Writing to Text File - Need to Escape Quotes

[Vladamir]

I can't seem to get the correct syntax for this:

objTmpWriter.WriteLine("C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe a C:\xampp\htdocs\out\" & _
                               Form1.UniqueIDNum & ".zip c:\0\downtime.pdf")

I write this to a batch file which is then run with Process.Start but of course it will not run "Program Files" unless I get the quotes around it. Doubling on the quotes doesn't seem to work correctly either.

[Vladamir]

Sorry about this...the instruction said to use double quotes, when in reality I needed to use triple quotes....translation, "Short circuit between the seat and the keyboard."

objTmpWriter.WriteLine("""C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe"" a C:\xampp\htdocs\out\" & _
                               Form1.UniqueIDNum & ".zip c:\0\downtime.pdf")

[stepdragon]

Do you mean because of the space? Try the shortname "Progra~1". Still works up including win8 as a shortcut to Program Files.

On the other hand, if you need to use quotes, Try generating a string first, and then passing it to your function... that way you can debug the output string before processing it.

[stepdragon]

Do you mean because of the space? Try the shortname "Progra~1". Still works up including win8 as a shortcut to Program Files.

On the other hand, if you need to use quotes, Try generating a string first, and then passing it to your function... that way you can debug the output string before processing it.

EDIT: darn, I need to trust my instincts more... I had already typed "try triple quotes", but I couldn't test it right so I thought I had misremembered. But I wasn't testing with a function call and that threw off my test. Anyways, congrats on figuring it out!

[stepdragon]

odd, somehow it got reposted when I edited it. Sorry about that.

[kareninstructor]

Try

Dim CommandText = <X>"C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe" a C:\xampp\htdocs\out\<%= Form1.UniqueIDNum %>.zip c:\0\downtime.pdf</X>.Value

[kareninstructor]

Also try this (not my code)

Imports Microsoft.Win32
Public Enum ZipOverWriteOptions
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Overwrite
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Skip
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
End Enum
Public Class My7Zip
    Public Property OverWriteOption As ZipOverWriteOptions = ZipOverWriteOptions.aoa
    ''' <summary>
    ''' File to extract files from
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <value></value>
    ''' <returns></returns>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Property ArchiveFileName As String = ""
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Password for ArchiveFileName
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <value></value>
    ''' <returns></returns>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Property Password As String = ""
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Path to extract Archive File contents
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <value></value>
    ''' <returns></returns>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Property Destination As String
    Private mExecutablePath As String = ""
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Location of 7 Zip executable
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <value></value>
    ''' <returns></returns>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public ReadOnly Property ExecutablePath As String
        Get
            Return mExecutablePath
        End Get
    End Property
    Private mExecutable As String = ""
    ''' <summary>
    ''' 7 Zip executable name
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <value></value>
    ''' <returns></returns>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public ReadOnly Property Executable As String
        Get
            If mExecutable.Contains("\") Then
                Return mExecutable
            Else
                Return IO.Path.Combine(mExecutablePath, mExecutable)
            End If
        End Get
    End Property
    Public Property Recurse As Boolean = True
    Private mIsInstalled As Boolean = True
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Is 7 Zip installed
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <value></value>
    ''' <returns></returns>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public ReadOnly Property IsInstalled As Boolean
        Get
            Return mIsInstalled
        End Get
    End Property
    Private Sub GetExecutablePath()
        Dim reg As RegistryKey
        reg = Registry.LocalMachine.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\7-Zip", False)
        If reg IsNot Nothing Then
            mExecutablePath = reg.GetValue("Path").ToString
            mIsInstalled = IO.File.Exists(Executable)
        Else
            mIsInstalled = False
        End If
    End Sub
    Private mReturnCode As Int32 = 0
    Public ReadOnly Property ReturnCode As Int32
        Get
            Return mReturnCode
        End Get
    End Property
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Use hardcoded 7-Zip executable file name
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Sub New()
        mExecutable = "7z.exe"
        GetExecutablePath()
    End Sub
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Specify executable or executable with path
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="ExecutableName"></param>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Sub New(ByVal ExecutableName As String)
        mExecutable = ExecutableName
        If Not ExecutableName.Contains("\") Then
            GetExecutablePath()
        Else
            mExecutablePath = IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(ExecutableName)
        End If
    End Sub
    Public Function Extract() As Boolean
        Dim RecurseArchive As String = If(Me.Recurse, "-r", "-r-")
        Dim OverWriteOption As String = " -" & Me.OverWriteOption.ToString
        Dim Result As Boolean = False
        Dim startInfo As New ProcessStartInfo(Me.Executable)
        startInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden

        If Me.Password.Length > 0 Then
            startInfo.Arguments = <X>e "<%= Me.ArchiveFileName %>" -p"<%= Me.Password %>" -o"<%= Me.Destination %>" <%= RecurseArchive %><%= OverWriteOption %></X>.Value
        Else
            startInfo.Arguments = <X>e "<%= Me.ArchiveFileName %>" -o"<%= Me.Destination %>" <%= RecurseArchive %><%= OverWriteOption %></X>.Value
        End If

        Dim TheProcess = Process.Start(startInfo)
        While Not TheProcess.HasExited
            Application.DoEvents()
        End While

        mReturnCode = TheProcess.ExitCode
        Result = mReturnCode = 0

        Return Result
    End Function
End Class

Usage

Public Class Form1
    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim Extraction As New My7Zip()
        If Extraction.IsInstalled Then
            Extraction.ArchiveFileName = "C:\Backups\ReadCSV.7z"
            Extraction.Password = "password"
            Extraction.Destination = "C:\Test7"
            Extraction.OverWriteOption = ZipOverWriteOptions.aoa
            If Not Extraction.Extract() Then
                MessageBox.Show("Failed to extract data, error code " & Extraction.ReturnCode.ToString)
            Else
                MessageBox.Show("Done")
            End If
        End If
    End Sub
End Class

[stanav]

Sorry about this...the instruction said to use double quotes, when in reality I needed to use triple quotes....translation, "Short circuit between the seat and the keyboard."

objTmpWriter.WriteLine("""C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe"" a C:\xampp\htdocs\out\" & _
                               Form1.UniqueIDNum & ".zip c:\0\downtime.pdf")

A literal double quote is escaped with another double quote. That's why it requires 3 double quotes at the beginning of your string: the 1st one is to to indicate this is a string, the 2 following it is for a literal double quote and its escape character. In those cases where literal quotes present in a string, I find it's less confusing to build the string using string.format function.