Re: Something Odd - "top" Delivers Nada When Run By Crontab

On 7/13/26 05:01, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
> On 13/07/2026 00:25, c186282 wrote:
>> On 7/11/26 23:36, Rich wrote:
>>> c186282 <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> On 7/11/26 02:40, rbowman wrote:
>>>>> On Fri, 10 Jul 2026 23:57:54 -0400, c186282 wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Wrote a short Python script that uses os.system() to run 'top' ...
>>>>>> redirecting the output to a file. We then clean-up the weird chars in
>>>>>> the file and append it to an ongoing log file.
>>>>>
>>>>> I think we've been here before...
>>>>>
>>>>> https://docs.python.org/3/library/subprocess.html
>>>>>
>>>>> Yes, it's one of those hateful, newfangled functions that might 
>>>>> work for
>>>>> you.
>>>>
>>>>    Um ... there are LOTS of 'monitoring' apps for Linux
>>>>    at this point - just did a survey a couple of days
>>>>    ago. Most are serious OVER-kill. They also tend to
>>>>    record SO much shit that you'll never be able to find
>>>>    YOUR particular problem in the mess.
>>>>
>>>>    Anyway, the "-b" param to 'top' did do the trick.
>>>>    Still not sure why evoking from the CL is so different
>>>>    from evoking via crontab - but that's how it is.
>>>
>>> Because without -b, top expects to be connected to a tty.  And when
>>> running from a crontab, there is no tty.  With no tty, top didn't
>>> bother doing anything but exiting.
>>>
>>> This is basic Unix 101 level stuff.
>>
>>    Some were late to class that day  :-)
>>
>>
> More relevantly,
> - no one knows all of Unix/Linux


   Very true at this point !

   People COULD know CP/M and DOS ... but we've
   gone WAY beyond that level.

   Anyway, I understand the issue with 'top' ...
   in typical evocation it's kinda interactive
   and thus expects a terminal. Some other basic
   utils will be similar, others not. 'df' is 'df'.

   I kinda like doing os.system() evocations of
   those good old utils and then parsing the
   output. The older the util, the more stable
   the output format. And, well, why re-invent
   the wheel ?

> - some peoples experience goes very deep is some areas
> - conversely those areas having been been completely irrelevant and 
> never explored is someone else's life experience.
> 
> For example, I never had any need whatsoever to type 'emacs' on a 
> command line
> Other peoples days (if their session was not still active) did that as 
> the first thing in the morning.
> 
> It being some primitive approximation to a multi tasking windows session.

   These forums exist because there are enough people,
   each with their particular areas of expertise and
   experience, that can chime in. The "-b" info was
   "good enough", but *explained* made that even better.

   And when there aren't really any odd issues - POLITICS ! :-)

   And, ouch !, got bit by my IBM stock today ! Everyone's
   money is in 'chips/mem' right now and IBM is more
   'software/systems'.

   Alas seems everybody is making 'the perfect chip' at
   the moment ... but tomorrow someone will make a BETTER
   one and the prev corp will go down the drain. A very
   volatile investment environment - TOO volatile.

   BUT ... chips are just ceramic squares. Gotta have
   systems/software to make 'em BE anything. So IBM
   and friends WILL shortly rise again. Buy low.

   What did The Book say ... "DON'T PANIC !"  :-)