Running console applications silently

• Download demo project - 19 Kb

Introduction

Arrrgh! So you need to run your console app via a primary application, well ye've come to the right place. This article is intended for those who need to run one of those pesky little console applications without the console window popping up over your main app or worse popping up when calling it from a service.

So now matey lets dive into it and see how to avoid the console windows from sinking our application. Prepare the app for silent running.

Walking the Plank

Ok! That's enough of the pirate stuff. On with the show..

You have probably searched the web and have seen many developers show examples of how to spawn applications using the CreateProcess function. Well I shall do the same thing but with a twist. I will do it in such a way that the application that you would like to spawn does not show up when run.

There are several caveats to this process and many gotcha's. The main one is that if this program you wish to run is interactive, that is requires input from the user outside of what can be passed in through the command line, then blindly using this code will cause your program to hang. To recap! How can you input information into a program if you can't see the window. Ok! Think you get the point.

There are ways of doing this but they will not be covered in this article.

Running Silent

The trick to running a console window silent is burried in the STARTUPINFO structure that we will populate then pass into the CreateProcess function. STARTUPINFO specifies the main window properties. There are many items in the STARTUPINFO structure that we just don't care about. The ones that are of interest to us are the

• DWORD cb
• DWORD dwFlags
• WORD wShowWindow

First the STARTUPINFO is instantiated

  STARTUPINFO StartupInfo;

then the memory is cleared for the length of the structure.

  memset(&StartupInfo, 0, sizeof(StartupInfo));

or

  ::ZeroMemory(&StartupInfo, sizeof(StartupInfo));  

If this is not done our data within our STARTUPINFO object could be corrupt rendering it useless and possible crashing the application.

Next we will fill our structure with the relevant code that will tell our console window to start up without showing itself.

  // set the size of the structure

  StartupInfo.cb = sizeof(STARTUPINFO);
  // tell the application that we are setting the window display 

  // information within this structure

  StartupInfo.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
  // set the window display to HIDE

  StartupInfo.wShowWindow = SW_HIDE;

Well that's not much of a trick but remember unless you specify the dwFlags to the flag STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW the setting in wShowWindow will not be recognized and your window will not be hidden.

Davy Jones' Locker

Well this is where I will leave you to it.

To test this use the function source below and paste it into your application or Download the project file above and test it out. The application will open the IPConfig.exe application in a hidden window, pipe the text to a file and then display the contents of that file in the main application window.

DWORD RunSilent(char* strFunct, char* strstrParams)
{
	STARTUPINFO StartupInfo;
	PROCESS_INFORMATION ProcessInfo;
	char Args[4096];
	char *pEnvCMD = NULL;
	char *pDefaultCMD = "CMD.EXE";
	ULONG rc;
	
	memset(&StartupInfo, 0, sizeof(StartupInfo));
	StartupInfo.cb = sizeof(STARTUPINFO);
	StartupInfo.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
	StartupInfo.wShowWindow = SW_HIDE;

	Args[0] = 0;

	pEnvCMD = getenv("COMSPEC");

	if(pEnvCMD){
		
		strcpy(Args, pEnvCMD);
	}
	else{
		strcpy(Args, pDefaultCMD);
	}

	// "/c" option - Do the command then terminate the command window

	strcat(Args, " /c "); 
	//the application you would like to run from the command window

	strcat(Args, strFunct);  
	strcat(Args, " "); 
	//the parameters passed to the application being run from the command window.

	strcat(Args, strstrParams); 

	if (!CreateProcess( NULL, Args, NULL, NULL, FALSE,
		CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE, 
		NULL, 
		NULL,
		&StartupInfo,
		&ProcessInfo))
	{
		return GetLastError();		
	}

	WaitForSingleObject(ProcessInfo.hProcess, INFINITE);
	if(!GetExitCodeProcess(ProcessInfo.hProcess, &rc))
		rc = 0;

	CloseHandle(ProcessInfo.hThread);
	CloseHandle(ProcessInfo.hProcess);

	return rc;
	
