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process.Start() not working in C# to call python script

Sorry if this is something obvious, I'm super new to C#.
I'm working on a program that runs a python script to check something online, that then writes it back to a file that C# reads and puts on a form. Everything works if I manually run them both at the same time, but I really want to start the script from the C# program.
Here's the function that should start the python script:
private void RunPython()
{
Process p = new Process();
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
startInfo.Arguments = "python " + path + "\\foo.py";
p.StartInfo = startInfo;
p.Start();
}
private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
// get things set up... etc.
RunPython();
}
I've tried running it without the window hidden, and it just brings up an empty cmd line in the 'path' directory. Is it never running the python script? It doesn't seem like it is, but it may also be running it and immediately closing it. I can't tell.
I need it to stay open for the duration of the C# program's run, so if the problem is it exiting when the RunPython() method returns, is there some different way I could go about this?
Thanks!!

If you want to run a program in the command line using arguments to cmd.exe you need the /c flag. Alternatively you can use /k but that keeps the command process running which you probably don't want.
/c Carries out the command specified by String and then stops.
So it's usage is cmd.exe /c [string]
Try changing your arguments line to:
startInfo.Arguments = "/c \"python " + path + "\\foo.py\"";
See here for more information about running cmd.exe and dealing with quotes in the string section of the command: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc771320(v=ws.11).aspx

MVC executing a LibreOffice conversion

Hi I'm trying to convert either a doc or docx to a pdf in a c# MVC application. I know I can do this using libreOffice. So I created a simple batch file to take 2 variables and then run them into the libreoffice 'soffice' headless to convert to pdf.
So that gave me this code.
echo on
SET var1=%2
IF "%var1:~-1%"=="\" SET var1=%var1:~0,-1%
cd "C:\Program Files\LibreOffice 5\program\"
soffice --headless --convert-to pdf %1 --outdir %var1%
Originally I thought the problem was within my MVC application and the way I called this batch script. But I commented (REM) the soffice and outputted out the command in the bash using the standard output.
var psi = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe", "/k " + command);
//psi.CreateNoWindow = true;
psi.FileName = command;
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
psi.RedirectStandardError = true;
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
psi.Arguments = string.Format("{0} {1}", fullPath2, tempPath);
var process = Process.Start(psi);
string output = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
string error = process.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
Trace.WriteLine(output);
Trace.WriteLine(error);
process.WaitForExit();
When I commented the soffice line - it hit the WaitForExit and worked no problems (ok with no pdf conversions, but the script exited).
If I don't do that it seems to execute the cmd and even the soffice commands because I can see them in the task manager - but obvisouly nothing happens.
Additionally the code above works when I did a c# command line program (I've hard coded the file/command lines in both instances). The executable also works when I run as the user that is running the app pool in my MVC application.
The bash file also works file 'standalone' no matter if me or my appPool user run it.
So what gives - why won't this run.
This is the code that comes out of that trace - so what the bash script does.
c:\windows\system32\inetsrv>echo on
c:\windows\system32\inetsrv>SET var1=C:\inetpub\xxxxxxxxx\Temp\
c:\windows\system32\inetsrv>IF "\" == "\" SET var1=C:\inetpub\xxxxxxxxx\Temp
c:\windows\system32\inetsrv>cd "C:\Program Files\LibreOffice 5\program\"
C:\Program Files\LibreOffice 5\program>soffice --headless --convert-to pdf C:\inetpub\xxxxxxxxx\Temp\636295920370843147.doc --outdir C:\inetpub\xxxxxxxxx\Temp
I've got a feeling that this has something to do with the amount of characters or something because the soffice does fireup (can see it in the task manager).
FYI there are no spaces or special characters anywhere.
Any ideas?
Update
This looks to be an issue with the wait command. So any help with that helpful, I'm starting to think perhaps this is an issue with c# and libreoffice 5 - I've seen examples that supposedly work with libreoffice 4.
I guess my challenge continues....

My command which is being produced by my C# code isn't working in C#, but works perfectly when I paste it to cmd

It's all about a line I want to use to get windows update information, which is part of wmic.
My code looks like this:
Process p = new Process();
string arguments = "qfe list full /format:htable > "+ path;
ProcessStartInfo procStartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo("wmic", arguments);
procStartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
procStartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
procStartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
p.StartInfo = procStartInfo;
p.Start();
while path is the valid location where the file would be dumped, ending with a hotfixlog.htm of course.
The problem is, that nothing happens at all. However, when I take the final product from the arguments-variable, and paste it manually into cmd with 'wmic < variablecontent >' it's working perfectly fine and I end up with the .htm I expect.
The line created looks like this:
"qfe list full /format:htable > C:\Users\...\WindowsHotfixes.htm"
What do I have to change to make it work from the code? I was expecting the backslashes to cause problems, but when manually entering the line they don't.

