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Note: A solution is posted below.

Problem:

When required to start a batch file (cmd script) (i.e. CALLEE.CMD) in a new console window, from within another batch file (i.e. CALLER.CMD) , the obvious choice would be to use the internal START command: START "" "%~DP0CALLEE.CMD". However, if we need to pass quoted parameters to CALLEE.CMD, such as START "" "%~DP0CALLEE.CMD" "ARGUMENT_1", you get an error such as 'CALLEE.CMD" "ARGUMENT_1' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

At first glance, it's not obvious why this command should fail, as the requirements for calling the START command seem to be met. This question is posted because the reason for failure is not immediately apparent, and others may find the reference useful.

So, why is this command failing, and how to resolve the issue?

Thejaka Maldeniya
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1 Answers1

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What is happening here, is that when the START command detects the command to be invoked is either an internal command (internal to cmd.exe) or a batch file, it will invoke cmd.exe to handle the command (cmd.exe /K ... will be used). The additional arguments passed to START will be translated and passed to cmd.exe. When this happens, the rules change: cmd.exe expects the command and arguments to be quoted differently from START, so this has to be taken into account when writing the original command.

The quoting for cmd.exe is documented elsewhere, such as:

So, to start a batch file, with quoted arguments in a new console window, we could do as follows:

START cmd.exe /K ""%~DP0CALLEE.CMD" "ARGUMENT_1" "ARGUMENT_2""

Of course, this problem only occurs if you need to quote the arguments, either because a called program expects it or if there are spaces in the argument.

Also, as a plus, if you don't require the new console window to remain open after finishing the batch file, you can substitute the switch /K with /C.

The requirement for always needing to provide a window title when calling a quoted command is avoided here, but if you do require to prefix the title of the new console window, you can do as follows:

START "<Title>" cmd.exe /K ""%~DP0CALLEE.CMD" "ARGUMENT_1" "ARGUMENT_2""

Example code:

CALLEE.CMD

@ECHO %*
@PAUSE

CALLER.CMD

@START "<Title>" cmd.exe /C ""%~DP0CALLEE.CMD" "ARGUMENT_1" ARGUMENT_2 "ARGUMENT_3""
Thejaka Maldeniya
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    You can also get around the parsing rules that strip the first and last quote by using CMD's internal `call` command, e.g. `start "title" call "%~DP0CALLEE.CMD" "ARGUMENT_1"`. It also gets run via `cmd /k` (actually `%ComSpec% /k`), but because it doesn't begin with a quote, CMD doesn't strip off the first and last quote. – Eryk Sun Jan 10 '18 at 13:33
  • It may also be worth noting that according to the START usage info, simply using CMD as the command instead of with the extension (as cmd.exe) also causes START to substitute the CMD with COMSPEC. However, in this case you still need to use additional quotes. – Thejaka Maldeniya Jan 11 '18 at 01:29