Using quotes and double quotes in Java Runtime.getRuntime().exec(...)

Question

I am trying to start a Lisp Image from Java in Mac OSX. Using the Image from my console I type the following:

lisp_image --eval '(package::method "some_argument")'

everything runs fine.

In Java I have the problem to pass the quotes and double quotes using the Runtime.getRuntime().exec("lisp_image --eval '(package::method \"some_argument\")'").

I also tried to use :

Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] {"lisp_image", "--eval ", "\'(package::method ", 
           "--eval ", "\"", "some_argument", "\")", "\'"});

and various things with escaping using the backslash. Nothing works.... Using String Array seems to work only for Unix (or Windows) commands.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance, Sven

Answer 1

As I understand it you want to invoke the list_image with two arguments, --eval and '(package::method \"some_argument\")' where the single quotes is just there to prevent the shell from breaking it up into multiple arguments.

Then you should use

Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[] {"lisp_image", "--eval", "(package::method \"some_argument\")"});