Develop Reference

Remove directory after copy it XCOPY

I'm working with C#, using XCOPY. I have method which copies a full directory into another:
public static void ProcessXcopy(string SolutionDirectory, string TargetDirectory)
{
// Use ProcessStartInfo class
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
//Give the name as Xcopy
startInfo.FileName = "xcopy";
//make the window Hidden
startInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
//Send the Source and destination as Arguments to the process
startInfo.Arguments = "\"" + SolutionDirectory + "\"" + " " + "\"" + TargetDirectory + "\"" + #" /e /y /I /B";
try
{
// Start the process with the info we specified.
// Call WaitForExit and then the using statement will close.
using (Process exeProcess = Process.Start(startInfo))
{
exeProcess.WaitForExit();
}
}
catch (Exception exp)
{
throw exp;
}
}
That I want to know if there is a way to remove source directory once it is copied to another directory successfully.

If you want to stick .Net Methods, you can use Directory.Delete in the finally statement . The second parameter indicates to remove the Sub Folder/Files. More details here
Directory.Delete(path,true);

you can use robocopy instead of xcopy
robocopy from_folder to_folder files_to_copy /MOVE
xcopy needs .bat script in order to have same functionality with 1 line of robocopy
Ex:
xcopy /D /V %1 %2
if errorlevel 0 (
del /Q %1
exit /B
)

executing .exe with argument and multiple commands from C#

I am currently trying to "convert" a bash script I wrote to C#.
This script starts a program in a shell and then executes a few commands in this shell and looks similar to this:
cd /$MYPATH
./executible -s << EOF
start_source_probe -hardware_name "USB" -device_name "#1: EP3C(10|5)"
write_source_data -instance_index 0 -value "11111"
write_source_data -instance_index 0 -value "10111"
write_source_data -instance_index 0 -value "00111"
exit
EOF
Now I would like to do the same using Visual Studio C#.
At the moment my attempt looks like this:
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.WorkingDirectory = "pathToExe\\";
startInfo.FileName= "executible.exe";
startInfo.Arguments= "-s";
//startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
//startInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
Process proc = new Process();
proc.StartInfo = startInfo;
proc.Start();
//StreamWriter myStreamWriter = proc.StandardInput;
//Console.WriteLine("start_source_probe - hardware_name \"USB\" -device_name \"#1: EP3C(10|5)\"");
//Console.WriteLine("write_source_data -instance_index 0 -value \"11111\"");
proc.WaitForExit();
With the comments activated (so with the "//" in code) I manage to open the shell (-s stands for shell) but I wonder how I am able to execute commands in this shell additionally.
I managed to execute multiple commands with something like this (as long as I am not starting the shell because destination output differs I guess)
const string strCmdText = "/C command1&command2";
Process.Start("CMD.exe", strCmdText);
I would appreciate it if someone could tell me how to add the argument "-s" and execute commands in the started process.

I am not sure if i did understood your question, but you can create a batch file outside your c# code and call It from your c# code like the following :
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo ProcStartInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo("cmd");
ProcStartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
ProcStartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
ProcStartInfo.CreateNoWindow = false;
ProcStartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
System.Diagnostics.Process MyProcess = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
ProcStartInfo.Arguments = "/c start /wait batch.bat ";
MyProcess.StartInfo = ProcStartInfo;
MyProcess.Start();
MyProcess.WaitForExit();
I added the /wait so your c# code is going to wait for your batch to finish, to pursuit the c# code execution

ffmpeg is not recognized

The following code gives me an error in the CMD window (Visual studio 2013 - c# project):
'ffmpeg' is not recognized as an internal or external command
Process p = new Process();
ProcessStartInfo info = new ProcessStartInfo();
info.FileName = "cmd.exe";
info.RedirectStandardInput = true;
info.UseShellExecute = false;
p.StartInfo = info;
p.Start();
using (StreamWriter sw = p.StandardInput)
{
if (sw.BaseStream.CanWrite)
{
sw.WriteLine("ffmpeg -i test.mp4 test.mp3");
// sw.WriteLine("mypassword");
// sw.WriteLine("use mydb;");
}
}
This error happens only when i run the command "ffmpeg -i test.mp4 test.mp3" from the code. the other way works - running the command straight from CMD.. any suggestions to make it work from the code?

