command line using string.Format() to handle escape characters

Question

Thank for reading my thread.

Here is the command line I like to call within my C# code:

C:\>"D:\fiji-win64\Fiji.app\ImageJ-win64.exe" -eval "run('Bio-Formats','open=D:\\Output\\Untitiled032\\ChanA_0001_0001_0001_0001.tif display_ome-xml')"

This is the exact command I can see from my console window, and it runs and gives me what I need. I want to run this command line from from my C# code, so there is escape character problem I don;t know how to handle

There are two strings I'd like to make them flexible

D:\fiji-win64\Fiji.app\ImageJ-win64.exe
D:\Output\Untitiled032\ChanA_0001_0001_0001_0001.tif

I am wondering how I can use string.Format() to formulate this command line?

This is my current code, it opens the image, but the display_ome-xml did not get called:

string bioformats = "Bio-Formats";
string options = string.Format("open={0} display_ome-xml", fileName.Replace("\\", "\\\\"));

string runCommand = string.Format("run(\"'{0}'\",\"'{1}'\")", bioformats, options);
string fijiCmdText = string.Format("/C \"\"{0}\" -eval {1}", fijiExeFile, runCommand);

where fijiExeFile works fins, it is just the runCommand keeps ignoring the display_ome-xml. Anyone has any suggestions? It is really really confusing. Thanks a lot.

I would try to remove all of those \", they don't seems to be needed neither in the exe name or in the parameters. Also, remove that double replace("\\", "\\\\") — Steve
– Steve, Commented May 14, 2014 at 21:41
How exactly are you passing the parameters into the C# program? — merlin2011
– merlin2011, Commented May 14, 2014 at 21:58
Also, where is the code that actually runs the command? If you show that, it will be easier to tell why display_ome-xml is ignored. — merlin2011
– merlin2011, Commented May 14, 2014 at 22:05
System.Diagnostics.Process process = new System.Diagnostics.Process(); System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo(); startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden; startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe"; startInfo.Arguments = fijiCmdText; process.StartInfo = startInfo; process.Start(); — Ono
– Ono, Commented May 14, 2014 at 22:10

Mark Larter · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-14 22:09:04Z

1

As @Kristian pointed out, @ can help here. It also appears that there may be some extra or misplaced \" in the code above. This seems to give the desired output string:

string fijiExeFile = @"D:\fiji-win64\Fiji.app\ImageJ-win64.exe";
string fileName = @"D:\\Output\\Untitiled032\\ChanA_0001_0001_0001_0001.tif";

string bioformats = "Bio-Formats";
string options = string.Format("open={0} display_ome-xml", fileName);

string runCommand = string.Format("run('{0}','{1}')", bioformats, options);
string fijiCmdText = string.Format("\"{0}\" -eval \"{1}\"", fijiExeFile, runCommand);

edited May 14, 2014 at 22:09

answered May 14, 2014 at 21:45

Mark Larter

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2 Comments

Ono Over a year ago

fileName is a string variable, when it is retrieved, it seems it is already in the format of D:\\Output\\Untitled032\\ChanA_0001_0001_0001_0001.tif

Mark Larter Over a year ago

OK I have edited my code to eliminate the .Replace since the double `` are already present. You can disregard my first two lines if the fijiExeFile or fileName values are already coming from elsewhere.

Kristian Hebert · Accepted Answer · 2014-05-14 21:57:37Z

1

The easiest way is to use the verbatim string literal. Just put a @ before your string like so:

@"c:\abcd\efgh"

This will disable the backslash escape character

If you need " inside your string, you will have to escape the the quotation marks like so:

@"c:\abcd\efgh.exe ""param1"""

Your example could be:

String.Format(@"""{0}"" -eval ""run('Bio-Formats','open={1} display_ome-xml')""", @"D:\fiji-win64\Fiji.app\ImageJ-win64.exe", @"D:\Output\Untitiled032\ChanA_0001_0001_0001_0001.tif")

or

string p1 = "D:\\fiji-win64\\Fiji.app\\ImageJ-win64.exe";
string p2 = "D:\\Output\\Untitiled032\\ChanA_0001_0001_0001_0001.tif";

String.Format(@"""{0}"" -eval ""run('Bio-Formats','open={1} display_ome-xml')""", p1, p2);

edited May 14, 2014 at 21:57

answered May 14, 2014 at 21:41

Kristian Hebert

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8 Comments

Ono Over a year ago

Thank you for your reply. As you can see, I am really inexperienced at this, so any chance you can extend your answer a little more by writing my command line out using string.Format()? In that way at least I can get some education.

Ono Over a year ago

What if the fileName is a string variable, when it is retrieved, it seems it is already in the format of D:\\Output\\Untitled032\\ChanA_0001_0001_0001_0001.tif ?

Kristian Hebert Over a year ago

That's fine, you can just pass it as a parameter to the String.Format

Ono Over a year ago

Not working, it does not even start D:\\fiji-win64\\Fiji.app\\ImageJ-win64.exe

Kristian Hebert Over a year ago

Sounds strange, how does the final string look like?

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