Shell asynchronous problem

I am try to run a simple command with the shell in asynchronous mode but i don’t get results
The same command on terminal working without problems.
The same command in synchronous mode working without problem

Pshell exist as property.
the code

pShell =New CommShell
pShell.ExecuteMode = CommShell.ExecuteModes.Asynchronous

var path As String = "cd " + TempTargetFolder.ShellPath

var zipfile As String = "zip -r  " + FieldsNames + ".zip * "

If Not pShell.IsRunning Then
  pShell.Execute(path + " && " + zipfile)
    
End If

If pShell.ExitCode <> 0 Then
  MessageBox("The exit code is: " + pShell.ExitCode.ToString)
End If

if pShell.IsRunning then
  pShell.Close
  end if

What i missing?

Yuu check the error code after the execute but the result is only available in the events, so you must use those!

error code = 137 for async.
error code =0 for sync

What do you get in pShell.result ? Often enough, you get a message less cryptic than an error code.

Also, shell is not a terminal. You need to provide the full path. I don’t think it takes CD either, as would the terminal.

pShell is empty…
I make a small app with the problem i get in async.
if you debug it the paths is ok but the shell do not recognize zip or path.
The shell app

var f As FolderItem = SpecialFolder.UserHome.Child("downloads")
var path As String = f.ShellPath
var zip As String = "cd "+path + "&&"+ "zip -rf  ziptest.zip * "

var a as string = "cd " + path 
var b as string = "zip  -rf  ziptest.zip * "
var onlyzip as string = "zip  -rf  ziptest.zip"

none of the above var working…
the only one that work on async is the var dir as string = "cd ~/downloads && ls -R"

The commands for the zip on the shell is NOT the same as is in terminal
Here is the commands if someone need it…


Extended Help for Zip

See the Zip Manual for more detailed help


Zip stores files in zip archives.  The default action is to add or replace
zipfile entries.

Basic command line:
  zip options archive_name file file ...

Some examples:
  Add file.txt to z.zip (create z if needed):      zip z file.txt
  Zip all files in current dir:                    zip z *
  Zip files in current dir and subdirs also:       zip -r z .

Basic modes:
 External modes (selects files from file system):
        add      - add new files/update existing files in archive (default)
  -u    update   - add new files/update existing files only if later date
  -f    freshen  - update existing files only (no files added)
  -FS   filesync - update if date or size changed, delete if no OS match
 Internal modes (selects entries in archive):
  -d    delete   - delete files from archive (see below)
  -U    copy     - select files in archive to copy (use with --out)

Basic options:
  -r        recurse into directories (see Recursion below)
  -m        after archive created, delete original files (move into archive)
  -j        junk directory names (store just file names)
  -q        quiet operation
  -v        verbose operation (just "zip -v" shows version information)
  -c        prompt for one-line comment for each entry
  -z        prompt for comment for archive (end with just "." line or EOF)
  -@        read names to zip from stdin (one path per line)
  -o        make zipfile as old as latest entry


Syntax:
  The full command line syntax is:

    zip [-shortopts ...] [--longopt ...] [zipfile [path path ...]] [-xi list]

  Any number of short option and long option arguments are allowed
  (within limits) as well as any number of path arguments for files
  to zip up.  If zipfile exists, the archive is read in.  If zipfile
  is "-", stream to stdout.  If any path is "-", zip stdin.

Options and Values:
  For short options that take values, use -ovalue or -o value or -o=value
  For long option values, use either --longoption=value or --longoption value
  For example:
    zip -ds 10 --temp-dir=path zipfile path1 path2 --exclude pattern pattern
  Avoid -ovalue (no space between) to avoid confusion
  In particular, be aware of 2-character options.  For example:
    -d -s is (delete, split size) while -ds is (dot size)
  Usually better to break short options across multiple arguments by function
    zip -r -dbdcds 10m -lilalf logfile archive input_directory -ll

  All args after just "--" arg are read verbatim as paths and not options.
    zip zipfile path path ... -- verbatimpath verbatimpath ...
  Use -nw to also disable wildcards, so paths are read literally:
    zip zipfile -nw -- "-leadingdashpath" "a[path].c" "path*withwildcard"
  You may still have to escape or quote arguments to avoid shell expansion

Wildcards:
  Internally zip supports the following wildcards:
    ?       (or %% or #, depending on OS) matches any single character
    *       matches any number of characters, including zero
    [list]  matches char in list (regex), can do range [ac-f], all but [!bf]
  If port supports [], must escape [ as [[] or use -nw to turn off wildcards
  For shells that expand wildcards, escape (\* or "*") so zip can recurse
    zip zipfile -r . -i "*.h"