Use the WorkingDirectory property to set where the ffmpeg executable file is.
info.WorkingDirectory = #"C:\myFFMPEGDir";
At the moment, it's trying to look into the same directory as your process for ffmpeg. It sounds like ffmpeg is not there so you need to set the path.
Alternatively, you can write the entire path in the command.
sw.WriteLine("C:\\myFFMPEGDir\\ffmpeg.exe -i test.mp4 test.mp3");

Cannot see the results of command line

Previously somebody has asked how to run a command line command in C# from visual studio and the beneath was the answer.
I tried the same intended to call a tool called cccc which can run on command line. But when I run the beneath code I do not get any results and nothing shows wrong.
Stating generally how can we run the same commands from C# as it was in command line and get the same results. Say I call a program (it could be any program that is able to run on command line, for instance, cccc, ccm, and so on) on command line and get some results. How to call the command line and give the arguments so it will call in its turn the cccc or whatever and do the same thing as it was without C#.
string strCmdText;
strCmdText = "/C d: cd D:\\Exercises\\npp52\\PowerEditor\\src && dir /s /b | cccc - --outdir=d:\\myfolder";
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("CMD.exe", strCmdText);

Add 'pause' to the end of your command:
string strCmdText;
strCmdText = "/C d: cd D:\\Exercises\\npp52\\PowerEditor\\src && dir /s /b | cccc - --outdir=d:\\myfolder & pause";
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("CMD.exe", strCmdText);
or redirect console standard output to a stream.

Here need more magic with OutputDataReceived handler
void Main()
{
System.Diagnostics.Process proc = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
proc.StartInfo.FileName="cmd.exe";
proc.StartInfo.Arguments = "/c ping 127.0.0.1";
proc.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
proc.OutputDataReceived += new DataReceivedEventHandler(SortOutputHandler);
proc.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
proc.Start();
proc.BeginOutputReadLine();
proc.WaitForExit();
proc.Close();
}
private void SortOutputHandler(object sendingProcess,
DataReceivedEventArgs outLine)
{
if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(outLine.Data))
{
// Do what You need with out
Console.WriteLine(outLine.Data);
}
}

Instead of trying to put everything inside a string you could take advantage of the ProcessStartInfo class to better define your arguments
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();
psi.FileName = "CMD.EXE";
psi.WorkingDirectory = "D:\\Exercises\\npp52\\PowerEditor\\src ";
psi.Arguments = "/C dir /s /b | cccc - --outdir=d:\\myfolder"";
psi.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal;
Process.Start(psi);
Also with the command window open you could see if there are syntax errors in your command

Another problem is that you are not using RedirectStandardOutput, so output is discarded. Take a look at this answer.

C#.Net: Why is my Process.Start() hanging?

I'm trying to run a batch file, as another user, from my web app. For some reason, the batch file hangs! I can see "cmd.exe" running in the task manager, but it just sits there forever, unable to be killed, and the batch file is not running. Here's my code:
SecureString password = new SecureString();
foreach (char c in "mypassword".ToCharArray())
password.AppendChar(c);
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();
psi.WorkingDirectory = #"c:\build";
psi.FileName = Environment.SystemDirectory + #"\cmd.exe";
psi.Arguments = "/q /c build.cmd";
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
psi.UserName = "builder";
psi.Password = password;
Process.Start(psi);
If you didn't guess, this batch file builds my application (a different application than the one that is executing this command).
The Process.Start(psi); line returns immediately, as it should, but the batch file just seems to hang, without executing. Any ideas?
EDIT: See my answer below for the contents of the batch file.
The output.txt never gets created.
I added these lines:
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
Process p = Process.Start(psi);
String outp = p.StandardOutput.ReadLine();
and stepped through them in debug mode. The code hangs on the ReadLine(). I'm stumped!

