exec

/*
 *  call-seq:
 *     exec(command [, arg, ...])
 *
 *  Replaces the current process by running the given external _command_.
 *  If +exec+ is given a single argument, that argument is
 *  taken as a line that is subject to shell expansion before being
 *  executed. If multiple arguments are given, the second and subsequent
 *  arguments are passed as parameters to _command_ with no shell
 *  expansion. If the first argument is a two-element array, the first
 *  element is the command to be executed, and the second argument is
 *  used as the <code>argv[0]</code> value, which may show up in process
 *  listings. In MSDOS environments, the command is executed in a
 *  subshell; otherwise, one of the <code>exec(2)</code> system calls is
 *  used, so the running command may inherit some of the environment of
 *  the original program (including open file descriptors).
 *
 *     exec "echo *"       # echoes list of files in current directory
 *     # never get here
 *
 *
 *     exec "echo", "*"    # echoes an asterisk
 *     # never get here
 */

VALUE
rb_f_exec(argc, argv)
    int argc;
    VALUE *argv;
{
    VALUE prog = 0;
    VALUE tmp;
    struct rb_exec_arg earg;

    if (argc == 0) {
        rb_last_status = Qnil;
        rb_raise(rb_eArgError, "wrong number of arguments");
    }

    tmp = rb_check_array_type(argv[0]);
    if (!NIL_P(tmp)) {
        if (RARRAY(tmp)->len != 2) {
            rb_raise(rb_eArgError, "wrong first argument");
        }
        prog = RARRAY(tmp)->ptr[0];
        argv[0] = RARRAY(tmp)->ptr[1];
        SafeStringValue(prog);
    }
    proc_prepare_args(&earg, argc, argv, prog);
    proc_exec_args((VALUE)&earg);
    rb_sys_fail(RSTRING(argv[0])->ptr);
    return Qnil;                /* dummy */
}