Java Runtime.getRuntime(): getting output from executing a command line program

Question

I\'m using the runtime to run command prompt commands from my Java program. However, I\'m not aware of how I can get the output the command returns.

Here is my code:

Answer 1

Also we can use streams for obtain command output:

public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {

        Runtime runtime = Runtime.getRuntime();
        String[] commands  = {"free", "-h"};
        Process process = runtime.exec(commands);

        BufferedReader lineReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
        lineReader.lines().forEach(System.out::println);

        BufferedReader errorReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getErrorStream()));
        errorReader.lines().forEach(System.out::println);
    }

Answer 2

@Senthil and @Arend answer (https://stackoverflow.com/a/5711150/2268559) mentioned ProcessBuilder. Here is the example using ProcessBuilder with specifying environment variables and working folder for the command:

    ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder("ls", "-a", "-l");

    Map<String, String> env = pb.environment();
    // If you want clean environment, call env.clear() first
    //env.clear();
    env.put("VAR1", "myValue");
    env.remove("OTHERVAR");
    env.put("VAR2", env.get("VAR1") + "suffix");

    File workingFolder = new File("/home/user");
    pb.directory(workingFolder);

    Process proc = pb.start();

    BufferedReader stdInput = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(proc.getInputStream()));

    BufferedReader stdError = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(proc.getErrorStream()));

    // Read the output from the command:
    System.out.println("Here is the standard output of the command:\n");
    String s = null;
    while ((s = stdInput.readLine()) != null)
        System.out.println(s);

    // Read any errors from the attempted command:
    System.out.println("Here is the standard error of the command (if any):\n");
    while ((s = stdError.readLine()) != null)
        System.out.println(s);

Answer 3

If use are already have Apache commons-io available on the classpath, you may use:

Process p = new ProcessBuilder("cat", "/etc/something").start();
String stderr = IOUtils.toString(p.getErrorStream(), Charset.defaultCharset());
String stdout = IOUtils.toString(p.getInputStream(), Charset.defaultCharset());

Answer 4

A quicker way is this:

public static String execCmd(String cmd) throws java.io.IOException {
    java.util.Scanner s = new java.util.Scanner(Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd).getInputStream()).useDelimiter("\\A");
    return s.hasNext() ? s.next() : "";
}

Which is basically a condensed version of this:

public static String execCmd(String cmd) throws java.io.IOException {
    Process proc = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd);
    java.io.InputStream is = proc.getInputStream();
    java.util.Scanner s = new java.util.Scanner(is).useDelimiter("\\A");
    String val = "";
    if (s.hasNext()) {
        val = s.next();
    }
    else {
        val = "";
    }
    return val;
}

I know this question is old but I am posting this answer because I think this may be quicker.

Edit (For Java 7 and above)

Need to close Streams and Scanners. Using AutoCloseable for neat code:

public static String execCmd(String cmd) {
    String result = null;
    try (InputStream inputStream = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd).getInputStream();
            Scanner s = new Scanner(inputStream).useDelimiter("\\A")) {
        result = s.hasNext() ? s.next() : null;
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
    return result;
}

Answer 5

Here is the way to go:

Runtime rt = Runtime.getRuntime();
String[] commands = {"system.exe", "-get t"};
Process proc = rt.exec(commands);

BufferedReader stdInput = new BufferedReader(new 
     InputStreamReader(proc.getInputStream()));

BufferedReader stdError = new BufferedReader(new 
     InputStreamReader(proc.getErrorStream()));

// Read the output from the command
System.out.println("Here is the standard output of the command:\n");
String s = null;
while ((s = stdInput.readLine()) != null) {
    System.out.println(s);
}

// Read any errors from the attempted command
System.out.println("Here is the standard error of the command (if any):\n");
while ((s = stdError.readLine()) != null) {
    System.out.println(s);
}

Read the Javadoc for more details here. ProcessBuilder would be a good choice to use.

Answer 6

Adapted from the previous answer:

public static String execCmdSync(String cmd, CmdExecResult callback) throws java.io.IOException, InterruptedException {
    RLog.i(TAG, "Running command:", cmd);

    Runtime rt = Runtime.getRuntime();
    Process proc = rt.exec(cmd);

    //String[] commands = {"system.exe", "-get t"};

    BufferedReader stdInput = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(proc.getInputStream()));
    BufferedReader stdError = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(proc.getErrorStream()));

    StringBuffer stdOut = new StringBuffer();
    StringBuffer errOut = new StringBuffer();

    // Read the output from the command:
    System.out.println("Here is the standard output of the command:\n");
    String s = null;
    while ((s = stdInput.readLine()) != null) {
        System.out.println(s);
        stdOut.append(s);
    }

    // Read any errors from the attempted command:
    System.out.println("Here is the standard error of the command (if any):\n");
    while ((s = stdError.readLine()) != null) {
        System.out.println(s);
        errOut.append(s);
    }

    if (callback == null) {
        return stdInput.toString();
    }

    int exitVal = proc.waitFor();
    callback.onComplete(exitVal == 0, exitVal, errOut.toString(), stdOut.toString(), cmd);

    return stdInput.toString();
}

public interface CmdExecResult{
    void onComplete(boolean success, int exitVal, String error, String output, String originalCmd);
}