I believe I've found the answer. It seems that Microsoft, in all their infinite wisdom, has blocked batch files from being executed by IIS in Windows Server 2003. Brenden Tompkins has a work-around here:
http://codebetter.com/blogs/brendan.tompkins/archive/2004/05/13/13484.aspx
That won't work for me, because my batch file uses IF and GOTO, but it would definitely work for simple batch files.

Why not just do all the work in C# instead of using batch files?
I was bored so i wrote this real quick, it's just an outline of how I would do it since I don't know what the command line switches do or the file paths.
using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;
using System.Security;
using System.Diagnostics;
namespace asdf
{
class StackoverflowQuestion
{
private const string MSBUILD = #"path\to\msbuild.exe";
private const string BMAIL = #"path\to\bmail.exe";
private const string WORKING_DIR = #"path\to\working_directory";
private string stdout;
private Process p;
public void DoWork()
{
// build project
StartProcess(MSBUILD, "myproject.csproj /t:Build", true);
}
public void StartProcess(string file, string args, bool redirectStdout)
{
SecureString password = new SecureString();
foreach (char c in "mypassword".ToCharArray())
password.AppendChar(c);
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();
p = new Process();
psi.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
psi.WorkingDirectory = WORKING_DIR;
psi.FileName = file;
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = redirectStdout;
psi.UserName = "builder";
psi.Password = password;
p.StartInfo = psi;
p.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
p.Exited += new EventHandler(p_Exited);
p.Start();
if (redirectStdout)
{
stdout = p.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
}
}
void p_Exited(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (p.ExitCode != 0)
{
// failed
StringBuilder args = new StringBuilder();
args.Append("-s k2smtpout.secureserver.net ");
args.Append("-f build#example.com ");
args.Append("-t josh#example.com ");
args.Append("-a \"Build failed.\" ");
args.AppendFormat("-m {0} -h", stdout);
// send email
StartProcess(BMAIL, args.ToString(), false);
}
}
}
}

Without seeing the build.cmd it's hard to tell what is going on, however, you should build the path using Path.Combine(arg1, arg2); It's the correct way to build a path.
Path.Combine( Environment.SystemDirectory, "cmd.exe" );
I don't remember now but don't you have to set UseShellExecute = true ?

Another possibility to "debug" it is to use standardoutput and then read from it:
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = True;
Process proc = Process.Start(psi);
String whatever = proc.StandardOutput.ReadLine();

In order to "see" what's going on, I'd suggest you transform the process into something more interactive (turn off Echo off) and put some "prints" to see if anything is actually happening. What is in the output.txt file after you run this?
Does the bmail actually executes?
Put some prints after/before to see what's going on.
Also add "#" to the arguments, just in case:
psi.Arguments = #"/q /c build.cmd";
It has to be something very simple :)

My guess would be that the build.cmd is waiting for some sort of user-interaction/reply. If you log the output of the command with the "> logfile.txt" operator at the end, it might help you find the problem.

Here's the contents of build.cmd:
#echo off
set path=C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727;%path%
msbuild myproject.csproj /t:Build > output.txt
IF NOT ERRORLEVEL 1 goto :end
:error
bmail -s k2smtpout.secureserver.net -f build#example.com -t josh#example.com -a "Build failed." -m output.txt -h
:end
del output.txt
As you can see, I'm careful not to output anything. It all goes to a file that gets emailed to me if the build happens to fail. I've actually been running this file as a scheduled task nightly for quite a while now. I'm trying to build a web app that allows me to run it on demand.
Thanks for everyone's help so far! The Path.Combine tip was particularly useful.

I think cmd.exe hangs if the parameters are incorrect.
If the batch executes correctly then I would just shell execute it like this instead.
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo();
Process p = new Process();
psi.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
psi.WorkingDirectory = #"c:\build";
psi.FileName = #"C:\build\build.cmd";
psi.UseShellExecute = true;
psi.UserName = "builder";
psi.Password = password;
p.StartInfo = psi;
p.Start();
Also it could be that cmd.exe just can't find build.cmd so why not give the full path to the file?

What are the endlines of you batch? If the code hangs on ReadLine, then the problem might be that it's unable to read the batch file…