Spaces in java execute path for OS X

Question

On OS X, I am trying to .exec something, but when a path contains a space, it doesn't work. I've tried surrounding the path with quotes, escaping the space, and even using \u0020.

For example, this works:

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("open /foldername/toast.sh");

But if there's a space, none of these work:

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("open /folder name/toast.sh");

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("open \"/folder name/toast.sh\"");

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("open /folder\\ name/toast.sh");

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("open /folder\u0020name/toast.sh");

Ideas?

Edit: Escaped backslash... still no worky.

Answer 1

There's a summary of this problem on Sun's forums... seems to be a pretty common issue not restricted to OS X.

The last post in the thread summarizes the proposed solution. In essence, use the form of Runtime.exec that takes a String[] array:

String[] args = new String[] { "open", "\"/folder name/toast.sh\"" }; 

or (the forum suggests this will work too)

String[] args = new String[] { "open", "folder name/toast.sh" };