Runtime exec problem

[Tobias Hetzel]

Hey guys,

i coded the following snippet:

String cmd[] = {"start", "utils/blubb.txt"};
Runtime.getRuntime().exec( cmd );

but it doesn´t work. it won´t start an editor with the blubb.txt. the other ways also don´t work:

String cmd = "start utils/blubb.txt";
Runtime.getRuntime().exec( cmd );

OR

String cmd = "utils/blubb.txt";
Runtime.getRuntime().exec( cmd );

the compiler says, that it will not execute, because it´s no *.exe-file...

PLEASE HELP ME...

iTob

[Rob Spoor]

First of all, this is Windows so use \ (escaped to \\) as path separators.

Second of all, "start" is not an application of itself. It's a built-in command of cmd.exe. So you should call "cmd /c start ..." - the /c flag informs cmd to execute anything that comes after it.

And you may want to read this thread - it's handling the same problem.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Runtime.exec() is too difficult for us beginners. Moving.

And make sure to read the Daconta article which is probably referred to from the thread Rob quoted.

[Dmitry Mamonov]

If you just want to open some file with system defined editor then
http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/java/awt/Desktop.html
may help you more than Runtime.