Your code will not work because the redirection operator (>) is not an element of the OS available to any application, but an operator in cmd.exe. It works in the command line because cmd is handling it, but wmic doesn't know what to do with it.
You can use the redirection if your command line is something like
cmd /c"wmic qfe list full /format:htable > x:\somewhere\file.htm"
Or you can remove the redirection and indicate to wmic that you want the data saved in a file
wmic /output:"x:\somewhere\file.htm" qfe list full /format:htable

command execution in C#

I need to execute the following command, it works perfectly, if I execute it via command prompt, here the command line is using kodakprv.exe to send a print of a tiff file.
but when trying to execute it via c#, its not throwing any error but not sending the print either, tried to execute this command via xp_cmdshell in SQL, but it didn't work, in the xp_cmdshell documentation found that, quotes are not allowed for more then once, but kodakprv.exe print logic requires 3 pair of quotes
Please suggest can we use multiple quotes in C# while executing the command or suggest any better solution for it
String sCommand = "\"c:\\progra~1\\imagin~1\\kodakprv.Exe\" /pt \"D:\\SQLDev\\Dlls\\Testing.TIF\" \"\\\\Galactica\\C-Test1\"";
// Put your code here
System.Diagnostics.Process ExecuteCommand = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.WindowStyle = System.Diagnostics.ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden;
startInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
startInfo.Arguments = #" /c " + sCommand.ToString();
MessageBox.Show(startInfo.Arguments);
ExecuteCommand.StartInfo = startInfo;
ExecuteCommand.Start();

You don't need all those quotes. Only paths with spaces require quotes. None of your paths have spaces.
Shortnames, as you are using, may not exist (they can be turned off), or may not have the name you think. Windows does not preserve short names, only long names.
You are running your program via CMD. Unless your command line has redirection characters (as CMD handles redirection characters) then CMD is not required. You can start your program directly, which would be the preferred way (faster, less resources used).
Your window is set to hidden. Therefore you cannot see the message it is telling you. Unhide your window.
Your program will likely exit and close the window before you can read it. Either stick a &pause at the end of the command line sent to CMD, or read what is on both StdErr and StdOut as you specify to capture them in your code.

problems with stdout and psexec.exe from sysinternals

i have searched and read about issues with psexec.exe from sysinternals not working properly with c# and stdout. i am now trying to figure out how to just call a batch file that has the following instead of using System.Diagnostics.Process to call psexec:
test.bat contains the following line:
psexec.exe \\hostname -u user -p password ipconfig /all >c:\test.txt
test.txt will be saved on the host where i am running my c sharp app and executing psexec.
when i execute the following:
System.Diagnostics.Process psexec_run = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
psexec_run.StartInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe";
psexec_run.StartInfo.Arguments = #"/c """ + cur_dir + #"\test\test.bat""";
psexec_run.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
psexec_run.Start();
psexec_run.WaitForExit();
i see the cmd window pop up and it runs something but not sure what and goes away.
if i execute the following:
System.Diagnostics.Process psexec_run = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
psexec_run.StartInfo.FileName = cur_dir + "\\test\\psexec.exe";
psexec_run.StartInfo.Arguments = #"\\hostname -u user -p password ipconfig /all";
psexec_run.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
psexec_run.Start();
psexec_run.WaitForExit();
then i see the command window open and it runs psexec which takes quite a few secs and i quickly see my output i need, but i have no way of capturing the output or writing it to a file.
i guess my issue now is since psexec will not work with stdout how can i capture the output from the psexec command to write it to a file???
see the following link for the issues with psexec, the last reply on this url mentioned a way to write the process output to a file without using stdout, i'm newbie to c# i can't figure out how to write process output without use stdout :(
http://forum.sysinternals.com/psexec-fails-to-capture-stdout-when-launched-in-c_topic19333.html
based on response below i tried the following:
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo(cur_dir + "\\test\\psexec.exe", #"\\hostname -u user -p password ipconfig /all");
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
psi.RedirectStandardError = true;
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
Process p = Process.Start(psi);
StreamReader myStreamReader = p.StandardOutput;
// Read the standard output of the spawned process.
string sOutput = myStreamReader.ReadToEnd();
i did ReadToEnd so i would make sure it got all the output, it DID NOT!! for some reason it only go the first line of ipconfig output that was it. Also the cmd window it opened up never closed for some reason. even with CreateNoWindow=true the code just hangs. so again something is wrong with psexec and stdout i think?? as i can run this code just fine using ipconfig /all command on the local host and not use psexec...
again i am looking to avoid stdout and somehow find a way to get the output from this command or unless there is something else i'm over looking? also, not to make more work for anyone, but if you d/l psexec.exe from sysinternals and test it with a command on a remote host you will see. i have spent 2 days on this one :( trying to figure out how to use psexec or find some other quick method to execute remote command on a host and get ouptput.
UPDATE:
i gave up on psexec in c# code, i saw many posts about psexec eating the output, having a child window process ,etcc
until my head hurt :) so i am trying to run a batch file and output to a file and it's not making sense...
i have a batch file test.bat with the following
psexec.exe \\\hostname -u name -p password ipconfig /all >c:\test.txt
when i run the following code:
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo(cur_dir + #"\test\test.bat");
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
psi.RedirectStandardError = true;
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
Process p = Process.Start(psi);
p.WaitForExit();
the cmd windows comes and goes really quickly and the test.txt file is created but is 0 bytes no info in it.
so if i run the batch file in a windows cmd line with the psexec command it works perfectly fine!!???
so then to verify psexec was the issue i changed the batch file to:
ipconfig /all >c:\test.txt
i execute my code above and it works fine creates the output in the test.txt file..???!!!!
why is not working with psexec am i missing something? if it's psexec, does anyone have
any recommendations for how i can execute a command on a remote windows host and get me the
output???

