WPF Run CMD line with simple argument, print output - without batch file

Question

I'm having some difficulty doing this without using a batch file. What I want to do is when a button is clicked, run the command line with a simple argument that I specify.

Here's my code so far:

ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe");
startInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = true;        
startInfo.Arguments = "dir";
Process.Start(startInfo);
string output = Process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
txtblkOutput.Text = output;

However, this just opens a cmd window and nothing happens. The text box remains blank.

However I can do this:

var process = new Process();
process.StartInfo.FileName = "C:/Users/user/Documents/SUB-20 Tool/commands.bat";
process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
process.Start();
string output = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
txtblkOutput.Text = output;

Inside the batch file it just says dir. And this works, I get the output sent to my textbox.

Why does this work only with a batch file? Can I do this without it, with just using the argument property?

Chostakovitch · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-10 15:15:07Z

1

This is the excepted behaviour. When you execute cmd.exe with the argument dir, it does not execute the command.

As an exemple, see the screenshot below : enter image description here

The correct way to execute a command in the arguments is the following :

cmd.exe /C <command>

answered Jul 10, 2015 at 15:15

Chostakovitch

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3 Comments

hereiam Over a year ago

This would be FileName contents, correct? (process.StartInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe /C dir";) If i do that, i get an error that the system cannot find the file specified.

hereiam Over a year ago

I split up the command into Filename and Arguments. I used "cmd.exe" for Filename property, and "/C dir" for Arguments property. This worked!

Chostakovitch Over a year ago

@hereiam That is what I was thinking about. I should have been more explicit.

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