xp_cmdshell dir different results when passing command as variable

• david.gugg

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  June 13, 2014 at 8:17 am

  #289975

  I am creating a stored procedure to track some server's folders' used space using SQL Server 2008 R2. I have run into an interesting issue for a particular directory.

  When I run

  EXEC master.dbo.xp_cmdshell 'dir "\\servername\e$\media\Google" /s /-C'

  I get a different result than when I run the command using a variable for the dos string:

  DECLARE @dir VARCHAR(255) = 'dir "\\servername\e$\media\Google" /s /-C'

  EXEC master.dbo.xp_cmdshell @dir

  The number of files is the same, but the number of bytes used is different.

  Each of the files has the same size, but the total size is different.

  I have other subdirectories with zip files that do not exhibit this behavior. Does anyone have any ideas on what could cause this? Or how to fix?

  I have also posted this question to stackoverflow, with screenshots (because they are easier to upload on SO).

  
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