I am a newbie to unix scripting
Was wondering whether anyone can help me here.. WHat i want to do is...

run { system_command_1, get process_id_1}

when {system_command_1 finishes}{
        run system_command_2, get process_id 2        

when {system_command2 finishes}{
        run system_command_3, get process_id 3  
......

and it goes on and on and on...

Anyone?

Thanks

Redza

man wait
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So:

################################################
# Execute command_1 in the background.
# Get its PID.
# Run some other commands.
# Then wait for command_1 to finish.
command_1 &
PID_1=$!

run_other_command
run_other_command
do_something_else

wait $PID_1

################################################
# Now that command_1 has finished....
# Execute command_2 in the background.
# Get its PID.
# Run some other commands.
# Then wait for command_2 to finish.
command_2 &
PID_2=$!

run_other_command
run_other_command
do_something_else

wait $PID_2

################################################
# etc...

for bourne/korn varients there is the "wait" command; e.g.:

command
wait
command
wait

HTH
---
mark

Thanks for your replies.. actually what i really need to know is if
something like the below can be done..

run command_1
      |
    wait til it finishes ---> run command_2 --> wait --> run command_6
      |
      V
run command_3
      |
      V
    wait til it finishes ---> run command_4 ---> wait --> run
command_7
      |
      V
run command_5
     |
.... etc etc

as you can see.. i need it such that after command 1 is run, command 2
and 3 waits til its finished before they start.. and then, the same
would happen at command 3 where 4 and 5 will wait til it finishes
before it runs.. If it was a 'straight line' relation, it would be ok,
but the thing i am not too sure is when 2 different commands wait for
a particular command before they are run

Thanks again for your responses..

Rashyid

if I understand you correctly this might do it, using subprocesses:

command_1
(command_2
command_6)&
command_3
(command_4
command_7)&

and so on....

here is a simple ksh demo:
oscar$print 1 ; (sleep 5 ; print 2)&  print 3
1
[1]     25964
3
oscar$2

[1] +  Done                    print 1 ; (sleep 5 ; print 2)&  print 3
oscar$

marc

ps this structure is recursive, you can build it as deep as you want

marc