Weird bug in PHP, Spaces in Paths and Windows - php

Question

I've got to fix this little bug. First, let's talk about a small fact:
In CLI on Windows, you can't run a program with a space in its path, unless escaped:
C:\>a b/c.bat
'a' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
C:\>"a b/c.bat"
C:\>
I'm using proc_open...proc_close in PHP to run a process (program), example:
function _pipeExec($cmd,$input=''){
$proc=proc_open($cmd,array(0=>array('pipe','r'),
1=>array('pipe','w'),2=>array('pipe','w')),$pipes);
fwrite($pipes[0],$input);
fclose($pipes[0]);
$stdout=stream_get_contents($pipes[1]); // max execusion time exceeded ssue
fclose($pipes[1]);
$stderr=stream_get_contents($pipes[2]);
fclose($pipes[2]);
$rtn=proc_close($proc);
return array(
'stdout'=>$stdout,
'stderr'=>$stderr,
'return'=>(int)$rtn
);
}
// example 1
_pipeExec('C:\\a b\\c.bat -switch');
// example 2
_pipeExec('"C:\\a b\\c.bat" -switch');
// example 3 (sounds stupid but I had to try)
_pipeExec('""C:\\a b\\c.bat"" -switch');
Example 1
RESULT: 1
STDERR: 'C:\a' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
STDOUT:
Example 2
RESULT: 1
STDERR: 'C:\a' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
STDOUT:
Example 3
RESULT: 1
STDERR: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.
STDOUT:
So you see, either case (double quotes or not) the code fails.
Is it me or am I missing something?

Answer 1

Most unfortunately, the fix doesn't work as expected, however Pekka's first suggestion gave me an idea:
$file='C:\a b\c';
$cmdl='/d /b /g';
if(strtolower(substr(PHP_OS,0,3))=='win') // if windows...
$file='cd '.escapeshellarg(dirname($file)).' && '.basename($file);
_pipeExec($file.' '.$cmdl);
This is platform-specific, and I hope I don't have to fix this over linux as well. So far it works well!

Answer 2

Another way of solving this is by putting additional double quotes at the beginning and the end of the command.
$process = 'C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\node.exe';
$arg1 = 'C:\\Path to File\\foo.js';
$cmd = sprintf('"%s" %s', $process, escapeshellarg($arg1));
if (strtolower(substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3)) === 'win') {
$cmd = '"'.$cmd.'"';
}
_pipeExec($cmd);
I have found this solution on https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=49139
It looks weird, but hey - it's Windows... :D

Answer 3

This is strage.
Untested workaround ideas:
Use a temporary environment variable:
exec('SET ENVPATH="C:\a b"');
proc_open('%ENVPATH%\c.bat' ....
(no idea whether this will work for proc_open)
Use the 8.3 filename if that can somehow be fetched in PHP - would certainly be doable using another exec()
proc_open() has an option to bypass cmd.exe - might be worth a try in case the filesystem somehow handles the quotes differently
Try escaping the quotes \"