run oconv with standard input from process within C#

edit

There isn't anything that oconv is looking for as EOF, it just knows when it gets one. Can you share the code you're using to start the oconv process and write to the standard input. It might be as simple as closing a stream properly or exiting the process.

To think about EOF is a good start for sure, because most of the times the window of the oconv process is not closing itself (I'm not hiding it, yet), so it seems to wait for another input. I tried a lot with EOF but never got to the point where it runs. perhaps somebody can tell me what oconv wants for EOF? Thanks, Fabian

Code:

public string Execute(string program, string command, string input ) {
var proc = new Process()
{
 StartInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(program, command)
 {
  RedirectStandardInput = true,
  RedirectStandardOutput = true,
  UseShellExecute = false
 }
};
proc.Start();
proc.StandardInput.WriteLine(input);
proc.StandardInput.WriteLine((char)26); //EOF
proc.StandardInput.Flush();
proc.StandardInput.Close();

var result = proc.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();

proc.WaitForExit();
proc.Close();

return result;

I also tried using Write() instead of WriteLine() with and without EOF. Even tried to use StreamWriter, but the result always stays the same. I'm using this program call also with rtrace and rcalc to input the evaluation points. There everything works fine...

maybe try switching the order of so that the process exits then read the result?

proc.WaitForExit();
var result = proc.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();

Yes I'm sure. I'm also fetching any exeptions from StandardError. Also if I write my "input" to a file and use this in oconv via the console everything works.

Just out of curiosity, what if in your workflow you take the input file and convert it back to standard input by "type"-ing it and then pipe that to oconv? Can you also write that piped STDOUT to a file, and compare it in a decent text editor alongside the output your function generates?

"type"ing the input file to oconv results also in a longer .oct. It is even a little bit longer than the one created from the files as parameter. But it ends in the same results as the working octree from files, without the truncated octree warning.

Python has a module to launch processes similar to what you are doing in C#. However, I found that its not always a good idea to implement piping with a wrapper. Sometimes it just makes sense to let Radiance and DOS-shell do their thing than transporting binary data (as in the case of Oconv) between different processes. You can write the commands to a .bat file and then launch the .bat file with your code in C#. You can always interrupt/intercept a .bat file by using the wait method to do any data processing in between.

Mostapha, who commented above, has created a fairly sophisticated wrapper/add-on for Radiance within his Honeybee plugin. Although it is written in Python for the most part, you can get a fair idea of what it takes to make Radiance work within such an environment...if you haven't already, check out..http://www.grasshopper3d.com/group/ladybug