  Normally * crosses dir bounds in path, e.g. 'a*b' can match 'ac/db'.  If
   -ws option used, * does not cross dir bounds but ** does

  For DOS and Windows, [list] is now disabled unless the new option
  -RE       enable [list] (regular expression) matching
  is used to avoid problems with file paths containing "[" and "]":
    zip files_ending_with_number -RE foo[0-9].c

Include and Exclude:
  -i pattern pattern ...   include files that match a pattern
  -x pattern pattern ...   exclude files that match a pattern
  Patterns are paths with optional wildcards and match paths as stored in
  archive.  Exclude and include lists end at next option, @, or end of line.
    zip -x pattern pattern @ zipfile path path ...

Case matching:
  On most OS the case of patterns must match the case in the archive, unless
  the -ic option is used.
  -ic       ignore case of archive entries
  This option not available on case-sensitive file systems.  On others, case
  ignored when matching files on file system but matching against archive
  entries remains case sensitive for modes -f (freshen), -U (archive copy),
  and -d (delete) because archive paths are always case sensitive.  With
  -ic, all matching ignores case, but it's then possible multiple archive
  entries that differ only in case will match.

End Of Line Translation (text files only):
  -l        change CR or LF (depending on OS) line end to CR LF (Unix->Win)
  -ll       change CR LF to CR or LF (depending on OS) line end (Win->Unix)
  If first buffer read from file contains binary the translation is skipped

Recursion:
  -r        recurse paths, include files in subdirs:  zip -r a path path ...
  -R        recurse current dir and match patterns:   zip -R a ptn ptn ...
  Use -i and -x with either to include or exclude paths
  Path root in archive starts at current dir, so if /a/b/c/file and
   current dir is /a/b, 'zip -r archive .' puts c/file in archive

Date filtering:
  -t date   exclude before (include files modified on this date and later)
  -tt date  include before (include files modified before date)
  Can use both at same time to set a date range
  Dates are mmddyyyy or yyyy-mm-dd

Deletion, File Sync:
  -d        delete files
  Delete archive entries matching internal archive paths in list
    zip archive -d pattern pattern ...
  Can use -t and -tt to select files in archive, but NOT -x or -i, so
    zip archive -d "*" -t 2005-12-27
  deletes all files from archive.zip with date of 27 Dec 2005 and later
  Note the * (escape as "*" on Unix) to select all files in archive

  -FS       file sync
  Similar to update, but files updated if date or size of entry does not
  match file on OS.  Also deletes entry from archive if no matching file
  on OS.
    zip archive_to_update -FS -r dir_used_before
  Result generally same as creating new archive, but unchanged entries
  are copied instead of being read and compressed so can be faster.
      WARNING:  -FS deletes entries so make backup copy of archive first

Compression:
  -0        store files (no compression)
  -1 to -9  compress fastest to compress best (default is 6)
  -Z cm     set compression method to cm:
              store   - store without compression, same as option -0
              deflate - original zip deflate, same as -1 to -9 (default)
            if bzip2 is enabled:
              bzip2 - use bzip2 compression (need modern unzip)

Encryption:
  -e        use standard (weak) PKZip 2.0 encryption, prompt for password
  -P pswd   use standard encryption, password is pswd

Splits (archives created as a set of split files):
  -s ssize  create split archive with splits of size ssize, where ssize nm
              n number and m multiplier (kmgt, default m), 100k -> 100 kB
  -sp       pause after each split closed to allow changing disks
      WARNING:  Archives created with -sp use data descriptors and should
                work with most unzips but may not work with some
  -sb       ring bell when pause
  -sv       be verbose about creating splits
      Split archives CANNOT be updated, but see --out and Copy Mode below

Using --out (output to new archive):
  --out oa  output to new archive oa
  Instead of updating input archive, create new output archive oa.
  Result is same as without --out but in new archive.  Input archive
  unchanged.
      WARNING:  --out ALWAYS overwrites any existing output file
  For example, to create new_archive like old_archive but add newfile1
  and newfile2:
    zip old_archive newfile1 newfile2 --out new_archive
  Cannot update split archive, so use --out to out new archive:
    zip in_split_archive newfile1 newfile2 --out out_split_archive
  If input is split, output will default to same split size
  Use -s=0 or -s- to turn off splitting to convert split to single file:
    zip in_split_archive -s 0 --out out_single_file_archive
      WARNING:  If overwriting old split archive but need less splits,
                old splits not overwritten are not needed but remain

