From: Jano Svitok <jan.svitok@...>
Date: 2007-08-21T07:18:49+09:00
Subject: Re: system() doesn't work but %x does

On 8/21/07, Philip Mateescu <philipmateescu+ruby-forums@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I'm trying to issue an "svn add" command from a script to add everything
> under the current folder to subversion.
> Command line works:
> # svn add --force *
>
> %x / backticks work
> out = %x[svn add --force *]
>
> system() does not.
> system('svn', 'add', '--force', '*') produces "svn: warning: '*' not
> found"
>
> I suspect there is some subtlety in regard to the expansion of the "*";
> is there any way of making it work with system()?

I guess '*' is handled by the shell. `` invokes the command via shell,
while system does it directly (and you have to expand * yourself).

So, there are two possibilities:
1. invoke /bin/sh (or whatever shell are you using) with arguments to
call svn add...
2. expand it yourself (Dir.glob might be helpful)

NB: I'm curious: why do you insist on system()?