Run .bat file from cmd.exe in C# with various arguments

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

I've been trying all day to start process which would run the following code:

C:\bin\ant.bat -f=C:\build.xml -DinputFile=C:\Desktop\Book1.xml -DstartDate=2018-06-20 -DxslFile=ProcessingDate -DoutputFile=fff

and it works completely fine in cmd.

What I have tried:

this is my last code in C# which I really hoped would work, but however it doesn't:

public void run() {
        string antFile = @"C:\ant.bat";
        string build = @"C:\build.xml";
        string inputFile = @"C:\Book1.xml";
        string startDate = "2018-05-23";
        string outputFile = "ff";
        ProcessStartInfo procStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe", "/c" + @"C:bin\ant.bat -f=C:\build.xml -DinputFile=C:\Desktop\Book1.xml -DstartDate=2018-06-20 -DxslFile=ProcessingDate -DoutputFile=test0.xsl");
        Process proc = new Process();
        proc.StartInfo = procStartInfo;
        proc.Start();

        ProcessStartInfo procStartInfo2 = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe", "/c" + antFile + "-f=" + build + "-DinputFile=" + inputFile + "-DstartDate=" + startDate + "-DxslFile=" + startDate + "-DoutputFile=" + outputFile);
        Process proc2 = new Process();
        proc2.StartInfo = procStartInfo2;
        proc2.Start();
    }

Firstly, I've tried to just put everything from cmd to the process but it didn't work, after I tried to do what I actually have to: put all the string values as arguments but it didn't work either.

Instead I am getting bunch of exceptions. I add a link to screenshot of these exceptions: Screenshot 19 — imgbb.com[^] [^]

I'm literally out of options as I've sat all day doing this. Does anyone have idea what problem it could be?

Posted 20-Jun-18 9:53am

Member 12885549

Updated 20-Jun-18 11:49am

Add a Solution

2 solutions

Solution 2

You really should also be creating a method to execute the process. That way you can wrap it appropriately, and not duplicate code. Here is some code I found and slightly modified:

public static void RunCmd(string executeString)
  {
      ProcessStartInfo processStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(executeString);
      processStartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
      processStartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
      processStartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;

      Process process = new Process();
      process.StartInfo = processStartInfo;
      process.Start();
      process.WaitForExit();

      if (process.ExitCode == -1)
          throw new Exception(process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd());
  }

Posted 20-Jun-18 11:50am

Clifford Nelson

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Dave Kreskowiak · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-20T10:42:00

You're not paying attention to the spaces in between your command line arguments.

Your assembled command line looks like this:

cmd.exe /cC:\ant.bat-f=C:\build.xml-DinputFile=C:\Book1.xml-DstartDate=2018-05-23-dXslFile=2018-05-23-DoutputFile=ff

Just concatenating strings together does not automatically put spaces in the appropriate places for you. You have to account for that yourself.

Also, it greatly helps debugging if you put the strings into variables instead of directly assembling them as an argument in the function call:

C#

string arguments=$"/c {antFile} -f={build} -DinputFile={inputFile} -DstartDate={startDate} -DxslFile={startDate} -DoutputFile={outputFile}";
ProcessStartInfo procStartInfo2 = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe", arguments);

Learn how to use the debugger! This could have been EASILY found with just the debugger and a simple hover of the mouse over a variable to see its contents.

The debugger is there to debug YOU and you're understanding of the code and how it works.