Beginner C++ CreateProcess () Error 2 - c++

I am trying to create a process that send command to cmd.exe and receive Error 2,
Why? It's posible? How?
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
String pathexe = "C:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe";
String command= "notepad.exe";
if(!CreateProcess(
pathexe.c_str(), // lpApplicationName
command.c_str(), // lpCommandLine
NULL, // lpProcessAttributes
NULL, // lpThreadAttributes
FALSE, // bInheritHandles
0, // dwCreationFlags
NULL, // lpEnvironment
NULL, // lpCurrentDirectory
&si, // lpStartupInfo
&pi // lpProcessInformation
))
{
AnsiString error = GetLastError();
ShowMessage("Error: " + error);
}
WaitForSingleObject( pi.hProcess, INFINITE );
CloseHandle( pi.hProcess );
CloseHandle( pi.hThread );
PD: 1) It is assumed that you can use CreateProcess () for this purpose, I should not do it with ShellExecute () or system().
2) I have read about it in the forum and can not find a solution to this error, there are many answers to similar questions but do not address the error, other functions are proposed, or mix with the route command.
3) I do not think that issue permits because I built while the manifest.
4) I currently use C ++ Builder, in win7, 32bits but not important.
5) I guess the issue will be voted as negative and duplicate (as usual) but the proposed testing examples also receive errors.
Thanks to all
FIRST CONCLUSIONS:
Error 2: The system cannot find the file specified.
Link funtion: https://msdn.microsoft.com/es-es/library/windows/desktop/ms679360(v=vs.85).aspx
Link error: https://msdn.microsoft.com/es-es/library/windows/desktop/ms681382(v=vs.85).aspx
With error 2: check syntax, file path and existence.
works:
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
String command = "notepad.exe";
if(!CreateProcess(
NULL, // lpApplicationName
commmand.c_str(), // lpCommandLine
NULL, // lpProcessAttributes
NULL, // lpThreadAttributes
FALSE, // bInheritHandles
0, // dwCreationFlags
NULL, // lpEnvironment
NULL, // lpCurrentDirectory
&si, // lpStartupInfo
&pi // lpProcessInformation
))
{
AnsiString error = GetLastError();
ShowMessage("Error: " + error);
}
WaitForSingleObject( pi.hProcess, INFINITE );
CloseHandle( pi.hProcess );
CloseHandle( pi.hThread );
This example works also for exe
String command = "cd C:\\sample\\calc.exe";
But no with cmd´s general commands, there must be a way to send commands to cmd as:
notepad.exe && cd C:\sample\ && sample1.txt
THANKS TO ALL

You're trying to run this command:
cmd notepad
(You aren't doing that quite right, either; the lpCommandLine argument should include the entire string, not just notepad, and you haven't quoted the backslashes properly.)
But even once you fix those problems, it won't work, because you've got the syntax wrong. You'll find it won't work if typed on the command line either!
Instead, try:
String pathexe = "C:\\Windows\\system32\\cmd.exe";
String command= "cmd /c notepad.exe";
The /c option means "run this command". You can use /k instead if you want the command window to stay open after the command has finished, though it's unusual for a program to do so.
One final note: I'm assuming here than notepad is just a stand-in for a more complicated command. If you actually want to run notepad, or any other executable, you shouldn't be invoking cmd.exe at all:
String command= "notepad";
if(!CreateProcess(
NULL, // lpApplicationName
command.c_str(), // lpCommandLine
...
You only need to call on cmd.exe if you need to run a built-in command, or a composite command line.
(Actually, calling cmd.exe is considered poor practice even in those cases; in Windows, you are generally expected do that sort of thing for yourself via the API rather than farming out the job to the command interpreter. But there are edge cases, and your mileage may vary.)

Related

CreateProcess calling cmd.exe incl. arguments with no showing (flashing) window?

