Opening file with spaces in Windows via Command Pr

Question

I want to open a file (particularly video files) in its default program via script. When I come across a file name with spaces, it is taken as several arguments which was no surprise:

  C:\folder>start test space.avi
  The system cannot find the file test.

However, when I surround the file name with quotes:

  C:\folder>start "test space.avi"

instead of opening the file in its default program (VLC), a new Command Prompt window is opened up to the directory of the file.

Opening a file without a space or quotes opens the file in VLC as expected.

How can I get around this?

Answer 1

Adding the initial "" as Glen indicated ensures CMD continues and does not enter wait mode. This is particularly important in a batch file.

In summary:

1- Open file and wait for user to close it before proceeding to next command

start "" "test space.avi"

2- Open file and continue to next command (without waiting)

start "" "test space.avi"

Depending on your need you might opt for 1 or 2.

Answer 2

I suspect start does something special when the first char of the first argument is a quote. The first argument is a window title, and the second is the command/file to open

start "" "test space.avi"

http://ss64.com/nt/start.html

Answer 3

It is a well known problem (at least for me :-)

You will have to use a short name format in your CMD script. To find out a short name for a particular file do the following:

1. Open a CMD window pointing to the file's folder.
2. Run the command: $> dir /X
3. In the middle column you will see a short name for the file of interest. In your particular case it will be something like: TESTSP~1.AVI
4. Use this bare name in your script.

Hope, it helps

Answer 4

Just leave off start, and surround the full filename (including any path) with double-quotes. This works fine on my system:

C:\>"test space.avi"