I have an answer to this problem that has worked for me.
Hopefully someone else will find it useful.
I have literally just spent the last two hours tearing my hair out with this. The psexec tool runs completely fine using a normal command prompt but when attempting to redirect the streams it truncates the output and you only get half output back.
In the end how I fixed my issue was a little bit of a hack. I piped the output of the command to a text file and read it back in to return it from the function.
I also has to set UseShellExecute to true. Without this it still wouldn't work. This had the unfortunate side effect of showing the console window. To get around that I set the window style to be hidden and hey presto it works!!!
Heres my code:
string ExecutePSExec(string command)
{
string result = "";
try
{
string location = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
// append output to file at the end of this string:
string cmdWithFileOutput = string.Format("{0} >{1}temp.log 2>&1", command,location );
// The flag /c tells "cmd" to execute what follows and exit
System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo procStartInfo = new System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo("cmd", "/c " + cmdWithFileOutput);
procStartInfo.UseShellExecute = true; // have to set shell execute to true to
procStartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
procStartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden; // as a window will be created set the window style to be hiddem
System.Diagnostics.Process proc = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
proc.StartInfo = procStartInfo;
proc.Start();
proc.WaitForExit();
// now read file back.
string filePath = string.Format("{0}temp.log", location);
result = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(filePath);
}
catch (Exception objException)
{
// Log the exception
}
return result;
}
and its usage:
string command = #"psexec.exe -l -u domain\username -p password /accepteula \\192.168.1.3 netstat -a -n";
ExecutePSExec(command);

I had exactly same problem. i was getting "Windows ip config. " as first line when i run with psexec. i tried with paexec it worked well. I used Marius's code.
Note: if you dont use first cmd / c in arguments command runs only on local computer even if you define target as \\remoteserver
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo("cmd.exe");
psi.Arguments = #"cmd/c C:\paexec.exe \\\192.168.2.5 -s -u test.local\administrator -p Password1 cmd /c ipconfig";
psi.CreateNoWindow = true;
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
psi.RedirectStandardError = true;
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
Process p = Process.Start(psi);
System.IO.StreamReader myStreamReader1 = p.StandardOutput;
p.WaitForExit();
string sOutput = myStreamReader1.ReadToEnd();

Are you sure your sourcecode is correct? that link is quite a bit old.. maybe its fixed!
Heres an example how to redirect the standard-output and put whole output in a string via streamreader:
ProcessStartInfo psi = new ProcessStartInfo("tftp.exe");
// preferences for tftp process
psi.CreateNoWindow = true;
psi.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
psi.RedirectStandardError = true;
psi.UseShellExecute = false;
Process p = Process.Start(psi);
StreamReader myStreamReader = p.StandardOutput;
p.WaitForExit();
// Read the standard output of the spawned process.
string sOutput = myStreamReader.ReadToEnd();

i found a solution. apparently psexec is NOT going to work in c sharp. so i came up with some wmi code to connect to a remote host and it's working PERFECTLY!!! :)
i used microsoft's WMICodeCreator.exe to create wmi code for C# for the process method on a remote host, wow that tool is amazing because wmi code is little confusing to me.

psexec's output goes to StandardError and not StandardOutput. I don't know why it is that way. Following code snippet access it.
ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo();
startInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
Process process = new Process();
process.StartInfo = startInfo;
process.Start();
process.WaitForExit();
errors = process.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
process.Close();