use IPC::Open2; # with named file handles $pid = open2(\*RDR, \*WTR, $cmd_with_args); $pid = open2(\*RDR, \*WTR, $cmd, "arg1", "arg2", ...); ***** # with object-oriented handles use FileHandle; my($rdr, $wtr) = (FileHandle->new, FileHandle->new); $pid = open2($rdr, $wtr, $cmd_with_args); ***** use IPC::Open2; use Symbol; $WTR = gensym(); # get a reference to a typeglob $RDR = gensym(); # and another one $pid = open2($RDR, $WTR, 'bc'); while () { # read commands from user print $WTR $_; # write a command to bc(1) $line = <$RDR>; # read the output of bc(1) print STDOUT "$line"; # send the output to the user } ***** $pid = open2($RDR, $WTR, 'sort'); while () { print $WTR $_; } close($WTR); # finish sending all output to sort(1) while (<$RDR>) { # now read the output of sort(1) print STDOUT "$_"; }