CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javapathspaces
jagal
jagal

Reputation: 21

Path with spaces

I am not a programmer and I need to fix some code to solve a problem. The problem is that the app does not read file paths with spaces.

Code:

private void jMenuHELPActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) { //GEN FIRST:event_jMenuHELPActionPerformed
    try {
        Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cmd /c start "+" C:\Users\rafi\Documents\Name with spaces\file.txt");
    } catch (IOException ex) {
        ex.printStackTrace();
    }
    // ...
}

When I try to open a file from within the app, it opens a window with the following error:

Windows cannot `find C:\Users\rafi\Documents\Name`. Make sure that the name is correct.

It reads the path only to the first space.

How can I solve this problem?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 3448

Answers (5)

wyskoj
wyskoj

Reputation: 408

Use the exec method that takes an array of arguments instead. Don't forget you also need to escape your backslashes.

Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] {"cmd", "/c", "start", "C:\\Users\\rafi\\Documents\\Name with spaces\\file.txt"});

Upvotes: 1

JackRutorial
JackRutorial

Reputation: 39

You update your code folowing below:

private void jMenuHELPActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) { //GEN FIRST:event_jMenuHELPActionPerformed
    try {
        Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cmd /c start "+" C:\\Users\\rafi\\Documents\\Name with spaces\\file.txt");
    } catch (IOException ex) {
        ex.printStackTrace();
    }
    // ...
}

Upvotes: 0

Samplasion
Samplasion

Reputation: 527

Have you tried doing:

private void jMenuHELPActionPerformed(java.awt.event.ActionEvent evt) {//GEN FIRST:event_jMenuHELPActionPerformed
    try {
        Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cmd /c start "+" C:\Users\rafi\Documents\Name\ with\ spaces\file.txt");
    } catch (IOException ex) {
        ex.printStackTrace();
    }
}

That should escape the space character, instead of putting with and spaces\file.txt as arguments.

Upvotes: 0

M. le Rutte
M. le Rutte

Reputation: 3563

Try putting the path in quotes. On the command line different parameters are separated by whitespace, and thus the path needs to be surrounded by quotes to indicate it is a single parameter.

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cmd /c start \"C:\\Users\\rafi\\Documents\\Name with spaces\\file.txt\"");

Upvotes: 1

Elliott Frisch
Elliott Frisch

Reputation: 201409

You need to escape the \ characters and Desktop.open(File) is how I would use the operating system to open a given file with its' default application for that file type.

File file = new File("C:\\Users\\rafi\\Documents\\Name with spaces\\file.txt");
try {
    Desktop.getDesktop().open(file);
} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

Upvotes: 0

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