Opening a File whose Name Contains a Space

Question

I have some simple Excel VBA code that opens non-Excel files like:

Sub scriptTest()
    Set objshell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
    objshell.Run ("C:\TestFolder\Book1.pdf")
    Set objshell = Nothing
End Sub

Running this opens the file in the Acrobat Reader. However if I try to open a file whose name contains a space character like:

Sub scriptTest()
    Set objshell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
    objshell.Run ("C:\TestFolder\Bo ok1.pdf")
    Set objshell = Nothing
End Sub

I get:

Both files open fine if I use the Run command from the Windows Start menu. How can I overcome this problem ??

@MykolaShchetinin Thanks for the suggestion, but neither forward slash or backslash had any effect. — Gary's Student, Oct 05 '17 at 19:36
Why use COM in VBA at all, theres in no need for late binding this stuff when you have full access to the Windows APIs. — user692942, Oct 05 '17 at 23:45
@Gary'sStudent [CreateProcess function](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682425(v=vs.85).aspx) would be where to start. — user692942, Oct 06 '17 at 10:53

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 05 '17 at 19:44

12

When executing the statement objshell.Run ("C:\TestFolder\Bo ok1.pdf"), you are asking the shell to execute the command

C:\TestFolder\Bo ok1.pdf

This is interpreted as being a request to execute the program C:\TestFolder\Bo.exe with a parameter of ok1.pdf.

You actually want the shell to execute the command

"C:\TestFolder\Bo ok1.pdf"

where the quotation marks are used by the command interpreter to "group" parts of the command together.

To obtain that command, you need to execute the statement

objshell.Run """C:\TestFolder\Bo ok1.pdf"""

answered Oct 05 '17 at 19:44

YowE3K

Wow, 6 votes for pointing out when you want to escape a quoted string you need to double the quotes. Seriously, this hasn't been answered before? – user692942 Oct 05 '17 at 23:41
1

@Lankymart It wasn't actually that the quotation marks needed to be escaped, it was that the quotation marks needed to be used. (If you find a good duplicate, please feel free to close the question, and ping me so I can delete the answer.) – YowE3K Oct 06 '17 at 00:13

1 Answers1