Pass string array as a parameter to a powersell script using Runtime.exec(...)

Question

I need to pass a string array as an argument to a PowerShell script from Java using Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd)

that array holds some values like:

String[] users = new String[] {"Jon", "Adam"};

and the PowerShell script test.ps1:

param(
  # ... other parameters defined here
  [parameter(Mandatory=$false)]
  [string[]] $names
)

# the rest of the script

What is the right way to pass that array?

Note:

I tried to a pass in the cmd parameter like that:

by passing the argument as a separate tokens without comma:

cmd.add("-names");
cmd.add("Jon");
cmd.add("Adam");
// only "Jon" received in $names

by appending the tokens with comma:

cmd.add("-names")
cmd.add("Jon"
cmd.add(","
cmd.add("Adam");
// only "Jon" received in $names

by appending the arguments as a comma-separated string:

cmd.add("-names");
cmd.add("Jon, Adam");
// single string received contains "Jon, Adam"

by appending parameter and comma-separated arguments as a single string:
```
cmd.add("-names Jon, Adam");
// return an error
```

but none of the above is working.

Update 1:

I know now that I can pass the arguments on two ways from the console:

test.ps1 -names Jon,Adam
test.ps1 -names ("Jon","Adam")`

and I tried to pass the array like:

cmd.add("-names")
cmd.add("(\"Jon\", \"Adam\")");

but that also isn't working. The script receives them as a single string!

And what do you expect to receive if you issue a "echo $names"? — Heri, Oct 30 '16 at 18:13
@PetSerAl you are right, it's a typo and I updated the question — TENNO, Oct 30 '16 at 18:16
@Heri, I expect to see both names in that array [I updated the script in the question] — TENNO, Oct 30 '16 at 18:17
maybe this anwer helps: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7152740/how-to-pass-an-array-as-a-parameter-to-another-script — Heri, Oct 30 '16 at 18:23
@Heri It should work if I'm passing it form another script, but it's a different case — TENNO, Oct 30 '16 at 18:25
the script does not know where the arguments come from. The linked answer above suggest to embed the given array into parantheses. I would pass it to the Runtime args as one string (with the parantheses). — Heri, Oct 30 '16 at 18:30
@Heri I still can't make it work, please check 'Update #1' section — TENNO, Oct 30 '16 at 18:51

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 30 '16 at 23:20

You need to quote the arguments twice. My Java is a little rusty, but I think something like this should do:

String[] users = new String[] {"Jon", "Adam"};
String script = "C:/path/to/your.ps1"
String cmd = "powershell.exe " + script + " -names " +
             "\"'" + String.join("'\",\"'", users) + "'\"";
Process proc = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd);

Pass string array as a parameter to a powersell script using Runtime.exec(...)

1 Answers1