I'm trying to figure out how to pass filename from within an existing executable to a newly generated executable of same type & then the new exe load said file name. Following is something I'm working on but I'm bit lost really.
CString cstrExePathLoc;
GetModuleFileName(NULL, cstrExePathLoc.GetBuffer(MAX_PATH), MAX_PATH);
wchar_t szCommandLine[1024] = _T("C:\\Users\\Home\\Desktop\\testfile.tmp");
PROCESS_INFORMATION processInfo;
STARTUPINFO startupInfo;
::ZeroMemory(&startupInfo, sizeof(startupInfo));
startupInfo.cb = sizeof(startupInfo);
CreateProcess(
cstrExePathLoc, szCommandLine, NULL, NULL, FALSE, CREATE_DEFAULT_ERROR_MODE, NULL, NULL,
&startupInfo, &processInfo
);
EDIT: this still doesn't open the file. A new ExeApp is started but no file is loaded. No errors generated at all.
I've searched net but no examples I've come across clearly explain how to do this. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
EDIT: simple solution here that's worked thanks to Robson Filho Colodeti below.
CString cstrExeFilePathAndFilePath2Open = cstrExePathLoc;
cstrExeFilePathAndFilePath2Open += L" \"";
cstrExeFilePathAndFilePath2Open += cstrFilePath2Open;
cstrExeFilePathAndFilePath2Open += L"\"";
CreateProcess(csExePath, cstrExeFilePathAndFilePath2Open.GetBuffer(0), NULL, NULL, TRUE, NULL, NULL, NULL, &sui, &pi);
Opening the other program
Using CreateProcess
you are in the right way, you can use the CreateProcess method.
BOOL fSuccess;
CString csDir = L"c:\your\working\directory\";
CString csParameters = L"parameter1 parameter2 parameter3 /parameter4=value";
CString csCommand = L"c:\folder\of\the\executable\executable.exe";
csCommand+= L" ";
csCommand+= csParameters;
// Create the child process.
fSuccess = CreateProcess(NULL, csCommand.GetBuffer(0), NULL, NULL, TRUE, 0, NULL,
csDir, &startupInfo, &processInfo);
Using ShellExecute
an easier way is to use the ShellExecute method because the create process method is a more "advanced" way to call a process since it gives you a lot of possibilities to control the results etc...
Reading the parameters inside the other program
then you will have to read these parameters from the other executable: check this thread
Related
I am using CreateProcess api to start a batch file. The Code works fine on windows 7 but it is failing on Windows 10.
Below is the snippet of code:
CString param; //it holds the very long string of command line arguments
wstring excFile = L"C:\\program files\\BatchFile.bat";
wstring csExcuPath = L"C:\\program files";
wstring exeWithParam = excFile + _T(" ");
exeWithParam = exeWithParam.append(param);
STARTUPINFO si = { sizeof(si) };
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
TCHAR lpExeWithParam[8191];
_tcscpy_s(lpExeWithParam, exeWithParam.c_str());
BOOL bStatus = CreateProcess(NULL, lpExeWithParam, NULL, NULL, TRUE, CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE | CREATE_BREAKAWAY_FROM_JOB, NULL, csExcuPath.c_str(), &si, &pi);
DWORD err;
if (!bStatus)
{
err = GetLastError();
}
With the above code, it is invoking a batch file which will start an executable with given parameters. This code is not working only Windows 10 in our product.
GetLastError is returning error code 122 which code for error "The data area passed to a system call is too small." How to figure out what is causing this error and how it can be resolved?
However, when using the same code in a sample test application is not giving any error and passing.
Any clue/hint why is causing it to fail on Windows 10.
You need to execute cmd.exe with the .bat file as a parameter, don't try to execute the .bat directly.
Also, you don't need lpExeWithParam, you can pass exeWithParam directly to CreateProcess().
Try something more like this instead:
CString param; //it holds the very long string of command line arguments
...
wstring excFile = L"C:\\program files\\BatchFile.bat";
wstring csExcuPath = L"C:\\program files";
wstring exeWithParam = L"cmd.exe /c \"" + excFile + L"\" ";
exeWithParam.append(param);
STARTUPINFOW si = { sizeof(si) };
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi = {};
BOOL bStatus = CreateProcessW(NULL, &exeWithParam[0]/*or exeWithParam.data() in C++17*/, NULL, NULL, TRUE, CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE | CREATE_BREAKAWAY_FROM_JOB, NULL, csExcuPath.c_str(), &si, &pi);
if (!bStatus)
{
DWORD err = GetLastError();
...
}
else
{
...
CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
}
Error 122 equates to ERROR_INSUFFICIENT_BUFFER and I think the clue here is "it holds the very long string of command line arguments".
Just how long is it? The limit may be lower on Windows 10 - I recommend you experiment (binary chop).
Also, the documentation for CreateProcess states that you must launch cmd.exe explicitly to run a batch file, so I guess you should do what it says.
I think to run a batch file you must set lpApplicationName to cmd.exe and set lpCommandLine to the following arguments: /c plus the name of the batch file
I've a SupportApp.EXE which if I launch manually from windows CMD prommpt like this ::
SupportApp.EXE -t 100 > AFile.csv
works perfcetly fine & it generates a CSV file for me.
Now I want to automate same thing inside a VC++ code.
So, I use CreateProcess() API for this.
Code snippet below ::
TCHAR launcher[512];
_tgetcwd(launcher, _MAX_PATH);
TCHAR workDir[512];
_tgetcwd(workDir, _MAX_PATH);
_tcscat(launcher, "\\App\\SupportApp.exe");
TCHAR cmdlineoption[512];
_tcscpy(cmdlineoption, " -t 120 > AFile.csv");
LPTSTR appPath = (LPTSTR)cmdlineoption;
STARTUPINFO sInfo;
memset(&sInfo, 0, sizeof(sInfo));
sInfo.cb = sizeof(sInfo);
sInfo.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
sInfo.wShowWindow = SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pInfo;
memset(&pInfo, 0, sizeof(pInfo));
if (!CreateProcess(launcher, appPath, NULL, NULL, FALSE, CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE, NULL, workDir, &sInfo, &pInfo))
{
... // log error
}
// success
I see that CreateProcess() API succeeds and also i see that the -t 120 option I'm giving is also taken by this "SupportApp.exe"
BUT the file redirection operator ">" is not working with CreateProcess() API.
Instead the output is directed to CMD itself. But I want output to be sent to a CSV file.
Can anyone please help me in how do I redirect the output of my
"SupportApp.exe" to a file using CreateProcess() API from within my
VC++ code ?
UPDATE 2:
The inputs given by reviewers are incorporated in this & the modified code snippet is below which takes the file hnadle in STARTUPINFO structure as follows::
The file is getting created but the file is empty & it doesn't have any contents from createProcess()?
TCHAR launcher[512];
_tgetcwd(launcher, _MAX_PATH);
TCHAR workDir[512];
_tgetcwd(workDir, _MAX_PATH);
_tcscat(launcher, "\\App\\SupportApp.exe");
TCHAR cmdlineoption[512];
_tcscpy(cmdlineoption, " -t 120 > AFile.csv");
LPTSTR appPath = (LPTSTR)cmdlineoption;
STARTUPINFO sInfo;
memset(&sInfo, 0, sizeof(sInfo));
sInfo.cb = sizeof(sInfo);
sInfo.dwFlags |= STARTF_USESTDHANDLES; //newly added
sInfo.wShowWindow = SW_SHOWMAXIMIZED;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pInfo;
memset(&pInfo, 0, sizeof(pInfo));
sInfo.hStdInput = GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE);
sInfo.hStdError = GetStdHandle(STD_ERROR_HANDLE);
SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES sa;
ZeroMemory(&sa, sizeof(sa));
sa.nLength = sizeof(sa);
sa.bInheritHandle = TRUE;
HANDLE hn;
if(INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE != (hn = CreateFile(L"DoneDone.csv", GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE, FILE_SHARE_WRITE, &sa, CREATE_ALWAYS, FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL, 0)))
{
sInfo.hStdOutput = =hn;
}
if (!CreateProcess(launcher, appPath, NULL, NULL, FALSE, 0, NULL, workDir, &sInfo, &pInfo))
{
... // log error
}
// success
Output redirection is a shell feature, i.e. the shell sets that up before starting the child.
You're not using a shell, instead going directly to the kernel asking it to start a process, so you don't get that service.
You need to set up the required redirection yourself. This is done in the STARTUPINFO's hStdOutput member. See the documentation, of course.
That's because the redirection operations (as well as the pipe operation) is part of the command prompt program, not part of the CreateProcess call.
However, you can do exactly what the command prompt program does when it does redirection, and set the file handles in the STARTUPINFO structure.
I created a windows service in c++ using visual studios and now I want the service to run an exe file. The service is set to start every time the computer starts
i know i need to use code to locate the path of the exe like C:\MyDirectory\MyFile.exe but how to I actually run the file from the service?
i read about the process start method here but i am not sure how to use it
You can use createprocess function in your service to run an exe.