The saga continues...
I've searched the web, i've searched on StackOverflow, i found many hope giving answers/solutions, but somehow they have all failed (up)on me (including the ones related to ShellExecute(Ex) ).
How to hide a (flashing) CMD window (incl. arguments) using CreateProcess??
I basically want to call/execute a set of conditional/native cmd.exe commands (i.e. FOR /F, and ||), but also an external command FIND(STR).exe. And this, without showing a (flashing) CMD window.
But even hiding something as simple as "cmd.exe /C ECHO ...flashing window is bad..." seems impossible to do.
The code i've tried (including many variations related to the dwFlags and wShowWindow flags
#include <windows.h>
int main()
{
char cmdline[] = "cmd.exe /c ECHO ...flashing window is bad...";
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
STARTUPINFO si;
// memset(&si,0,sizeof(STARTUPINFO));
ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(STARTUPINFO));
si.cb = sizeof(STARTUPINFO);
// si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
// si.dwFlags = CREATE_NO_WINDOW;
si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
si.wShowWindow = SW_HIDE;
// si.wShowWindow = CREATE_NO_WINDOW;
CreateProcess(NULL, (LPSTR) cmdline, NULL, NULL, 0, 0, NULL, NULL, &si, &pi);
WaitForSingleObject(pi.hProcess, INFINITE);
CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
// ExitProcess;
return 0;
}
I don't want to rely on external programs i.e. .vbs (Windows Scripting Host) or shortcut tricks, but simply a standalone compiled .exe.
Is this (really) too much to ask, or am i doing it (completely) wrong?
Thanks...
Update: You also seem to confuse CreateProcess flags (its dwCreationFlags argument) with the member of STARTUPINFO structure. These are different flags, CREATE_NO_WINDOW should not be in STARTUPINFO.
You have to pass the CREATE_NO_WINDOW flag, then the console window won't show. Originally I've answered that you have to redirect the standard handles which is not correct (but still highly recommanded).
Set STARTF_USESTDHANDLES and fill in appropriate handles. If you are interested in the output of the process, create pipes, otherwise you can just open nul an pass that.
Try Using ProcessBuilder. Here is an example of some code that I have that seems to work just fine. In my code below, the shellScript is a StringBuilder that I am dynamically creating that contains the command and it's parameters that I want to execute.
String[] scriptArray = shellScript.toString().split(" ");
ProcessBuilder builder = new ProcessBuilder(scriptArray);
File outputFile = new File("/logs/AgentOutputLog.txt");
File errorFile = new File("/logs/AgentErrorLog.txt");
builder.redirectOutput(outputFile);
builder.redirectError(errorFile);
Process process = builder.start();
int errCode = process.waitFor();
//errCode = 0 means online
if(errCode == 0){
success = true;
break;
//errCode = 1 means offline
} else if (errCode == 1){
success = false;
break;
}

CreateProcess returns true but does not execute with regedit

I am trying to dump a portion of the windows registry in a .txt file using the CreateProcess function. The code is along the lines of
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
STARTUPINFO si;
ZeroMemory( &si, sizeof(si) );
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory( &pi, sizeof(pi) );
CString cmdLine = "\"C:\\WINDOWS\\regedit.exe\" /e \"c:\\dump\\TestReg.txt\"
\"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\MYSOFT\\\"";
LPSTR pCmdLine = (LPSTR)(const char*)cmdLine;
BOOL oc = CreateProcess(NULL, pCmdLine, NULL, NULL, FALSE, 0, NULL, NULL, &si, &pi);
if(oc == TRUE)
{
WaitForSingleObject(pi.hProcess, 1000);
GetExitCodeProcess(pi.hProcess, &exitCode);
if(exitCode != 0) ret = -1;
}
What I know
The CreateProcess returns TRUE and the last blocks executes
The process waits for the end and exits normally
However no file is produced at the end
The command line string works fine in command line, even when it operates from the same directory where the program is operating.
I have found something that is potentially useful where someone had basically the same problem. In the end it resulted in a dependency clash but the link does not explain very well how it was detected or fixed.

trying to run commend on cmd throw c++ using createprocces (API)?

