How to run another java process with console in java (in Linux)

Question

How can I run an another java process (with a console) in Linux?

I know I should use ProcessBuilder or Runtime.getRuntime().exec() to execute a command, but I want to know how I can show an separate X-window command terminal (ex. /usr/bin/xterm) or at least show an console-terminal looking window and run a java process with stdin,stdout,stderr on that.

Is there any solution? I heard the Process.getOutputStream() doesn't work on xterm, but haven't tried it yet (Because I'm using Windows..)

EDIT: The java program I want to execute uses jline, which uses JNI...

You should post a minimal working example to show exactly what is your problem. What have you tried? What is not working? — Daniel H., Jul 05 '13 at 07:57
@DanielH. It isn't a problem. I'm asking how to run a java process in a terminal. — minmaxavg, Jul 05 '13 at 08:10

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 05 '13 at 08:49

To start terminl you can simply run following code:

new ProcessBuilder("/usr/bin/xterm").start();

But I guess, that is not you really need. Because, even you pass command to run, let's say ls as argument:

new ProcessBuilder("/usr/bin/xterm", "-e", "ls").start();

You will get output from xterm(not from ls). If you want to start process and get output, you need to do it like that:

public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
    // get content of the "/usr/bin" directory
    ProcessBuilder pb = new ProcessBuilder("ls", "/usr/bin");
    pb.redirectErrorStream(true);

    Process p = pb.start();
    InputStream is = p.getInputStream();
    System.out.println(toString(is));
    is.close();
}

public static String toString(InputStream is) throws IOException {
    Writer writer = new StringWriter();
    char[] buffer = new char[1024];
    Reader reader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(is, "UTF-8"));
    int n;
    while ((n = reader.read(buffer)) != -1) {
        writer.write(buffer, 0, n);
    }
    return writer.toString();
}

Thanks, so I should use `(new ProcessBuilder("/usr/bin/xterm", "-e", "java", blah blah blah)).start();` — minmaxavg, Jul 05 '13 at 09:25
Maybe I should use `gnome-terminal` if the computer has GNOME desktop environment? — minmaxavg, Oct 18 '13 at 23:14

How to run another java process with console in java (in Linux)

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