Copy Mode (copying from archive to archive):
  -U        (also --copy) select entries in archive to copy (reverse delete)
  Copy Mode copies entries from old to new archive with --out and is used by
  zip when either no input files on command line or -U (--copy) used.
    zip inarchive --copy pattern pattern ... --out outarchive
  To copy only files matching *.c into new archive, excluding foo.c:
    zip old_archive --copy "*.c" --out new_archive -x foo.c
  If no input files and --out, copy all entries in old archive:
    zip old_archive --out new_archive

Streaming and FIFOs:
  prog1 | zip -ll z -      zip output of prog1 to zipfile z, converting CR LF
  zip - -R "*.c" | prog2   zip *.c files in current dir and stream to prog2 
  prog1 | zip | prog2      zip in pipe with no in or out acts like zip - -
  If Zip is Zip64 enabled, streaming stdin creates Zip64 archives by default
   that need PKZip 4.5 unzipper like UnZip 6.0
  WARNING:  Some archives created with streaming use data descriptors and
            should work with most unzips but may not work with some
  Can use -fz- to turn off Zip64 if input not large (< 4 GB):
    prog_with_small_output | zip archive -fz-

  Zip now can read Unix FIFO (named pipes).  Off by default to prevent zip
  from stopping unexpectedly on unfed pipe, use -FI to enable:
    zip -FI archive fifo

Dots, counts:
  -db       display running count of bytes processed and bytes to go
              (uncompressed size, except delete and copy show stored size)
  -dc       display running count of entries done and entries to go
  -dd       display dots every 10 MB (or dot size) while processing files
  -dg       display dots globally for archive instead of for each file
    zip -qdgds 10m   will turn off most output except dots every 10 MB
  -ds siz   each dot is siz processed where siz is nm as splits (0 no dots)
  -du       display original uncompressed size for each entry as added
  -dv       display volume (disk) number in format in_disk>out_disk
  Dot size is approximate, especially for dot sizes less than 1 MB
  Dot options don't apply to Scanning files dots (dot/2sec) (-q turns off)

Logging:
  -lf path  open file at path as logfile (overwrite existing file)
  -la       append to existing logfile
  -li       include info messages (default just warnings and errors)

Testing archives:
  -T        test completed temp archive with unzip before updating archive
  -TT cmd   use command cmd instead of 'unzip -tqq' to test archive
             On Unix, to use unzip in current directory, could use:
               zip archive file1 file2 -T -TT "./unzip -tqq"
             The return code is checked for success (0 on Unix)

Fixing archives:
  -F        attempt to fix a mostly intact archive (try this first)
  -FF       try to salvage what can (may get more but less reliable)
  Fix options copy entries from potentially bad archive to new archive.
  -F tries to read archive normally and copy only intact entries, while
  -FF tries to salvage what can and may result in incomplete entries.
  Must use --out option to specify output archive:
    zip -F bad.zip --out fixed.zip
  Use -v (verbose) with -FF to see details:
    zip reallybad.zip -FF -v --out fixed.zip
  Currently neither option fixes bad entries, as from text mode ftp get.

Difference mode:
  -DF       (also --dif) only include files that have changed or are
             new as compared to the input archive
  Difference mode can be used to create incremental backups.  For example:
    zip --dif full_backup.zip -r somedir --out diff.zip
  will store all new files, as well as any files in full_backup.zip where
  either file time or size have changed from that in full_backup.zip,
  in new diff.zip.  Output archive not excluded automatically if exists,
  so either use -x to exclude it or put outside what is being zipped.

DOS Archive bit (Windows only):
  -AS       include only files with the DOS Archive bit set
  -AC       after archive created, clear archive bit of included files
      WARNING: Once the archive bits are cleared they are cleared
               Use -T to test the archive before the bits are cleared
               Can also use -sf to save file list before zipping files

Show files:
  -sf       show files to operate on and exit (-sf- logfile only)
  -su       as -sf but show escaped UTF-8 Unicode names also if exist
  -sU       as -sf but show escaped UTF-8 Unicode names instead
  Any character not in the current locale is escaped as #Uxxxx, where x
  is hex digit, if 16-bit code is sufficient, or #Lxxxxxx if 24-bits
  are needed.  If add -UN=e, Zip escapes all non-ASCII characters.

Unicode:
  If compiled with Unicode support, Zip stores UTF-8 path of entries.
  This is backward compatible.  Unicode paths allow better conversion
  of entry names between different character sets.

