1. Introduction
2. Installation
3. Usage
4. How It Works
5. Features
6. Project Structure

Pipex is a C program that simulates the behavior of Unix pipes (|), allowing you to chain commands together by redirecting the output of one command to the input of another. This implementation mimics the functionality of commands like:

$ < input_file cmd1 | cmd2 > output_file

The program takes exactly four arguments:

1. Input file
2. First command
3. Second command
4. Output file

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/pipex.git
cd pipex

2. Compile the program:

make

The executable pipex will be created in the root directory.

./pipex input_file "command1" "command2" output_file

./pipex input.txt "grep hello" "wc -l" output.txt

This is equivalent to:

< input.txt grep hello | wc -l > output.txt

1. Validate argument count (exactly 4 arguments + program name)
2. Open input and output files
3. Create a pipe and fork two child processes:
   • First child:
     • Redirects STDIN from input file
     • Redirects STDOUT to pipe's write end
     • Executes first command
   • Second child:
     • Redirects STDIN from pipe's read end
     • Redirects STDOUT to output file
     • Executes second command
4. Parent process waits for both children to complete

• Path Resolution: Searches for commands using the PATH environment variable
• Error Handling: Comprehensive error messages and proper cleanup
• Memory Management: Custom allocators with automatic cleanup
• Process Management: Uses fork(), pipe(), and execve() for command execution

• 🛠️ Implements Unix-like pipe functionality
• 🔍 Searches commands in PATH environment variable
• 🚦 Comprehensive error handling
• 💾 Memory-safe with proper cleanup
• 📁 Handles file input/output redirection
• ⚡ Supports absolute path commands
• � Graceful exit with proper status codes

pipex/
├── Makefile           # Compilation rules
├── pipex              # Compiled executable
├── pipex.h            # Header file
├── pipex.c            # Main program logic
├── utils/             # Utility functions
│   ├── ft_split.c     # String splitting
│   ├── ft_strjoin.c   # String concatenation
│   ├── ft_strnstr.c   # Substring search
│   ├── path_utils.c   # PATH resolution
│   ├── error_utils.c  # Error handling
│   └── ...            # Other helper functions
└── libft/             # Custom library functions
    ├── ft_calloc.c
    ├── ft_strdup.c
    ├── ft_strncmp.c
    └── ...