system command to copy a file to a path with a space in it

[Kenneth Brody]

On 3/25/2015 10:36 AM, Josh Reader wrote:
> Thanks to all who replied!  Either of the following methods worked
> perfectly:
>
> Option 1
>
> -----------
>
> cm = "/bin/cp /reports/state.pdf \"/reports/Josh Reader/josh.pdf\""
> system cm
>
> Option 2
>
> ----------
>
> system "/bin/cp /reports/state.pdf '/reports/Josh Reader/josh.pdf'"

Note, of course, that both versions can be a single command.  (No need to 
create the temporary "cm" variable in the first version.)  Assuming that the 
filenames are hard-coded, that is.

The main thing is that the filename with spaces (or any "special 
characters", such as semi-colons, ampersands, and so on) must be within 
quotes in order for the shell to treat it as a single argument.  Quotes can 
be used in all cases, even if there are no "special characters" in the 
filename.  For example, this will work for any filename that doesn't contain 
apostrophes (aka "single quotes"):

     system "/bin/cp '" & SourceFilename & "' '" & DestFilename & "'"


-- 
Kenneth Brody