Using exec.Command in golang, how do I open a new terminal and execute a command?

Question

I am able to get the following command to open a new terminal and execute the command when I directly input it inside a terminal, but I can not get it to work when I use the exec.Commmand function in go.

osascript -e 'tell application "Terminal" to do script "echo hello"'

I think the issue lies within the double and single quotes, but I am not exactly sure what is causing the error.

c := exec.Command("osascript", "-e", "'tell", "application", `"Terminal"`, "to", "do", "script", `"echo`, `hello"'`)
if err := c.Run(); err != nil {
     fmt.Println("Error: ", err)
}

As of now the code is returning Error: exit status 1, but I would like the code to open a terminal window and execute the command.

tell application "Terminal" to do script "echo hello" is a single argument (the second) to osascript. play.golang.org/p/Rp_r8Jj7yve — Peter
– Peter, Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 15:16
I don't know about go but have you tried fixing the part of your code `"echo`, `hello"'` — pegasuspect
– pegasuspect, Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 15:17

pegasuspect · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-18 14:28:42Z

2

After playing some time found this:

cmd := exec.Command("osascript", "-s", "h", "-e",`tell application "Terminal" to do script "echo test"`)

Apparently you should give the automator script in 1 argument and also use ticks (`) as the string literals for go.

"-s", "h" is for automator program to tell you human readable errors.

My complete test code is as follows:

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "os/exec"
    "io/ioutil"
    "log"
    "os"
 )
// this is a comment

func main() {
    // osascript -e 'tell application "Terminal" to do script "echo hello"'
    cmd := exec.Command(`osascript`, "-s", "h", "-e",`tell application "Terminal" to do script "echo test"`)
    // cmd := exec.Command("sh", "-c", "echo stdout; echo 1>&2 stderr")
    stderr, err := cmd.StderrPipe()
    log.SetOutput(os.Stderr)

    if err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    if err := cmd.Start(); err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }

    slurp, _ := ioutil.ReadAll(stderr)
    fmt.Printf("%s\n", slurp)

    if err := cmd.Wait(); err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
}

PS: osascript is the command line interface for Automator app in macOS.

edited Jul 18, 2019 at 14:28

answered Jul 17, 2019 at 16:18

pegasuspect

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3 Comments

Mr_Pink Over a year ago

`osascript` == "osascript", there is no difference at all in the actual string. You should normally only use backticks when necessary, and prefer double-quotes when possible.

pegasuspect Over a year ago

difference is in the last part. It is tricky to give a script as an argument. So double quotes works in ticks.

Mr_Pink Over a year ago

yes, that's when you would use `` to avoid escaping many quotes.

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