}

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Here's how to do it from C# FaxedHead 19:23 10 Aug '08   ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(pathToYourExe, args); startInfo.CreateNoWindow = true; startInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Hidden; Process p = Process.Start(startInfo); p.WaitForExit(); Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Read console outputs and send instructions 12kaunas 6:57 30 Mar '07   Maybe somebody has done running console app from C++ with capability to read console messages while running and to send data to console such as Y or N character to continue. I found one codeproject ""To Execute a Console Application From VC++ and retrieve the messages shown in the console"". It works for reading but I was not able to send my instructions back. Thanks for any help. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.75/5 (4 votes) Thanks! MindWanderer 0:17 20 Jul '06   Who would have belived that a C example could come in handy when writing Delphi Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink hide console window in a console application at start laleh_sg 22:01 14 Jul '06   I have a problem ..I would be so grateful to know your idea about it..i have a console application for monitoring some packets on a port..this app is with support of MFC in order to have a UI and etc.Now I need to hide console window at the beginning of running the app..It will be shown to user later if he/she want to.I can get handle of console window and give it to the API showwindow..but this does'nt work well for me because at the beginning of running user will see something like flashing of console window which is not desirable..How do you think I can do it? Thanks Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.33/5 (3 votes) I like it! John R. Shaw 13:59 5 Jan '06   I think you did a very good job. If you have other examples like this that you want to share, why not do a compilation of them and put them in to one article. Just an idea. INTP Every thing is relative... Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink another method... leojose 0:57 31 Dec '05   What if I do something like this? HWND hwnd = GetConsoleWindow(); ShowWindow(hwnd,SW_HIDE); The window hides, but at the very beginning you can see it for a very small duration. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 3.00/5 (2 votes) Running aplication with desired size. mukta_here_1 5:05 1 Jul '05   Hello forum, I want to run an application with the dimension that is specified in the code. The code is much similar to the code for 'Running console applications silently' The some changes made are as follows -- StartupInfo.dwFlags = STARTF_USEPOSITION|STARTF_USESIZE|STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW; StartupInfo.wShowWindow = SW_SHOW; StartupInfo.dwY = 100; StartupInfo.dwX = 200; StartupInfo.dwXSize = 100; StartupInfo.dwYSize = 100; char pRunAppli = "c:\\Project1.exe"; CreateProcess( NULL, pRunAppli, NULL, NULL, FALSE, CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE, NULL, NULL, &StartupInfo, &ProcessInfo) The result is the position is getting set at the specified location but i am not able to adjust the size. Can someone help me in this regard? Thanks & Regards, Mukta Sathaye. Pune,India. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.00/5 (1 vote) Re: That is not working in Windows XP at all. Shawn, Han 20:52 2 Jan '06   That is not working in Windows XP at all. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Running aplication with desired size. mukta_here_1 4:58 1 Jul '05   Hello forum, I want to run an application with the dimension that is specified in the code. The code is much similar to the code for 'Running console applications silently' The some changes made are as follows -- StartupInfo.dwFlags = STARTF_USEPOSITION|STARTF_USESIZE|STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW; StartupInfo.wShowWindow = SW_SHOW; //instaid of SW_HIDE StartupInfo.dwY = 100; //Start X position StartupInfo.dwX = 200; //Start Y position StartupInfo.dwXSize = 100; //Size X StartupInfo.dwYSize = 100; //Size Y // I am trying to execute my application char pRunAppli = "c:\\Project1.exe"; //using command --- CreateProcess( NULL, pRunAppli, NULL, NULL, FALSE, CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE, NULL, NULL, &StartupInfo, &ProcessInfo) The result is the position is getting set at the specified location but i am not able to adjust the size. Can someone help in this regard? Thanks & Regards, Mukta Sathaye. Pune,India. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.00/5 (1 vote) Invoking a command line .exe program Hemanth Balaji 17:26 18 May '05   I have created a win32 Application using Visual c++. How to execute a command line program from within a windows program. I am using Win32 api in C. I have a DICOM Image file and I want to convert it to a bmp file by running a command line option pOovided by InfraView, by clicking a button ON MY PROGRAM. I wanna execute a command like "i_view32.exe c:\test.bmp /convert=c:\test.jpg" .... Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.29/5 (3 votes) Passing instruction to the createprocess command prompt vgandhi 14:49 13 Aug '03   Hi there, I wanted to ask you if we use the createprocess command for some command line function and if that function requires a prompt for (y/n) confirmation how do we pass in yes or no to that command prompt window. for example the cacls function if i have something where my strcommand looks like cacls temp \t \g user:W and i make a call to CreateProcess(NULL, // command is part of input string strcommand , // (writeable) command string NULL, // process security NULL, // thread security TRUE, // inherit handles flag 0, // flags NULL, // inherit environment NULL, // inherit directory &startup, // STARTUPINFO &procinfo); now if i want to type in Y at the confirmation window so that the user doesnt have a choice how do I do that. The application that I am running will call createprocess and give the user a chance to type Y Please let me know thanks vg Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (1 vote) I know of a much simpler way... Nizz 13:12 6 Jul '03   Set the fdwCreate parameter of the CreateProcess() function to: CREATE_NO_WINDOW ! It's that simple!! ~Bikram Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 3.67/5 (2 votes) Re: I know of a much simpler way... Steven Szelei 13:48 6 Jul '03   Well, no it's not that simple. What if you deploy a system with this code on Windows Me/98/95? This value is not supported. Thanks for the added info though, I didn't know about this one. But then there are so many flags in windows it's hard to know them all. