BE_ExecuteSystemCommand ( command ; { timeout ; executeUsingShell } )
Description
Performs a command line script of the command parameter. Similar to using the same command using Terminal on the Mac, or CMD.exe on Windows, but with lots of caveats as to the differences ( see Notes below ).
Parameters
- command : The command to run.
- timeout ( optional, default:empty ) : A value, in milliseconds that the plugin should wait for a result before returning. No value specified will wait indefinitely ( not recommended ) and a value of 0 will return immediately.
- executeUsingShell ( optional, default:True ) : whether to execute the command directly or in a shell.
Keywords
Execute System Command Shell
Version History
- 2.0.0 : First Release
- 4.0.6 : Switched to a different library to perform the command, which broke a lot of things, and meant it could only run one command at a time
- 4.1.3 : Do not crash when attempting to execute an empty command.
- 4.1.3 : macOS, Linux and iOS enable multiple calls to shell like version 4.0.5
- 4.2.0 : Reverted back to the 4.0.5 option and fixed the crash issue, and added executeUsingShell as an option
Notes
You can string multiple commands together in a single plugin function call by using Char ( 10 ) on Mac and Char ( 13 ) on Windows as command separators, but only when using executeUsingShell set to True.
This function call does not behave the same as when running the same command in Terminal or CMD.exe.
Some things to note :
This function will not start with the same default location as a normal terminal command.
This function will not always run as the same user as the normal shell, especially when running on Server where the process runs as the fmserver user, so permissions may be different between this command and the terminal. For example, you may have access to read the location to an executable, but not to run it. Or permission to run it but not to access the data you send to it.
This function may not have access to default environment variables as a normal user, so things like paths to commands may not exist. Run the printenv command from the terminal and also from the BE plugin and compare the two, to see if there are differences.
Escaping quotes on Windows is complex and fraught with issues. The most common issue people have with running commands is how to escape quotes so that they appear in the right place in the command you're running. However quotes on windows are not simple, and we recommend people read this for more info :
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/355988/how-do-i-deal-with-quote-characters-when-using-cmd-exe
Using the | pipe character on windows is known to not work.
This function returns anything send to stdout and everything else needs to be captured by the command you're running.
Given all of that, if you're unable to get a command to run the issue is likely to do with what the command is trying to do, and the complexities of users, permissions, paths, errors, encoding, quoting, and not to do with the implementation of this function. It's unlikely that we can fix your function call.
If you're copying and pasting a command from somewhere and expecting it to work without understanding the underlying intricacies of the operating system and it's shell, you'l have a hard time trying to debug your command. Especially if the command "works" when you run it manually outside of the plugin.
Compatibility
| Platform | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Mac FMP | Yes |
| Win FMP | Yes |
| FMS | Yes |
| iOS | No |
| Linux | Yes |
Example Code