Perl script in loop ends after one run

Question

I am running a Perl script in a loop in a shell script:

  while [ $currentDate -le $toDate ]; do
    // code here...
    exec /users/my_user/script_name $currentDate
    // code here...
  done

I have confirmed the while-loop loops. However, after one run of the Perl script, the while-loop ends.

Could someone please shed some light on this?

Answer 1

You're using exec. exec replaces the shell process with the new program. You probably want to just remove the exec keyword.

exec [-cl] [-a name] [command [arguments ...]] [redirection ...]

Replace the shell with the given command.

Execute COMMAND, replacing this shell with the specified program. ARGUMENTS become the arguments to COMMAND.