destroy not working in java

Question

I have created a simple java program to open an excel file and write data to it, once the data is written I then proceed to open the file to view the spreadsheet:

String[] cmdarray=new String[]{"cmd.exe","/c","C:\\Users\\Jason\\Documents\\*******\\********\\******.xls"}; 
            Runtime runTime = Runtime.getRuntime();
            Process process = runTime.exec(cmdarray);

as part of the learning curve I then try to close the file 10 secs later with:

process.destroy();

but this isn't closing the window. Can anyone point out where I am going wrong? Thank you.

private static void OpenExcel() throws IOException {

            //Find the File and open it
            String[] cmdarray=new String[]{"cmd.exe","/c","C:\\Users\\Jason\\Documents\\*********\\*********\\********.xls"}; 
            Runtime runTime = Runtime.getRuntime();
            Process process = runTime.exec(cmdarray);

            try{    
            //Delay
             TimeUnit.SECONDS.sleep(10);

        }catch (InterruptedException e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
                //Handle exception
            }
            //Close Excel
            System.out.println("Closing Excel");
            process.destroy();

            }
 }

Answer 1

One of the reason could be well-known JDK bug:

The fundamental problem here is that, unlike Unix, Windows does that maintain parent-child relationships between processes. A process can kill its own immediate children, but unless you make other arrangements to obtain the information, can't kill any 'grand-children' because it has no way of finding them.

You can try with direct execution of Excel, not via cmd:

Runtime.getRuntime().exec("C:\\full\\path\\to\\excel.exe C:\\file.xls");