Spaces in Java file path to an executable

Question

Ok, I know this is probably a noobish question, but I'm pretty new to Java, and it'll probably be fairly easy to answer. What I'm trying to do is make a program that will use a file path to open Firefox, but it seems there is a problem with the file path. I did some research and used the double slash to nullify the escape characters, but it still doesn't work. I think it has to do with the fact that there spaces in some of the directories' names. Here is my code:

import java.io.IOException;

public class Automation {

public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe");
    }
}

I know its pretty simple, but I can't still figure it out. Any help is appreciated.

Mena · Answer 1 · 2013-05-19T22:22:18.653

3

Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla firefox\\firefox.exe\"");

... or with Java 7 against Windows ...

String[] command = new String[] {
    "C:" +
    File.separator + 
    "Program Files (x86)" +
    File.separator + 
    "Mozilla firefox" + 
    File.separator + 
    "firefox.exe"    
};
Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(command);

edited May 19 '13 at 22:22

answered May 19 '13 at 20:45

Mena

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When I do this, it says "Executable name has embedded quote, split the arguments" Not sure what that means. – user2399735 May 19 '13 at 20:51
@LakshithaRanasingha after a double-check, it doesn't seem to work with all Java versions. Namely, it might fail in Java 7. Try this post for more alternatives: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2243993/how-to-execute-command-line-exe-file-in-java – Mena May 19 '13 at 21:31
@Mena - please update your answer with those findings, because that might help other readers. – Laksitha Ranasingha May 19 '13 at 21:40
Ok I've edited my post. Note that I'm neither on Windows nor on Java 7 so I can't _prove_ it works :( Feeling a bit lame now... – Mena May 19 '13 at 22:10

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 19 '13 at 20:46

1

"\"C:\\ .......\""

So you can "escape" the blanks.

edited May 19 '13 at 20:46

Maroun

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answered May 19 '13 at 20:44

xtraclass

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Laksitha Ranasingha · Answer 3 · 2013-05-19T21:34:25.780

The ideal solution for your problem should be like this.

String [] cmds = new String [1];
cmds[0] = "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla firefox\\firefox.exe";
Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmds);

This is because Runtime.getRuntime().exec() actually doesn't execute the program as command line interpreter does. So you need to use a parameter array when you have white spaces in the path. you can provide extra flags/options in this array (ex: open).

This is some extra information. As far as I know Windows is perfectly happy with forward slashes (/), because Windows API accepts forward and backward slashes (starting from MS DOS 2.0 i think). for example you can do dir "c:/Program Files (x86)" will work fine give you the directory list. Furthermore, without white spaces Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("C:/SomeProgram/someprogram.exe"); works fine . However the recommended way is to get the file separator from the environment. That's using File.separator

This is not a totally correct answer. You have to use " around the cmd string, like in my answer above. — xtraclass, May 20 '13 at 13:54
Really ? have you run this ? my JVM doesn't tell it. there's no need of escaping as you told. this is real code which executes in java 6 & 7. — Laksitha Ranasingha, May 20 '13 at 14:02

Spaces in Java file path to an executable

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