I have a couple c++ command line apps that I need to run in order to generate input data for my Processing sketch.  I'd like to bundle these somehow or run them as the sketch starts.  They need to be run sequentially so that the output of one can be used for the next and then the file output is used in the sketch.  What would be the best way to accomplish this?  Would it just be to use open() commands or is there some easy way to wrap this?  Thanks

Your question lit up some deep niche in my memory of some simple Java code that I used to launch applications and here it is dusted off from Jan 2005.

It does not handle input/output from the program but it might be a start.
Code:

void setup(){
  size(400,400);
  try {
    Runtime r = Runtime.getRuntime();
    if (r == null)
      System.out.println("Unable to get runtime");
    else
      System.out.println("Runtime aquired");
    System.out.println(r);

    Process p;

    System.out.println("Prepare process for start");
    System.out.flush();
    p = r.exec(new String[] {
      "c:/Program Files/JASC Software Inc/Paint Shop Pro 7/psp.exe"        }
    );
    //	p = r.exec(new String[] {"java", "-classpath k:/eclipse/workspace/PathFinderMap", "pkl.PathFinderMapGUI.PathFinderGUI"});
    //	p = r.exec(new String[] {"javaw", "-classpath k:/eclipse/workspace/ClockTest", "pkl.datetime.ClockTester"});

    System.out.println("Process running");
    System.out.flush();
  }
  catch (Exception e) {
    System.out.println("Error: " + e);
  }
}
 

I left in some comments which show how to launch another Java program.

I ran this application (PC/Windows) and bingo Paint Shop Pro opened up.  Unfortunately I don't have a Mac to try it on.

Thanks both of you!!! I was able to get it working using your examples.  

One remaining issue is that I'm having to use absolute paths, which will certainly be a problem and change as it moves from system to system and OS to OS.  Does anyone know how to get the path of the data directory so I can use it as a variable for the exec() path?

My apologies for opening this thread again, but I'm having an issue trying to get a bash script running and I don't know where to turn for help.

My bash script, "makeMovie.sh" (right now) is very simple and uses a qtcoffee command to scale a movie:
#!/bin/sh
catmovie -set-auto-play -self-contained -scaleMovieTo 0:50 /Volumes/artwork/vid/mov1.mov -o /Volumes/artwork/vid/mov2.mov

I have the appropriate +x file permissions set and I'm able to run this successfully from the command line: $> makeMovie.sh

Resulting in mov2.mov being created, and a playable file, etc.  No problems whatsoever.

This is also true when using the full path $> Users/sbearse/Documents/Processing/Scripts/makeMovie.sh

But when I try to launch it from within Processing I receive an Error code (127) from the Java exitvalue:
     try {
   Runtime r = Runtime.getRuntime();
   if (r == null)
   System.out.println("Unable to get runtime");
   else
     System.out.println("Runtime aquired");
   System.out.println(r);

   Process p;

   System.out.println("Prepare process for start");
   System.out.flush();
   
   cmd = "/Users/sbearse/Documents/Processing/Scripts/movieCreate.sh";
   command = new String[] {"/bin/bash", "-c", cmd};    
   p = r.exec(command);

    int exitVal = p.exitValue();    
   System.out.println("Process exitValue: " + exitVal);
   System.out.flush();
 }
 catch (Exception e) {
   System.out.println("Error: " + e);
 }
}

-----
Also, looking on the java helpgroups I thought I'd find some funny formatting on my *.sh script, but this is what od -c returns:

sarah-bearses-powerbook-g4-15:/volumes/artwork/vid sbearse$ od -c /Users/sbearse/Documents/Processing/Scripts/movieCreate.sh
0000000    #   !   /   b   i   n   /   s   h  \n   c   a   t   m   o   v
0000020    i   e       -   s   e   t   -   a   u   t   o   -   p   l   a
0000040    y       -   s   e   l   f   -   c   o   n   t   a   i   n   e
0000060    d       -   s   c   a   l   e   M   o   v   i   e   T   o    
0000100    0   :   5   0       /   V   o   l   u   m   e   s   /   a   r
0000120    t   w   o   r   k   /   v   i   d   /   m   o   v   1   .   m
0000140    o   v       -   o       /   V   o   l   u   m   e   s   /   a
0000160    r   t   w   o   r   k   /   v   i   d   /   m   o   v   2   .
0000200    m   o   v  \n                                                
0000204

----

Any help would be very, very, very (many more very's) appreciated.  I'm trying to pull together an installation piece this week, and this is the last major obstacle.

Thank you!
Sarah