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 5.00/5 (2 votes) What about hiding/showing myself ? posbis 15:25 20 May '03   Starting up new processes normal or hidden is not a big deal. But what about my own running console process ? I mean, how can a console process change its appearance ? I have console process which must hide and show up at certain times. Any idea if this is possible without writing 100 lines of API code ? Regards, Oliver Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: What about hiding/showing myself ? Steven Szelei 15:47 20 May '03   OK what about your own running console process? I know nothing about it. How should a console app change it's appearance. It is a console application not a GUI application. The skin will never chage. You can change it's Opacity or the window shape, or the border, menu, or app bar colors. What are the specifications for when the window will show or hide. This is realy up to you. I would have a function variable that I would send to the function to tell the window wether to show or hide itself when I call it. Steven Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (1 vote) Re: What about hiding/showing myself ? Steven Szelei 15:51 20 May '03   OK what about your own running console process? I know nothing about it. How should a console app change it's appearance. It is a console application not a GUI application. The skin will never chage. You can change it's Opacity or the window shape, or the border, menu, or app bar colors. Ok when would you want to write a console application that would show and hide itself. This sounds like you would like to write a TSR or service that has a front end GUI app to administer it. I do not think you would want to run a consol app in the backgroud. Look into services build with ATL with interfaces, then build a front end GUI that tie into the service interfaces. Steven Steven Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 5.00/5 (1 vote) Re: What about hiding/showing myself ? posbis 7:55 23 May '03   Hi Steven Don't know if you got my email but to make things a little bit clear. I want to hide/unhide an already running process. Your article is about starting new processes with SW_SHOW or SW_HIDE flags. I want to do the same but for an already running process. So I want to change the state of a process. My process is not quite a service it is an executable (named pipe server) which ist started by another application for the time this application is running. Before the application is finishing, it send the QUIT command to the Pipe Server waits for the acknowledge and the exits itself. So you see. It is not a full service and I don't want all the troubles you have when using a service (I mean you first must install it, you need special access rights, ...). It just should start up, stay there and quit after it receives the QUIT command. May be you have an idea on how to change the state of a process. Could "OpenProcess" give some help ? Regards, Oliver Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink seems complicated evilman 6:35 29 Jan '03   why don't you use ShellExecute() with SW_HIDE as the last argument? I've tried it with some apps and it seems to work. however if your app uses AllocConsole(), the console may appear anyway. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.00/5 (1 vote) Just a quick note Marc Bednar 3:27 9 Jul '02   Note for application destined only for the NT/2000/XP platforms. On NT/2000/XP, you can simply set the dwCreationFlag parameter to CREATE_NO_WINDOW. That's it... Cheers, ...Marc Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Pipes comrade 18:51 8 Jul '02   Would be nice if you mentioned pipes and a way to get the console output through your own application. comrade Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Pipes Steven Szelei 3:22 9 Jul '02   Comrade: I wrote this because I see the question asked by begenners fairly often. I did not want to go further into obtaining the output than what was done in the sample app because that was not the intent. I wanted to give a quick and easy to understand way of running the console without it popping up. If you would like to see a way of getting the console content read the message below it will point you to an article that shows a way of doing this. In a way I did use pipes. I piped the text to a file using the standard DOS method ">>". I know it's not what you had in mind. If I find time in the next few weeks I will write an article showing how to obtain the output of a console window whether it uses stdin/stdout or not. Thanks. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Pipes mack.li 2:31 20 May '03   Mr Steven: I have same problem as Comrade, I have tried many times to obtain console output real time using pipe, but no, can you show a sample. Thanks Mack May 20, 2003 Mack Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Re: Pipes Steven Szelei 16:00 20 May '03   I will try to get back to you soon. I am on a deadline right now and do not have time to answer this message at this time. Please remind me in a week or so, if you still require help. Sorry, Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink Another article on the subject. Jonathan de Halleux 23:17 3 Jul '02   There's another article on this subject on CodeProject: http://www.codeproject.com/dialog/quickwin.asp You can use the class Redirect to start process without console dialog poping up. Cheers. Jonathan de Halleux, Belgium. Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 2.00/5 (1 vote) Re: Another article on the subject. Anonymous 17:55 5 Jul '02   every time i run the application,i found that the screen will be black for a while.Can anyone tell me how to avoid it ? Sign In·View Thread·PermaLink 1.25/5 (4 votes)

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