Thread: the system command

Hi all.

If I was to open up a DOS window, and type:

Code:

dir "c:\examples\programs\project\*.html"

I'd get a list of html files in the "project" directory.

But when I try to get the same results using the system() command:

Code:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main( void )
{
    system("dir c:\examples\programs\project\*.html");

    return 0;
}

I get the error message "File Not Found".

I've tried various combinations of:

Code:

system("dir ""c:\examples\programs\project\*.html""");

to no avail, even though they compile OK.

If I was to use system("dir"), and put the executable into the "projects" folder, everything works fine.

But how can I use the system() command so that it will give me a listing of any directory that I choose? Is even possible to use literal strings in system()?

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by carrotcake1029

Try

Code:

system("dir c:\\examples\\programs\\project\\*.html");

I tried that and got the DOS error message:

"The system cannot find the path specified".



EDIT:

In a DOS window, this command works:

Code:

dir "c:\examples\programs\project\*.html"

So I think I would still need the " at the beginning and the end of the path?

I am using Windows XP, open up a DOS command console to run executables etc.

Well, I just tried it on my Windows Vista box and it worked just fine. I don't have DOS available to test on, sorry.

I used this:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>

int main (void)
{
    system("dir C:\\Windows\\*.exe");
    return 0;
}

And it printed all of the executables in that directory.

If your path has any spaces you would need to put quotes around it, otherwise it should work without them.

Originally Posted by Alex31

Never use system(). It's crappy.
Use Win32 api.

system() is portable, although the string you pass to it isn't. The one good thing about system() is that it's easy to use for quick tests, and later, once you know it works, you can switch it to the proper functions, once you figure out what those functions are.