Process.mainwindowtitle returns empty string using visual studio

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I have windows 11 . I have a console application in VS2019(C#).
I am trying to launch calculator exe thru system.Diagnostics.Process.

code snippet:

C#

ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(@"C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe");

            //startInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
            startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
            startInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal;

            var myProcess = Process.Start(startInfo);

            myProcess.WaitForInputIdle();

            Console.Write("Main window Title : " + myProcess.MainWindowTitle.ToString());

After running above code, calculator exe is getting launched but myProcess.MainWindowTitle returns a empty string. I am not able to understand this fact. Please help.

What I have tried:

I have tried running above code in order to fetch the the value of MainWidowsTitle. But even though the calculator is getting launched, the value of 'MainWindowTitle' is empty string.

Posted 13-Feb-24 3:56am

Member 12032655

Updated 13-Feb-24 4:52am

Andre Oosthuizen

v2

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charles henington 13-Feb-24 17:29pm

From my understanding the process being called has to have a graphical interface, running ffmpeg returns a empty string as well because it has no graphical interface.

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Alan N · Answer 1 · 2024-02-13T04:33:00

Solution 1

C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe is just a stub which starts another process. If you look at your process object it will have exited.

On my windows 10 system calc.exe actually starts the calculator "app" which is
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsCalculator_10.2103.8.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\Calculator.exe

It cannot be started directly.

Posted 13-Feb-24 4:33am

Alan N

Comments

charles henington 13-Feb-24 17:26pm

+5 To add to that, the process that is being called has to have a graphical interface as well which is why I'm assumming that it cannot be started directly?

Andre Oosthuizen · Answer 2 · 2024-02-13T05:05:00

Your issue might be related to the timing between running your code and calling the Title of the window. You need to check for the main window handle before attempting to retrieve the title after the process has entered the idle state.

I have added a method for you called 'GetMainWindowTitle' to check for the main window handle -

C#

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;

class RunandReadMyProgram
{
    static void Main()
    {
        //Create a new process start info...
        ProcessStartInfo startInfo = new ProcessStartInfo(@"C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe");

        //Configure your startInfo properties...
        startInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
        startInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal;

        //Start your processing...
        var myProcess = Process.Start(startInfo);

        //Wait for your process to enter the idle state before reading the title...
        myProcess.WaitForInputIdle();

        //Retrieve the main window title once your process is idle...
        string mainWindowTitle = GetMainWindowTitle(myProcess);

        //Display the main window title where you need it...
        Console.WriteLine("Calculator Window Title: " + mainWindowTitle);
    }

    //The method to get the main window title of your process...
    static string GetMainWindowTitle(Process process)
    {
        string title = string.Empty;

        //Check if your process has a main window handle...
        if (process.MainWindowHandle != IntPtr.Zero)
        {
            //Read the title of the main window...
            title = process.MainWindowTitle;
        }

        return title;
    }
}