Weird Error JAVA process execution

Question

Possible Duplicate:
run shell command from java

I'm trying to run a process with some arguments from inside Java and before running the particular command I print it using println.

Now the problem is from inside Java, the process is not doing good.. its sending some error on the Error Stream instead of output. But If I run the same command printed by Java on screen in console, it works perfectly.

String command="abc -def -hhij";
System.out.println(command);
Process p = Runtime.getRuntime.exec(command);

Anyone know whats going on wrong?

What error? Could it be an environment variable issue? What happens if you try a simple command like `pwd`? — Ted Hopp, Dec 06 '11 at 05:29
"Syntax error: ( unexpected". What parameters are you really using? Something probably needs to be escaped or quoted. — Thilo, Dec 06 '11 at 05:38
@Thilo- The command with parameters as printed by JAVA is in the question and running this in console works. Also I'm printing using `println()` passing it the string properly escaped. — , Dec 06 '11 at 05:41

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 11 '11 at 04:55

2

The Runtime.exec(String) using the StringTokenizer, which doesn't know how to process quoted text. The simplest fix is to use the exec that accepts your parameters in an array.

String[] command={ "abc", "-def", "-hhij"};
Process p = Runtime.getRuntime.exec(command);

edited Dec 11 '11 at 04:55

answered Dec 06 '11 at 05:38

phatfingers

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@phatfingers- I have added the output from ErrorStream in question.. – Dec 06 '11 at 05:38
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Try the form of exec that takes a String[] with each parameter as a separate String. Omit the quotes. – phatfingers Dec 06 '11 at 05:43
@phatfingers- Tried that.. still giving the same error. – Dec 06 '11 at 06:17
Are the parentheses in "likes(john, marry)." the only parentheses in the statement, or are you substituting "[sample]." for some additional data not shown? – phatfingers Dec 06 '11 at 06:37
@pathfingers- It worked man... as you shown in answer. Previously, I modified it a little to invlude `"` in args, but that was not right. – Dec 06 '11 at 07:13
Glad you're back in business! – phatfingers Dec 06 '11 at 07:18

Nikem · Answer 2 · 2011-12-06T08:22:24.793

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I would try just to escape those '(' with \: '\\(' (double \ due to Java escaping rules)

edited Dec 06 '11 at 08:22

answered Dec 06 '11 at 06:01

Nikem

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When I try to do that.. it says "Invalid escape sequence" – Dec 06 '11 at 06:05
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@Buxme - You need to escape the `\` in Java: `"...\\\(` will put `\(` in the string. – Ted Hopp Dec 06 '11 at 06:42

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 06 '11 at 05:33

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Most likely the command needs the full path to the command. C:\dir\abc.exe or whatever.

If it's a script make sure it' executed by the correct shell.

answered Dec 06 '11 at 05:33

Tom

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Weird Error JAVA process execution

3 Answers3