4 files changed, 35 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/lib/alaveteli_external_command.rb b/lib/alaveteli_external_command.rb
index fbdee8a62..086a461c8 100644
--- a/lib/alaveteli_external_command.rb
+++ b/lib/alaveteli_external_command.rb
@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ module AlaveteliExternalCommand
             end
             xc.run(opts[:stdin_string] || "", opts[:env] || {})
 
-            if xc.status != 0
+            if !xc.exited
+                # Crash or timeout
+                $stderr.puts("#{program_name} #{args.join(' ')}:exited abnormally")
+                return nil
+            elsif xc.status != 0
                 # Error
                 $stderr.puts("Error from #{program_name} #{args.join(' ')}:")
                 $stderr.print(xc.err)
diff --git a/spec/lib/alaveteli_external_command.rb b/spec/lib/alaveteli_external_command.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..18afeda33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/lib/alaveteli_external_command.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+require File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../spec_helper')
+
+require 'alaveteli_external_command'
+
+script_dir = File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), 'alaveteli_external_command_scripts')
+segfault_script = File.join(script_dir, 'segfault.sh')
+error_script = File.join(script_dir, 'error.sh')
+
+describe "when running external commands" do
+
+    it "should detect a non-zero exit status" do
+        $stderr.should_receive(:puts).with(/Error from/)
+        t = AlaveteliExternalCommand.run(error_script)
+        assert_nil t
+    end
+
+    it "should detect when an external command crashes" do
+        $stderr.should_receive(:puts).with(/exited abnormally/)
+        t = AlaveteliExternalCommand.run(segfault_script)
+        assert_nil t
+    end
+
+end
diff --git a/spec/lib/alaveteli_external_command_scripts/error.sh b/spec/lib/alaveteli_external_command_scripts/error.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..65e74b3c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/lib/alaveteli_external_command_scripts/error.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+echo "this is my error message" >&1
+exit 1
diff --git a/spec/lib/alaveteli_external_command_scripts/segfault.sh b/spec/lib/alaveteli_external_command_scripts/segfault.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..f96ba5be8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/lib/alaveteli_external_command_scripts/segfault.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+kill -11 $$