not the status of the shell.

I'm sorry about the confusion (like this is less confusing).  I hope to hear
from more of you about a solution, I'm still stumped. Thanks again.

Jay Potter
ojpotter at fred.cs.washington.edu