Nodejs child_process spawn option arguments with dashes("--")

Question

I'm trying to run a child_process spawn with arguments that includes "--", but it doesn't seems to register that for a reason.

The command I'm trying to spawn is: wp-env run tests-cli "wp plugin update --all"

(This is a cli package to run a wordpress environment - https://www.npmjs.com/package/@wordpress/env)

The double quotations here are important for the command to work properly, so I think it might be part of the problem.

Here is the general idea of the code I'm trying to use:

const { spawn } = require("child_process");
 
const child = spawn('npx', [
    "wp-env",
    "run",
    "tests-cli",
    "wp",
    "plugin",
    "update",
    "--all"
], {shell: true});
 
var scriptOutput = "";
 
child.stdout.setEncoding('utf8');
 
child.stdout.on('data', function(data) {
    console.log('stdout: ' + data);
    data=data.toString();
    scriptOutput+=data;
});
 
child.stderr.setEncoding('utf8');
child.stderr.on('data', function(data) {
    console.log('stderr: ' + data);
    data=data.toString();
    scriptOutput+=data;
});
 
child.on('close', function(code) {
    console.log('closing code: ' + code);
    console.log('Full output of script: ',scriptOutput);
});

This is the output I'm getting:

Starting 'wp plugin update' on the tests-cli container.

I tried lots of other similar combination, but none of them worked for my sadly.

Couldn't find any clues for the on google, so hopefully someone here would be able to assist with that. I assume the root cause is not actually related specifically to this package, but I didn't actually encounter an issue with using "--" as arguments in general, so I think it's related to this combination along with the requirement for the double quotations.

For example:

const child = spawn('npx', [
    "--version"
], {shell: true});

This would work just fine.

Any more suggestions maybe? – user16699981 Aug 18 '21 at 20:37 — user16699981, Aug 18 '21 at 20:37

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 18 '21 at 19:48

0

What you are doing is actually running:

wp-env run tests-cli wp plugin update --all

Note: without the quotes.

If you want wp-env run tests-cli "wp plugin update --all" then you need to do:

const child = spawn('npx', [
    "wp-env",
    "run",
    "tests-cli",
    "wp plugin update --all"
], {shell: true});

That's what quotes do in bash: it treats everything inside it as a single argument.

answered Aug 18 '21 at 19:48

slebetman

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Already tried that, and this doesn't work, still outputs the same output as I've shown above, e.g - "Starting 'wp plugin update' on the tests-cli container." without the "--all". – user16699981 Aug 18 '21 at 20:08
Have you tried running `npx wp-env run tests-cli "wp plugin update --all"` in the command line? What output does it give you? – slebetman Aug 19 '21 at 00:36
Yep, it outputs "Starting 'wp pluagin update --all' on the tests-cli container. – user16699981 Aug 19 '21 at 06:16
How are you running your script? Directly like `./script.js` or via npm like `npm run script`? – slebetman Aug 19 '21 at 07:04
Directly e.g 'node file.js' – user16699981 Aug 19 '21 at 13:43

Nodejs child_process spawn option arguments with dashes("--")

1 Answers1