Question

Is there a way to launch the command line from java without knowing OS? For example, the method would open up the terminal shell for a Linux OS and open the command line for Windows.

I do know (from looking at previous questions) that i can just check the OS and then open the proper command line, but is there a way to open the command line from a java method that is OS agnostic?

Answer 1

There is no direct or uniform way of doing that across the platforms. One way you can accomplish is

1. Determine the OS (using System.getProperty("os.name")).
2. Then depending on the OS, execute OS specific command.

for example: (snippet taken from here )

           String OS = System.getProperty("os.name").toLowerCase();

        if (isWindows(OS)) {
            String path = "c:\\";
            Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] { "cmd.exe", "/C", "\"start; cd "+path+"\"" });;
        } else if (isMac(OS)) {
            //Open Mac Prompt
        } else if (isUnix(OS)) {
            //Open UnixPrompt
        } else if (isSolaris(OS)) {
            //Open Solaris Prompt
        } else {
            System.out.println("Your OS is not support!!");
        }

public static boolean isWindows(String OS) {

        return (OS.indexOf("win") >= 0);

    }

    public static boolean isMac(String OS) {

        return (OS.indexOf("mac") >= 0);

    }

    public static boolean isUnix(String OS) {

        return (OS.indexOf("nix") >= 0 || OS.indexOf("nux") >= 0 || OS.indexOf("aix") > 0 );

    }

    public static boolean isSolaris(String OS) {

        return (OS.indexOf("sunos") >= 0);

    }

Please look for the relevant code for different OS

Note: its just a code snippet. It won’t compile as is.