Question

I’m using Java SE 6 and want to open files in an external process by a predefined program. Currently I am using the following code for pdf files for example:

Windows:

public static Process openFile(File file) {
    return Runtime.getRuntime().exec("C:/Program Files (x86)/Adobe/Reader 10.0/Reader/AcroRd32.exe \""+file.getAbsolutePath()+"\"");
}

Ubuntu Linux:

public static Process openFile(File file) {
    return Runtime.getRuntime().exec("/usr/bin/evince \""+file.getAbsolutePath()+"\"");
}

On windows this works just fine for all files. But on ubuntu, as soon as there’s a space within the file path, it tries to open multiple files. Here’s an example:

contract.pdf -> works on windows and ubuntu
contract 1 (copy).pdf -> works only on windows, ubuntu tries to open 3 different files (contract, 1, and (copy).pdf)

What special character do I need to tell ubuntu that it should handle file paths with spaces as one file ?

Thanks for your help in advance!
Best regards

Answer 1

I would try using Desktop.open

Launches the associated application to open the file.

If the specified file is a directory, the file manager of the current platform is launched to open it.

Or you can try

return Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[]{ 
        "/usr/bin/evince", file.getAbsolutePath() });