Problem:

How can an EXE be started by a COBOL program when the path or EXE name contains spaces?

Using a Move “My Path\\My Prog.exe My Parameters” to my-command-lineand trying to start the EXE by CBL_EXEC_RUN_UNIT will fail.

Resolution:

The attached demo shows four ways to start a program.exe with spaces in the path or filename. The main idea is that the path\\program has either to be included in quotes:

• Move ‘“My Path\\My Prog.exe” My Parameters’ to my-command-line, or
• Convert to short name following the 8.3 convention immediately before the program is called.

You can use either a CALL “system”, or the WinApi CreateProcess, or the CBL_EXE_RUN_UNIT to start the EXE.

Incident Number: 2352021