# System command is wierd **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [February 1, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/system-command-is-wierd/127768 "2008-02-01T04:50:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Junkone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/system-command-is-wierd/127768/1 "2008-02-01T04:50:55Z")
Hello. this system command works from the command prompt but not from irb. when i have a space in the directory name, the irb system command cannot take it. irb(main):008:0\> system(“dir e:\program files”) Volume in drive E has no label. Volume Serial Number is N857-EB60 Directory of e:\ File Not Found Directory of E:\Documents and Settings\rocky File Not Found =\> false When i try this thro command prompt, it works E:\Documents and Settings\rocky\>dir “e:\program files” Volume in drive E has no label. Volume Serial Number is B857-EB62 Directory of e:\program files 26/01/2008 06:41 PM . 26/01/2008 06:41 PM … … ---
**Author:** ![Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Junkone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:55am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/system-command-is-wierd/127768/2 "2008-02-01T04:55:36Z")
On Jan 31, 2008, at 19:49 , Junkone wrote: > irb(main):008:0\> system(“dir e:\program files”) > E:\Documents and Settings\rocky\>dir “e:\program files” compare what you’re doing in both and notice how they’re different. ---
**Author:** ![Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Junkone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/system-command-is-wierd/127768/3 "2008-02-01T04:56:12Z")
Junkone wrote: > File Not Found > Volume Serial Number is B857-EB62 > > Directory of e:\program files > > 26/01/2008 06:41 PM . > 26/01/2008 06:41 PM … … Have you tried system(‘dir e:\“program files”’) ? This works for me in irb. ---
**Author:** ![Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Junkone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 9:19am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/system-command-is-wierd/127768/4 "2008-02-01T09:19:16Z")
Hi, At Fri, 1 Feb 2008 13:06:56 +0900, Dan wrote in [ruby-talk:289420]: > you could use > > system(‘dir “e:/program files”’) dir is an internal command, and you can’t use forward slashes as director separators. ---
**Author:** ![Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Junkone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/system-command-is-wierd/127768/5 "2008-02-01T05:07:55Z")
If i recall correctly, ruby will convert paths between different os’s if it can. So instead of system(‘dir e:\“program files”’) you could use system(‘dir “e:/program files”’) and save yourself escaping the backslash. ---
**Author:** ![Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@Junkone](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/Junkone)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/system-command-is-wierd/127768/6 "2008-02-02T01:15:41Z")
Yeah Windows/DOS has accepted either / or \ as directory separators for a while: > **[Path (computing)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_(computing)#Representations_of_paths_by_operating_system)** > > A path is a string of characters used to uniquely identify a location in a directory structure. It is composed by following the directory tree hierarchy in which components, separated by a delimiting character, represent each directory. The delimiting character is most commonly the slash ("/"), the backslash character ("\\"), or colon (":"), though some operating systems may use a different delimiter. Paths are used extensively in computer science to represent the directory/file relationships com... However as you said dir is an internal command and forward slash breaks with it on the windows command line, but it does work in irb and stand-alone ruby. irb(main):001:0\> system(‘dir “d:/program files”’) Volume in drive D is WINDOWS Volume Serial Number is 847A-A69A Directory of d:\program files 13/01/2008 05:21 PM . 13/01/2008 05:21 PM … 13/01/2008 05:30 PM Cakewalk 24/10/2007 12:04 AM Common Files 24/10/2007 12:03 AM ComPlus Applications 10/11/2007 11:11 PM DAEMON Tools 03/01/2008 05:12 PM DIFX 24/10/2007 12:48 AM Internet Explorer 04/01/2008 09:28 AM Java 24/10/2007 12:19 AM Messenger 24/10/2007 12:36 AM MSBuild 24/10/2007 12:40 AM MSXML 6.0 24/10/2007 12:31 AM Reference Assemblies 12/12/2007 09:03 PM TortoiseSVN 02/11/2007 04:09 PM vim71 24/10/2007 12:03 AM Windows NT 0 File(s) 0 bytes 18 Dir(s) 5,931,704,320 bytes free =\> true