bool execute()
{
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
bool flag = true;
ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
string f = "dir desktop"
if (CmdLine.parameter != "")
{
LPSTR l1 = const_cast<char *>(f.c_str());
CreateProcess(NULL, l1, NULL, NULL, false, 0, NULL, NULL, &si, &pi);
flag = true;
// WaitForSingleObject(pi.hProcess, INFINITE);
// // Close process and thread handles.
// CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
// CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
//}
}
return flag;
}
I'm trying to run cmd command by visual studio.
I'm using createprocces (API) in order to run this thing
but I can't understand why it doesn't run anything.
dir is a command understood by cmd.exe, it's not a program you can execute.
You can try the command cmd /k "dir desktop", properly expressed as a C++ string.
E.g.,
auto execute()
-> bool
{
STARTUPINFO si = { sizeof( si ) };
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi = {};
string f = "cmd /k \"dir desktop\"\0";
bool const ok = !!CreateProcess( 0, &f[0], 0, 0, false, 0, 0, 0, &si, &pi );
if( !ok ) { return false; }
WaitForSingleObject(pi.hProcess, INFINITE);
CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
return true;
}
Note how the calls to ZeroMemory have been replaced with C++ initialization.
Just by letting the compiler do its job you get shorter, more clear code that is more likely correct, and just as efficient (possibly more). Win win win.
Disclaimer: code not reviewed by compiler.
If the intent is to list the contents of the user's desktop folder, then note that dir desktop doesn't do that. As an interactive command in the command interpreter you could use dir %userprofile%\desktop, and that also works via the Windows Run-dialog. Depending on the command interpreter's behavior for command line arguments it may work directly via CreateProcess, or not.
Generally, when using Windows API level functions it's preferable to use the wchar_t-based text based functions, i.e. define UNICODE before including <windows.h> (or use the ...W functions explicitly).
If you call CreateProcess() with the first parameter set to NULL, then you have to make sure that l1 starts with the module name to call.
As dir is an internal command of the command processor and not an executable, you have to use cmd as module name and give the rest of the parameter as cmd expects them.
So try the following:
string f = "cmd /c=dir desktop";

Failing to open a chrome browser via CreateProcess API

I am trying to open a chrome browser via CreateProcess API. I was not able to do so.
I tried to do like this:
string commandLine = "\"C:\\Program Files\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe\"";
commandLine += " -- ";
commandLine += pURLinfo->szURL;
CreateProcess(commandLine.c_str(), NULL, NULL, NULL, FALSE,
CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE, NULL, NULL, &startupInfo, &processInformation);
CreateProcess returned error 123.
Perhaps there is another way to open it. (i wasn't talking about ShellExecute).
Update: My code now looks like this and still i cannot run chrome.
STARTUPINFOA si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));
// Start the child process.
if (!CreateProcessA("C:\\Program Files(x86)\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe", // No module name (use command line)
NULL,
NULL, // Process handle not inheritable
NULL, // Thread handle not inhberitable
FALSE, // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
0, // No creation flags
NULL, // Use parent's environment block
NULL, // Use parent's starting directory
&si, // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure
&pi) // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure
)
{
printf("CreateProcess failed (%d).\n", GetLastError());
getchar();
return 0;
}
Try to remove unneeded quotes from command line
string commandLine = "C:\\Program Files\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe";

CreateProcess function issue

I'm trying to start an process from my code with createprocess function. The command line is ok, and the other exe, i can start it without problems from visual studio.
When I am trying to start it from the other process with createprocess it gives me - Runtime error this app has requested the runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
What could be the problem ? How could I remove this problem ?
STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
bool bResult;
ZeroMemory( &si, sizeof(si) );
si.cb = sizeof(si);
ZeroMemory( &pi, sizeof(pi) );
//Cast System::String* __gc to char*
char* chAppName = (char*)(void*)Marshal::StringToHGlobalAnsi(AppName);
char* chCmdLine = (char*)(void*)Marshal::StringToHGlobalAnsi(CmdLine);
//Start the child process.
bResult = CreateProcess( chAppName, // No module name (use command line)
chCmdLine, // Command line
NULL, // Process handle not inheritable
NULL, // Thread handle not inheritable
FALSE, // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
0, // No creation flags
NULL, // Use parent's environment block
NULL, // Use parent's starting directory
&si, // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure
&pi); // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure
Try eliminating the StringToHGlobalAnsi calls and hard coding them instead first. If that stops the problems, we can then sort out the StringToHGlobalAnsi calls.