Can't run an external program with arguments

This question is closely related to:

[1] https://de.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/316233-can-t-run-external-program

Executing the following command in Matlab (R2019a) causes a not repsponding error in my external program to appear

cmdStr1 = ['"C:\Program Files (x86)\SGeMS\sgems-x64.exe"']
system(cmdStr1)

Using the answer in [1] from:

Philipp Krauter on 30 Dec 2018

I can successfully get Matlab (R2019a) to execute my program using the following

cmdStr2 = ['set path=%path:C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2018b\bin\win64;=% & "C:\Program Files (x86)\SGeMS\sgems-x64.exe"']
system(cmdStr2)

However as soon as I include the arguments

cmdStr3 = ['set path=%path:C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2018b\bin\win64;=% & "C:\Program Files (x86)\SGeMS\sgems-x64.exe" -s tiGenerator.py']
system(cmdStr3)

I get the initial not responding error again.

This appears to be an issue with Matlab as I can execute the command successfully in the command line.

Note, using the suggestion of dos() from Image Analyst results in the same error

Any help would be appreciated!

[Jan]

Avoid the useless square brackets - they are the operator for array concatenation, but you have a single input only.

I do not see the difference between the two calls:

cmdStr2 = 'set path=%path:C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2018b\bin\win64;=% & "C:\Program Files (x86)\SGeMS\sgems-x64.exe"'
cmdStr3 = 'set path=%path:C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2018b\bin\win64;=% & "C:\Program Files (x86)\SGeMS\sgems-x64.exe"'

Is there a typo?

[Joshua]

Please see edited question, cmdStr3 should read:

cmdStr3 = ['set path=%path:C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2018b\bin\win64;=% & "C:\Program Files (x86)\SGeMS\sgems-x64.exe" -s tiGenerator.py']

[Ana Fernández]

similar problem here (I cannot get to run an .exe even without arguments). Is there any update on the issue?

[Mario Malic]

What is the problem, what is the program?

[Ana Fernández]

Hi @MarioMalic,

My problem is the same as mentioned above: I can run without problems the following commands from DOS console:

C:\Users\ana.fernandez>"C:\[long path here]\Programas\POSC2_R14.48_p\Portable\POSC2.exe"

C:\Users\ana.fernandez>"C:\[long path here]\Programas\POSC2_R14.48_p\Portable\POSC2.exe" "C:\Users\ana.fernandez\posc2_command_line.auto" RAINFLOWS

but I get this when doing it from within Matlab:

>> [status,results] = system('"C:\Users\ana.fernandez\[long path here\Programas\POSC2_R14.48_p\Upgrade\POSC2.exe"')

status =

-1.0737e+09

results =

0×0 empty char array

>> dos( '"C:\Users\ana.fernandez\[long path here]\Programas\POSC2_R14.48_p\Upgrade\POSC2.exe" posc2_command_line.auto RAINFLOWS')

ans =

-1.0737e+09

The workaround with the 'set path' doesn't work for me. By the way I am using 2020a.

>> [status,results] = system('set path=%path:C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2020a\bin\win64;=% & "C:\Users\ana.fernandez\[long path here\Programas\POSC2_R14.48_p\Upgrade\POSC2.exe"')

status =

-1.0737e+09

results =

0×0 empty char array

[Mario Malic]

Can you move with your current MATLAB directory to that folder and do this

system('POSC2.exe')

Would that call the software?

You can try this answer as well if the above doesn't work properly.

[Ana Fernández]

Hi @MarioMalic, problem solved thanks to your assistance. The program runs with system('POSC2.exe'); I changed the path to the program and that's it.

[Mario Malic]

That's great to hear. Usually, you wouldn't run the program from its directory. You should try it from some other directory where you're writing the code. Probably, the software could not be opened maybe due to the read/write access in the current directory, as any files that program generates (session file), will be within the current directory of MATLAB.

I just wanted to check whether it's possible to call it within the program folder. This might indicate an issue with your paths, or r/w access as mentioned above.