TCHAR* path = L"C:\\MyDirectory\\MyFile.exe";
STARTUPINFO info;
PROCESS_INFORMATION processInfo;
ZeroMemory( &info, sizeof(info) );
info.cb = sizeof(info);
ZeroMemory( &processInfo, sizeof(processInfo) );
if (CreateProcess(path, NULL, NULL, NULL, TRUE, 0, NULL, NULL, &info, &processInfo))
{
::WaitForSingleObject(processInfo.hProcess, INFINITE);
CloseHandle(processInfo.hProcess);
CloseHandle(processInfo.hThread);
}
I am writing a windows QT app that needs to launch other apps. If I use the following windows calls everything works fine:
QString qsExePath = "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Some Company\\SomeApp.exe";
QString qsCommandLine = "";
DWORD dwLastError = 0;
STARTUPINFO startupInfo;
ZeroMemory(&startupInfo, sizeof(startupInfo));
startupInfo.cb = sizeof(startupInfo);
startupInfo.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
startupInfo.wShowWindow = (WORD)1;
PROCESS_INFORMATION processInfo;
ZeroMemory(&processInfo, sizeof(processInfo));
if (CreateProcess((TCHAR*)(qsExePath.utf16()), (TCHAR*)(qsCommandLine.utf16()),
NULL, NULL, FALSE, 0, NULL, NULL,
&startupInfo, &processInfo))
{
CloseHandle(processInfo.hProcess);
CloseHandle(processInfo.hThread);
}
else
{
dwLastError = GetLastError();
}
However, if I use the following QT calls it does not work and fails with QProcess::Unknown Error.
QProcess process;
bool bStarted = process.startDetached(qsExePath);
qDebug() << process.error();
I can get QProcess to work if copy SomeApp.exe to my %TMP% directory and change the qsExePath accordingly, so it is obviously some kind of permissions error. I don't understand why though... if it were really permissions, shouldn't my CreateProcess windows call fail?
Your path has spaces in it. You are calling the overloaded version of QProcess.startDetached() that takes a single parameter, so it interprets that as the complete command line to execute. As such, try wrapping the path in quotes, otherwise it will think that "C:\Program" is the program to execute and everything else are arguments, which would be wrong:
QString qsExePath = "\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Some Company\\SomeApp.exe\"";
bool bStarted = process.startDetached(qsExePath);
Alternatively, call one of the other overloaded versions of startDetached() and let it work out the necessary quoting internally for you:
QString qsExePath = "C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Some Company\\SomeApp.exe";
bool bStarted = process.startDetached(qsExePath, QStringList());
I am trying to use the TerminateProcess to terminate an app launched by ShellExecuteEX like this:
SHELLEXECUTEINFO ExecuteInfo;
ExecuteInfo.fMask = SEE_MASK_FLAG_NO_UI; /* Odd but true */
ExecuteInfo.hwnd = NULL;
ExecuteInfo.cbSize = sizeof(ExecuteInfo);
ExecuteInfo.lpVerb = NULL;
ExecuteInfo.lpFile = "http://www.microsoft.com";
ExecuteInfo.lpParameters = "";
ExecuteInfo.lpDirectory = NULL;
ExecuteInfo.nShow = SW_SHOW;;
ShellExecuteEx(&ExecuteInfo);
//WaitForSingleObject(ExecuteInfo.hProcess, 0);
Sleep(4000);
TerminateProcess(ExecuteInfo.hProcess, 0);
IE gets opened but it never closes. Am I doing something wrong?
According to MSDN, fMask must be set to SEE_MASK_NOCLOSEPROCESS for .hProcess to get set. I would add a test to see if it is NULL. As a side note I've always had better luck using CreateProcess.
Edit:
This is how you do it using CreateProcess:
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi = {0};
STARTUPINFO si = {0};
si.cb = sizeof(si);
si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
si.wShowWindow = SW_SHOW;
CreateProcess( NULL,
"C:\\Program Files\\Internet Explorer\\iexplore.exe http://www.google.com/",
NULL,
NULL,
FALSE,
NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS,
NULL,
NULL,
&si,
&pi );
Sleep(4000);
TerminateProcess(pi.hProcess, 0);
You should add error-checking and could query the path of the default browser using: AssocQueryString like this:
AssocQueryString(0,ASSOCSTR_EXECUTABLE,"http","open", szExe, &cchExe);
You can get more information by checking the returned hProcess (e.g., in a debugger). Also make sure you have the SEE_MASK_NOCLOSEPROCESS flag set.
But my psychic powers say: Opening an IE document doesn't necessarily create a new process. And, if it does, it may not be the one you think it is: The process you may have created may have spawned yet another process to actually host the document. Raymond Chen mentions that about halfway down this blog post.