Question

What is the simplest way to call a program from with a piece of Java code? (The program I want to run is aiSee and it can be run from command line or from Windows GUI; and I am on Vista but the code will also be run on Linux systems).

Answer 1

Take a look at Process and Runtime classes. Keep in mind that what you are trying to accomplish is probably not platform independent.

Here is a little piece of code that might be helpful:

public class YourClass
{
    public static void main(String args[])
       throws Exception
    {
        Runtime rt = Runtime.getRuntime();
        Process proc = rt.exec("name_of_your_application.exe");
        int exitVal = proc.exitValue();
        System.out.println("Process exitValue: " + exitVal);
    }
}

One question in S.O. discussing similiar issues. Another one. And another one.