How to run simple windows commands through java program?

[Unnar Björnsson]

I have to create a simple shell that takes inputs such as "ls" which lists all files in the current directory and "run cmd" which runs the program cmd.exe. I don�t know how to do this.
I have to use System.in and System.out methods to accomplish this.
I copied the cmd.exe to my root and tried this code:

try
{
String command = "c:\\cmd.exe";
Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(command);
}
catch(IOException e){}

But nothing happent.

[Keith Lynn]

try
{
String command = "c:\\cmd.exe";
Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(command);
}
catch(IOException e){}

Try this.

String[] cmd = {"cmd.exe","/c","dir"};
 
Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd);
 
BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(p.getInputStream()));
 
String temp = "";
 
while ((temp = input.readLine()) != null)
   System.out.println(temp);
 
input.close();
 

[Ulf Dittmer]

This article spells out some pitfalls to avoid when using Runtime.exec.