Execute command line using C#

Question

All I am trying to do is send a command that opens a model with the program.exe Supposed to be super simple!

Ex:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\River Logic\Enterprise Optimizer 7.4 Developer\EO74.exe" "C:\PauloXLS\Constraint Sets_1.cor"

The line above works well if pasted on the command prompt window. However, when trying to pass the same exact string on my code it gets stuck on C:\Program

string EXE = "\"" + @tbx_base_exe.Text.Trim() + "\"";
string Model = "\"" + @mdl_path.Trim()+ "\"";

string ExeModel = EXE + " " + Model;

MessageBox.Show(ExeModel);

ExecuteCommand(ExeModel);

ExeModel is showing te following line on Visual Studio:

"\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\River Logic\\Enterprise Optimizer 7.4 Developer\\EO74.exe\" \"C:\\PauloXLS\\Constraint Sets_1.cor\""

To me looks like it is the string I need to send in to the following method:

public int ExecuteCommand(string Command)
{
   int ExitCode;
   ProcessStartInfo ProcessInfo;
   Process Process;

   ProcessInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe", "/K " + Command);
   ProcessInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
   ProcessInfo.UseShellExecute = true;

   Process = Process.Start(ProcessInfo);
   Process.WaitForExit();
   ExitCode = Process.ExitCode;
   Process.Close();

   return ExitCode;
}

Things I've tried:

Pass only one command at a time (works as expected), but not an option since the model file will open with another version of the software.
Tried to Trim
Tried with @ with \"

Can anyone see any obvious mistake? Thanks.

Why are you using cmd.exe /K ... instead of simply calling the program directly? That would allow you avoid the hassle of having to escape spaces... — Heinzi
– Heinzi, Commented Mar 3, 2011 at 15:32
Yes, use Process.Start to invoke the actual EXE you want. That will avoid any problem you may be having where you'd otherwise need to "double-escape" special characters. — KeithS
– KeithS, Commented Mar 3, 2011 at 15:35
A hassel exists either way. You either have to escape the command string to pass as an argument to cmd.exe, or you have to parse the original command to separate the filename from the arguments in order to pass them to Process.Start, which requires them to be passed separately. If you start with them separated, it's easy. However, if you are given a single command string with both file name and arguments in it, it is arguable less-complicated to escape the string and pass it to cmd.exe, than it is to try to separate the file name from the arguments by checking for quoted names or spaces. — Triynko
– Triynko, Commented Apr 18, 2013 at 20:13

Davido · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-03 15:38:48Z

6

It's pretty straightforward. You just create a command line object then write to it, then to execute it you read back from it using SR.ReadToEnd():

private string GETCMD()
{
    string tempGETCMD = null;
    Process CMDprocess = new Process();
    System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo StartInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
    StartInfo.FileName = "cmd"; //starts cmd window
    StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
    StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
    StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
    StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
    StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false; //required to redirect
    CMDprocess.StartInfo = StartInfo;
    CMDprocess.Start();
    System.IO.StreamReader SR = CMDprocess.StandardOutput;
    System.IO.StreamWriter SW = CMDprocess.StandardInput;
    SW.WriteLine("@echo on");
    SW.WriteLine("cd\\"); //the command you wish to run.....
    SW.WriteLine("cd C:\\Program Files");
    //insert your other commands here
    SW.WriteLine("exit"); //exits command prompt window
    tempGETCMD = SR.ReadToEnd(); //returns results of the command window
    SW.Close();
    SR.Close();
    return tempGETCMD;
}

answered Mar 3, 2011 at 15:38

Davido

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2 Comments

TomWardrop Over a year ago

You call that straightforward?

Davido Over a year ago

Sure it's straightforward, just copy and paste... ;-) Seriously though, not too bad. All the commands are just setup for personal preference. So really there are only a handful of commands that are actually needed. Nicely creates a programmatic command line.

Emond · Accepted Answer · 2011-03-03 15:33:41Z

3

Why are you opening a command prompt (cmd.exe)? Just pass the name of the executable.

answered Mar 3, 2011 at 15:33

Emond

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2 Comments

Triynko Over a year ago

Despite the fact that NativeMethods.CreateProcess takes the entire command line as a single string, Process.Start requires you to first parse a command line to separate the file name from the arguments, only for Process.StartWithCreateProcess to recombine them back into a single string via the Process.BuildCommandLine method. The framework pawns this extra task off on us, because it needs them separated for ShellExecuteInfo when the UseShellExecute flag is set, so it takes the easy task of combining filename+arguments, and leaves us to do the dirty work of parsing the file name out. Nice :P

Triynko Over a year ago

My point is... one way or another, you're going to have to go through some hassle to get an arbitrary command to run. You're either going to have to escape the command to pass it to cmd.exe, or you're going to have to parse the command to separate the (executable) file name from the arguments to pass them to Process.Start. It is arguably less complicated (given a user-input command line string) to escape the entire string and pass it to cmd.exe, than it is to try to isolate the file name from the arguments, since the file name could be enclosed in quotes or may contain spaces, etc.

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