C++ system() not working when there are spaces in two different parameters

by

system() runs command as cmd /C command. And here’s citation from cmd doc:

If /C or /K is specified, then the remainder of the command line after
the switch is processed as a command line, where the following logic is
used to process quote (") characters:

    1.  If all of the following conditions are met, then quote characters
        on the command line are preserved:

        - no /S switch
        - exactly two quote characters
        - no special characters between the two quote characters,
          where special is one of: &<>()@^|
        - there are one or more whitespace characters between the
          two quote characters
        - the string between the two quote characters is the name
          of an executable file.

    2.  Otherwise, old behavior is to see if the first character is
        a quote character and if so, strip the leading character and
        remove the last quote character on the command line, preserving
        any text after the last quote character.

It seems that you are hitting case 2, and cmd thinks that the whole string C:\Users\Adam\Desktop\pdftotext" -layout "C:\Users\Adam\Desktop\week 4.pdf (i.e. without the first and the last quote) is the name of executable.

So the solution would be to wrap the whole command in extra quotes:

//system("\"D:\\test\" nospaces \"text with spaces\"");//gives same error as you're getting
system("\"\"D:\\test\" nospaces \"text with spaces\"\""); //ok, works

And this is very weird. I think it’s also a good idea to add /S just to make sure it will always parse the string by the case 2:

system("cmd /S /C \"\"D:\\test\" nospaces \"text with spaces\"\""); //also works

More Related Contents:

  1. changing the directory from inside a c program under windows using system command
  2. System() calls in C++ and their roles in programming
  3. How to use QueryPerformanceCounter?
  4. Why should the system() function be avoided in C and C++?
  5. Getting started with OpenCV 2.4 and MinGW on Windows 7
  6. WINMAIN and main() in C++ (Extended)
  7. Requesting administrator privileges at run time
  8. “X does not name a type” error in C++
  9. C++ high precision time measurement in Windows
  10. Windows 7 timing functions – How to use GetSystemTimeAdjustment correctly?
  11. How to create minidump for my process when it crashes?
  12. Borderless Window Using Areo Snap, Shadow, Minimize Animation, and Shake
  13. What happens to global variables declared in a DLL?
  14. SetupDiGetDeviceProperty usage example
  15. What is the Best Practice for Combating the Console Closing Issue?
  16. Detect Windows or Linux in C, C++ [duplicate]
  17. xxxxxx.exe is not a valid Win32 application
  18. How to target Windows XP in Microsoft Visual Studio C++ [duplicate]
  19. Intercept windows open file
  20. How to use Libraries
  21. Linking different libraries for Debug and Release builds in Cmake on windows?
  22. Refreshing the auto complete (IntelliSense) database in Visual Studio
  23. EXE or DLL Image base address
  24. C++ [Windows] Path to the folder where the executable is located [duplicate]
  25. rc.exe no longer found in VS 2015 Command Prompt
  26. libgmp-10.dll is missing
  27. Load an PEM encoded X.509 certificate into Windows CryptoAPI
  28. How to Run Only One Instance of Application
  29. Where can I get windows.h for Mac?
  30. How to execute another exe from a C++ program in Windows

Leave a Comment