rpowershellsystem2

Open a file in notepad++ via a PowerShell function with the r function system2() fails

I have a PowerShell script OpenFile.ps1

# path to notepad++
$notepadPlusPlusPath = "C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe"
# Because the path contains whitespaces "`"$filePath`""
$filePath = "`"C:\Users\Path with spaces\Output.xml`""
# open file in notepad++
Start-Process -FilePath $notepadPlusPlusPath -ArgumentList $filePath

Which I can run successfully with

script_path="C:\\Users\\OpenFile.ps1"
system2("powershell", args = c("-File", shQuote(script_path)))

But the file which should be opened I want to pass as an argument. So the script is transferred to a function named OpenFile_func.ps1

function OpenFile {
    
    param($filePath)
    $notepadPlusPlusPath = "C:\Program Files\Notepad++\notepad++.exe"
    Start-Process -FilePath $notepadPlusPlusPath -ArgumentList $filePath
}

Which runs without an error message...

func_path="C:\\Users\\OpenFile_func.ps1"
file_path="C:\\Users\\Output.xml"
system2("powershell", args = c("-File", shQuote(func_path), "-ArgumentList", shQuote(file_path)))

... but notepad++ with the required file doesn't open.

What's missing in my code so that Notepad++ with the desired file opens?

Solution

  • When there are no spaces in the paths

    Without changing your OpenFile_func.ps1 you may dot-source the function and then run it within system2 like

    func_path="C:\\Users\\OpenFile_func.ps1"
file_path="C:\\Users\\Output.xml"
system2("powershell", args = c("-Command", paste0(". ", shQuote(func_path), "; OpenFile ", shQuote(file_path))))

    sys2

    On Windows you can use shell.exec

    shell.exec will open your .xml directly with your standard xml editor without the need of an extra function - it allows for spaces in the path.

    file_path <- "C:\\Users\\Path with spaces\\Output.xml"
shell.exec(file_path)

    shellexec

    Best practice use processx

    As mentioned by SamR, system2 and by extend system don't quote their arguments which is why you can't pass paths with spaces " " to them. So as SamR suggested, you may use processx

    library(processx)
run("C:\\Program Files\\Notepad++\\notepad++.exe", 
    args = c("C:\\Users\\Path with spaces\\Output.xml"))

    out