Problem opening file using system() on Windows.

[jdam7459]

I am having trouble getting Windows to open the file "results1.txt" in the directory "Result Sets".

When I run it I get the error:
"results1.txt" is not a recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

But when I check to see if the file is in the directory it is.
The executable is the a folder one up from the folder "Result Sets".
Here's the code.

case 14:
				fout.clear();
				file2.clear();
				out.clear();
				file2 = "results";
				filePath2 = "Result Sets\\";
				counter2++;
				out << counter2;
				file2 += out.str();
				file2 += ext2;
				filePath2 += file2;
				fout.open(filePath2.c_str());

				if (fout.fail())
					cout << endl << "File could not be created..." << endl << endl;
				else
				{
					fout << "Results for " << file << "." << endl << endl;
					list.getFront(temp);
					forList.avg(temp, counter);
					fout << "The mean value is: [ " << forList.getAvg() << " ]." << endl;					
					list.getFront(temp);
					forList.med(temp, counter);
					fout << "The median value is: [ " << forList.getMed() << " ]." << endl;
					list.getFront(temp);
					forList.min(temp);
					fout << "The minimum value is: [ " << forList.getMin() << " ]." << endl;
					list.getBack(temp);
					forList.max(temp);
					fout << "The maximum value is: [ " << forList.getMax() << " ]." << endl;
					list.getFront(temp);
					forList.q1(temp, counter);
					fout << "The first quartile is: [ " << forList.getQ1() << " ]." << endl;
					list.getFront(temp);
					forList.q3(temp, counter);
					fout << "The third quartile value is: [ " << forList.getQ3() << " ]." << endl;
					list.getFront(temp);
					list.getBack(temp2);
					forList.rng(temp, temp2);
					fout << "The range value is: [ " << forList.getRng() << " ]." << endl;
					cout << "All computations are complete, and have been written to the file " << file2 << "." << endl;
					cout << "Close " << file2 << " to continue..." << endl << endl;
				}
				fout.close();
				system("cd Result Sets");
				system(file2.c_str());
				break;

Any help would be great! Thanks!

[DdoubleD]

system expects an executable command. You cannot simply place the name of a text file as the argument. If you want it to launch notepad or something to view your file, you could do that. Here is what I suggest, but have not tested or used this functionality for quite some time:

system ("notepad.exe " + file2.c_str());

If that gives you a compiler error, it will probably be on the string operation, which you can simply concatenate properly (I haven't done this in cpp since string library was introduced--LOL). Hope this helps.

[vmanes]

To display the file contents in your command window, you need the command "type". See the following example use.

#include <iostream>
#include <dos.h>
using namespace std;

int main( )
{
	char str[] = "myfile.txt";  //put your filename here
	char cmd[50] = "type ";  //note the space at end!
	strcat( cmd, str );
	system (  cmd );

	return 0;
}

[jdam7459]

The "notepad.exe" suggestion wasn't the problem but it helped me debug a bit.

It turns out that for some reason the

system("cd Result Sets");

isn't changing the directory at all.
I added

system("dir");

After the "cd" command and it turns out it's still in the directory that the executable is in.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks for those who have already replied!

[Salem]

a) Your "cd" command only lasts as long as the sub-process does (and it only affects the sub-process). If you really want to change the directory in this process, you need to use the chdir() API call.

b) You already have the directory in a string, so why not try to catenate the directory and filename, say the equivalent of:
notepad somedir\somefile.txt

[jdam7459]

a) Your "cd" command only lasts as long as the sub-process does (and it only affects the sub-process). If you really want to change the directory in this process, you need to use the chdir() API call.

b) You already have the directory in a string, so why not try to catenate the directory and filename, say the equivalent of:
notepad somedir\somefile.txt

Thanks Salem!

Knowing that the command only affected sub-processes was unbelievably helpful!

Here's the working code for anyone who has this problem in the future:

case 14:
				fout.clear();
				file2.clear();
				out.clear();
				file2 = "results";
				filePath2 = "Result Sets\\";
				counter2++;
				out << counter2;
				file2 += out.str();
				file2 += ext2;
				filePath2 += file2;
				fout.open(filePath2.c_str());

				if (fout.fail())
					cout << endl << "File could not be created..." << endl << endl;
				else
				{
					fout << "Results for " << file << "." << endl << endl;
					list.getFront(temp);
					forList.avg(temp, counter);
					fout << "The mean value is: [ " << forList.getAvg() << " ]." << endl;					
					list.getFront(temp);
					forList.med(temp, counter);
					fout << "The median value is: [ " << forList.getMed() << " ]." << endl;
					list.getFront(temp);
					forList.min(temp);
					fout << "The minimum value is: [ " << forList.getMin() << " ]." << endl;
					list.getBack(temp);
					forList.max(temp);
					fout << "The maximum value is: [ " << forList.getMax() << " ]." << endl;
					list.getFront(temp);
					forList.q1(temp, counter);
					fout << "The first quartile is: [ " << forList.getQ1() << " ]." << endl;
					list.getFront(temp);
					forList.q3(temp, counter);
					fout << "The third quartile value is: [ " << forList.getQ3() << " ]." << endl;
					list.getFront(temp);
					list.getBack(temp2);
					forList.rng(temp, temp2);
					fout << "The range value is: [ " << forList.getRng() << " ]." << endl;
					cout << "All computations are complete, and have been written to the file " << file2 << "." << endl;
					cout << "Close " << file2 << " to continue..." << endl << endl;
				}
				fout.close();
				filePath2 = "notepad.exe " + filePath2;
				system(filePath2.c_str());
				break;

Thanks to everyone else too!

[marco93]

Never use system() on Windows.
Use Shell or Kernel apis.