MATRIXx 7.1.4 on Win2000 oscmd() dos not respond the same as command prompt

[BT_canadair]

I am transitioning from Unix to Windows platforms as thus need to modify many commands that have been developped over the years. Some of these use oscmd() to run operating system commands.

I am running Matrixx 7.1.4 on Windows 2000 and get a different response for the same command if I run it from a command prompt window versus using oscmd().

e.g.
***************************************************************************
Command Prompt
* I have file temp1.txt in path NCAP which contains 4 lines
line 1
line 2
hello my name is
line 3

from the prompt I run
c:\NCAP> sed s/"hello my name is"/"hello my name is Brian"/ temp1.txt >temp2.txt

A new file is created temp2.txt with 4 lines as follows:
line 1
line 2
hello my name is Brian
line 3

*****************************************************************************
MATRIXx
* local directory set to C:\NCAP
>cmd = "sed s/""hello my name is""/""hello my name is Brian""/ temp1.txt >temp2.txt"
cmd (a string) = sed s/"hello my name is"/"hello my name is Brian"/ temp1.txt >temp2.txt
>oscmd(cmd)
line 1
line 2
hello my name is Brian
line 3
sed: can't read >temp2.txt: Invalid argument
ans (a scalar) = 2

* no new file is created??
****************************************************************************

What am I missing?

[nickf]

BT_canadair,

I downloaded a copy of a "sed" utility for dos, but was unable to make it run using the syntax you provided. Where can I find a copy of the utility you're using?

Using Xmath I did try other some basic commands using oscmd. For example I ran the command oscmd("type text1.txt>text2.txt") and had no problems.

Regards,

Nick F.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[nickf]

I'm not exactly sure what the error is or where it's occuring. It seems like it might be specific to the sed utility that you're using. Instead of calling the utility directly I also tried writing a batch file that calls the command but experienced the same error. Standard DOS commands such as "type temp1.txt>temp2.txt" seem to work fine.

One simple work around would be to run the sed utlity then capture the output in Xmath. You could then write the output to a file via Xmath.

Regards,

Nick F.
Applications Engineer
National Instruments

[WhyCantYouBeMoreLikeMatlab]

I realize this is a little late to help you, but it might help someone else.  The command will work if it is started with 'start cmd /C "args" '. For example:

command = "start cmd /C ""sed s/""hello my name is""/""hello my name is Jose""/g temp1.txt >temp2.txt"""

oscmd(command);

will do what you want to do. 

You might also have problems using grep with the pipe "|" command.  If you want to do something like this: 'dir | grep bytes',  [out=format]===oscmd(command) will not return the expected output in out. The only thing I could figure out is to begin the command with 'start cmd /C',

redirect the output to a temp. file and read it in using [out=format]===oscmd("type temp.txt') . Now out will contain the expected output. If anyone else knows a slicker method, please post it.

Regards,

Jose