Thread: Launching a File

I am trying to launch a file when a button is pressed in my java program. I have read many solutions using the Runtime.getRuntime().exec() call but I can't get it working. I can't even get a file in the root c:\ directory to open. When I try the code:

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cmd /C start \"" + "C:/WORK.txt" + " \"");

All it does is open a command prompt with the title "C:/WORK.txt". Can anyone suggest what might be wrong? Could this have anything to do with me not having administrator rights?


Thanks,
Geoff

First of all, what exactly do you want to do, open the text file?

Do something like this maybe.

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("start C:/WORK.txt");

// Json

Originally Posted by Json

First of all, what exactly do you want to do, open the text file?

Do something like this maybe.

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("start C:/WORK.txt");

// Json

Yes, I am just trying to open the file. After it is open I don't care what happens to the file. I tried using

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("start C:/WORK.txt");

but I get a

java.io.IOException: Cannot run program "start": CreateProcess error=2, The system cannot find the file specified



And yes, the file is definitely there. I've tried accessing other files, in directories which I have access to write to and I still get the same thing.

start seems to be an invalid command.

This works for me.

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("notepad.exe C:/WORK.txt");

// Json

Originally Posted by Json

start seems to be an invalid command.

This works for me.

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("notepad.exe C:/WORK.txt");

// Json

When I try this Notepad opens, but it gives me an error stating "Cannot find the C:/WORK.txt file."

Also I was just using the text file as an initial test, what I really want to accomplish is the opening of a .doc or .pdf file without having to specify the file path to Word or a PDF Reader exe (since this is going to be different on different systems).

Ok, will this only be run on windows systems then I take it?

// Json

Originally Posted by Json

Ok, will this only be run on windows systems then I take it?

// Json

Yes. Do you have any ideas on what might be happening here?

How about this then.

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("cmd /c start c:/work.txt");

// Json