UNIX path AND Do shell script path with spaces

Question

I am trying to building a interface with buttons to execute shell commands when the button is pressed. Below press button execute code.
I am new to AppleScript and Xcode and Interface builder. I have read different post referencing spaces but I still don't understand.
THIS COMMAND DOESN'T WORK IT'S SOMETHING TO DO WITH SPACES.
How would I fix this to work.
on clicked theObject
do shell script "rm /Library/Preferences/com.netopia.netOctopus\ Agent.preferences"
end clicked
This works (Below) no spaces in the path
on clicked theObject
do shell script "open /System/Library/PreferencePanes/SharingPref.prefPane/"
end clicked
ALL Mac OS X (10.4.6)
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ALL   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  
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ALL   Mac OS X (10.4.6)  
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ALL   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  
ALL   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

Answer 1

Camelot's explanation was good, but you don't seem to get it, so I'll take a crack at explaining as well.
First off, you need to understand what "do shell script" does and does not do. "do shell script" takes a string from AppleScript and passes it to a shell interpreter. It does not check in advance that this string makes sense. (That is impossible to do, in fact.) It just passes it along. The shell interpreter then converts the string into a command, or series of commands, and attempts to run them.
In AppleScript, quotation marks around something make that something a string. So, for example:
"rm "
is a string containing a letter r, a letter m, and then a space. Some commands can also return a string, which can then be stored in a named variable, as for example:
set a_variable to (the text returned of display dialog "Hi!" default answer "Some text")
When you wish to put two strings together in AppleScript, you use the & operator, as in:
"String 1" & "String 2"
In this example, there is no space at the end of the first string, and none at the beginning of the second, so the result is:
"String 1String 2"
All clear so far?
When a shell interpreter attempts to convert a string into commands, it has to split the string into pieces. A space signifies a break between pieces. In order to put a space into a single item, you can do a number of things. You can put the whole item in quotation marks (single or double), which is known as "quoting":
'/A/Path/With/A Space'
or you can put a backslash before the space, which is known as "escaping":
/A/Path/With/A\ Space
You can combine quoting and escaping if you do it right. For example, the backslash also lets you use a quotation mark inside a single item which is quoted:
"/A/Path/With/A Space/And/A\"Quotation/Mark"
There are further rules and substitutions that sometimes border on the arcane.
In order to simplify things, Apple created the command "the quoted form of". This command takes a string and returns a new string which is properly set up so that it will be just one item when split up for the command line. It will add quotation marks, backslashes, or whatever.
So, to put things together:
"rm " & the quoted form of thePath
is a way of saying to AppleScript "take the string in the variable named thePath, and quote it for the command line; then stick it on the end of a string containing an r, an m, and a space."
When you pass this to "do shell script", it will break things up in such a way that it hands thePath to the rm command, which will attempt to remove whatever is represented by thePath. (Adding the "-r" in there just tells the rm command "if this is a directory, get rid of it and all its contents". Otherwise rm will complain if the item is a directory.)
I think, however, you may just have the path wrong. In one of the spots where you gave the POSIX path, it had a backslash (\) at the end instead of a forward slash (/). As Camelot says, a forward slash means that the item is a directory and not a plain file. But if you really meant the backslash, it suggests that the item is a plain file, but has a space at the end (or some other character that mystifies the command line). It's an escape.
Try making a new script in Script Editor which says
">" & (the POSIX path of (choose file)) & "<" at the end, that's the culprit.
(And if it won't let you select the file when you run the script, it means that the item is actually a folder.)