How to execute an external program like windows media player in Java?

Using the Runtime class

Java provides a class named java.lang.Runtime, using this class you can interface with the current environment.

The getRunTime() (static) method of this class returns a Runtime object associated with the current application.

The exec() method accepts a String value representing the command to execute a process in the current environment (system) and executes it.

Therefore, to execute an external application using the Runtime class −

• Get the run time object using the getRuntime() method.

• Execute the required process by passing the path of it as a String value to the exec() method.

Example

import java.io.IOException; public class Trail {    public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException {       Runtime run = Runtime.getRuntime();       System.out.println("Executing the external program . . . . . . . .");       String file = "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe";       run.exec(file);    } }

Output

System.out.println("Executing the external program . . . . . . . .

Using the ProcessBuilder class

Similarly, the constructor of the ProcessBuilder class accepts a variable arguments of type string representing the command to execute a process and its arguments as parameters and constructs an object.

The start() method of this class starts/executes the process(es) in the current ProcessBuilder. Therefore, to run an external program using the ProcessBuilder class −

• Instantiate the ProcessBuilder class by passing the command to execute a process and arguments for it as parameters to its constructor.

• Execute the process by invoking the start() method on the above created object.

Example

 Live Demo

import java.io.IOException; public class ExternalProcess {    public static void main(String args[]) throws IOException {       String command = "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe";       String arg = "D:\sample.mp3";       //Building a process       ProcessBuilder builder = new ProcessBuilder(command, arg);       System.out.println("Executing the external program . . . . . . . .");       //Starting the process       builder.start();    } }

Output

Executing the external program . . . . . . . .