Running Ruby scripts from C# application

[skyrebel]

What I am trying to achieve is creating a C# application that wil run several Ruby scripts from a several locations.

In my C# project I have added references to several .dll files (e.g. IronRuby.dll, IronRuby.Libraries.dll, Microsoft.Scripting.dll, etc) in order to execute the ruby scripts.

Location scripts: D:\Projects\Ruby\Test
Location C# app: D:\Projects\VisualStudio\C#\Test

Example RubyScript.rb:
require 'Test'

aTest = Test.new
puts aTest.attr

Code used to call Ruby scripts:
var runtime = Ruby.CreateRunTime();
var engine = runtime.GetEngine();

engine.ExecuteFile("D:\\Projects\\Ruby\\Test\\RubyScript.rb");

Running the application results in the following error message:
- No such file or directory - Test

The application wil run without errors if:
- Ruby scripts do not use require
- The require is defined using absolute paths
- Application is in same directory as the Ruby scripts

I do not like any of these solutions very much. I would like the application to know where to look for the required ruby classes/scripts. Is this possible or do I need to find another solution for my application?

All information on this problem/subject/solution is welcome.

Thanks in advance

[Arjay]

Is there some sort of path that you can set in Ruby to find the Test location?

[skyrebel]

Is there some sort of path that you can set in Ruby to find the Test location?

Yes, this path is set for Ruby via the environment variable RUBYPATH (or something). Running the ruby scripts from command line using Ruby is not a problem. Running them from the C# application gives error message.

[Arjay]

So there isn't a way to programmatically set this environment variable within the ruby engine?

If not, I wonder if your process is picking up this variable.

Inside your code, try

 
string envRubyPath = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable( "RUBYPATH" );

[skyrebel]

So there isn't a way to programmatically set this environment variable within the ruby engine?

If not, I wonder if your process is picking up this variable.

Inside your code, try

 
string envRubyPath = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable( "RUBYPATH" );

This code returns the path where the ruby scripts and classes are located.

[Mutant_Fruit]

Do you need to set the working directory to the same path as the script before you execute it? Environment.CurrentDirectory does it if i remember correctly.

[skyrebel]

Do you need to set the working directory to the same path as the script before you execute it? Environment.CurrentDirectory does it if i remember correctly.

Thanks very much. This seems to work nicely. I wasn't aware you were allowed to change the working directory dynamically. Does this cause any side effects?

[Mutant_Fruit]

Things to look out for would be that if you open files using a relative path, the path is always relative to the working directory. Some classes in System.Windows.Forms, like the FileChooser, can default to using the current directory aswell. Also if you wanted to run multiple scripts simultaenously you may run into issues unless they are ain the same directory.