  New Unicode extra field includes checksum to verify Unicode path
  goes with standard path for that entry (as utilities like ZipNote
  can rename entries).  If these do not match, use below options to
  set what Zip does:
      -UN=Quit     - if mismatch, exit with error
      -UN=Warn     - if mismatch, warn, ignore UTF-8 (default)
      -UN=Ignore   - if mismatch, quietly ignore UTF-8
      -UN=No       - ignore any UTF-8 paths, use standard paths for all
  An exception to -UN=N are entries with new UTF-8 bit set (instead
  of using extra fields).  These are always handled as Unicode.

  Normally Zip escapes all chars outside current char set, but leaves
  as is supported chars, which may not be OK in path names.  -UN=Escape
  escapes any character not ASCII:
    zip -sU -UN=e archive
  Can use either normal path or escaped Unicode path on command line
  to match files in archive.

  Zip now stores UTF-8 in entry path and comment fields on systems
  where UTF-8 char set is default, such as most modern Unix, and
  and on other systems in new extra fields with escaped versions in
  entry path and comment fields for backward compatibility.
  Option -UN=UTF8 will force storing UTF-8 in entry path and comment
  fields:
      -UN=UTF8     - store UTF-8 in entry path and comment fields
  This option can be useful for multi-byte char sets on Windows where
  escaped paths and comments can be too long to be valid as the UTF-8
  versions tend to be shorter.

  Only UTF-8 comments on UTF-8 native systems supported.  UTF-8 comments
  for other systems planned in next release.

Self extractor:
  -A        Adjust offsets - a self extractor is created by prepending
             the extractor executable to archive, but internal offsets
             are then off.  Use -A to fix offsets.
  -J        Junk sfx - removes prepended extractor executable from
             self extractor, leaving a plain zip archive.

More option highlights (see manual for additional options and details):
  -b dir    when creating or updating archive, create the temp archive in
             dir, which allows using seekable temp file when writing to a
             write once CD, such archives compatible with more unzips
             (could require additional file copy if on another device)
  -MM       input patterns must match at least one file and matched files
             must be readable or exit with OPEN error and abort archive
             (without -MM, both are warnings only, and if unreadable files
             are skipped OPEN error (18) returned after archive created)
  -nw       no wildcards (wildcards are like any other character)
  -sc       show command line arguments as processed and exit
  -sd       show debugging as Zip does each step
  -so       show all available options on this system
  -X        default=strip old extra fields, -X- keep old, -X strip most
  -ws       wildcards don't span directory boundaries in paths

the command is zip -r z .

You do not read this Code Sharing entry:
https://forum.xojo.com/t/export-a-sqlite-db-to-csv-with-the-shell/71447/2

You can also use this example (from early June 2021):

Be sure to use full path in the form:

ls -l;
mkdir ./Users/emile_schwarz/Downloads/MyFolder;
ls -l;
cd ./Users/emile_schwarz/Downloads/MyFolder;

Works here, a minute ago;

Xojo 2021r2.1
Monterey 12.5
m1 MacBook Pro Feb 2021

NB: I was unable to make it work last year. Now that I know I have to use pathnames (instead of Item names), it works fine.

Pshell as shell

pShell = new Shell
pShell.ExecuteMode = Shell.ExecuteModes.Asynchronous

and i want to use addhandler for the dataAvailable because i want to get different results
is any example with addhandler and Shell if someone can share?

A small change to your code logic would have solved this -

pShell =New CommShell
pShell.ExecuteMode = CommShell.ExecuteModes.Asynchronous

var path As String = "cd " + TempTargetFolder.ShellPath

var zipfile As String = "zip -r  " + FieldsNames + ".zip * "

pShell.Execute(path + " && " + zipfile)
// Do loop to give the shell command time to complete.
Do
    pShell.Poll
    App.DoEvents(5) 
    // in this case, using DoEvents is the same as using it in 
    // a Console app.
    // You can argue against its use and your code won't work, 
    // or use it and have working code.
Loop Until Not pShell.IsRunning    

If pShell.ExitCode <> 0 Then
  MessageBox("The exit code is: " + pShell.ExitCode.ToString)
End If

[/quote]

Don’t bother with addhandler just yet.

Remove your current pShell as Shell property.

Drag a generic object onto the web page, name it pShell and set its super to Shell.

You will be able to implement the DataAvailable and Completed event handlers like you would with any standard control.

Note that since pShell will now be a control implemented by default, you must remove pShell = New Shell.

that was my first attempt :slight_smile:
i will try again.
why not use addhandlers;

Addhandlers are fine, but it is way simpler to add an event handler to a control.

In the end, you do as you please. If implemented correctly, both solutions work the same.