hide the console window while using system(...)

chandu004

hai all, in one of my applications, i have to automate a dos level command. so i construct the command into an str and execute it using system(str). but in this case, the console window is getting flashed while the command is being executed. could any one suggest any other alternative to avoid the display of console. thanks in advance.

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Rajesh R Subramanian

Hello, Is it a Windowed application or a console application? Which dos level command are you executing?

It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini

_Superman_

You can hide the console if you use CreateProcess by setting the STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW flag and SW_HIDE in the wShowwindow members of the STARTUPINFO parameter. By I don't think you can run an internal DOS command using CreateProcess.

«_Superman_» I love work. It gives me something to do between weekends.

chandu004

my application is windowed. actually, there are some Third party command mode tools which should be used in a sequence to perform some operations on wav files and text ifles. so i wanted to automate them using a single button click. and each of those tools print some output also, and i have to process and display that output also. as of now, iam achieving that by redirecting the output to a text file and reading it back. i would be pleased if you can suggest any easier method also. bu my immediate problem is to hide or suppress the console window. if my questin is not clear please let me know. i will try to explain it better. thank you.

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chandu004

«_Superman_» wrote:

You can hide the console if you use CreateProcess by setting the STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW flag and SW_HIDE in the wShowwindow members of the STARTUPINFO parameter

oh thank you. i will try it now.

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Rajesh R Subramanian

chandu004 wrote:

actually, there are some Third party command mode tools which should be used in a sequence to perform some operations on wav files and text ifles.

So, you are not working with any DOS commands. Like the other poster suggested, you can use CreateProcess to hide the window that the new process will spawn. There are ways to capture and process output from a console window: Creating a child process with Redirected input and output[^] Redirecting an arbitrary Console's Input/Output[^] Writing to and read from the console - From a GUI application using the same cout/cin and printf/scanf[^] Generally, you need not use the system() command. It has several disadvantages over the APIs and can affect the performance of your program, for what it's worth. Consider using CreateProcess, ShellExecute, or a similar API function instead.

It is a crappy thing, but it's life -^ Carlo Pallini

chandu004

Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:

So, you are not working with any DOS commands.

no the sequence of command which i was talking about may also have them. Yes, i tried to use the create process. but..

CString str;
str.Format("copy database\\\\\*.\* %s>>c:\\\\output.txt",tempfolder);
DeleteFile("output.txt");
STARTUPINFO s;
s.wShowWindow=STARTF\_USESHOWWINDOW&&SW\_SHOW ;
int ret=CreateProcess(str.GetBuffer(str.GetLength()),NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,&s,NULL);
//system(str);

there is no result. what is the mistake here.

chandu004

iam still unable to achieve it. the return value of CreateProcess is 0. can you please give some clues? thank you.

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_Superman_

chandu004 wrote:

STARTUPINFO s; s.wShowWindow=STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW&&SW_SHOW ;

s.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
s.wShowWindow = SW_SHOW;

«_Superman_» I love work. It gives me something to do between weekends.

_Superman_

I think you're not doing it right. See my earlier post here - http://www.codeproject.com/Messages/3100157/Re-hide-the-console-window-while-using-system.aspx[^]

«_Superman_» I love work. It gives me something to do between weekends.

chandu004

no difference still iam using it this way.

STARTUPINFO s;
s.dwFlags=STARTF\_USESHOWWINDOW;
s.wShowWindow=SW\_SHOW ;
int ret=CreateProcess(str,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,NULL,&s,NULL);

here, str contains the command to be executed. which is working perfectly when i use it with system(). what is the mistake here?

_Superman_

Try this.

STARTUPINFO si;
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;

::SecureZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(STARTUPINFO));
::SecureZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(PROCESS_INFORMATION));

si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
si.wShowWindow = SW_SHOW;

::CreateProcess(NULL, str, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, &si, &pi);

«_Superman_» I love work. It gives me something to do between weekends.

chandu004

securezeromemory undeclared identifier. this is how the vc++6.0 bangs me. though i included winbase.h. here i will try to simplify my problem. say,

str="dir >>c:\\output.txt";

now i want this command to be executed . can we work in this direction?

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_Superman_

Use memset instead.

«_Superman_» I love work. It gives me something to do between weekends.

David Crow

chandu004 wrote:

what is the mistake here.

The "mistake" is that you are not using SHFileOperation() to copy the folder contents.

"Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw later in life what you have deposited along the way." - Unknown

"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons

chandu004

thanks for your reply. can you pleaase explain me how and where to use this function? thanks in advance.

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David Crow

chandu004 wrote:

can you pleaase explain me how and where to use this function?

See here and here and here.

"Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw later in life what you have deposited along the way." - Unknown

"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons

Joe Woodbury

I often use ShellExecuteEx (look it up to know what libraries to link.) This wraps CreateProcess in an easier to use form. I've cut and paste a modified version here.) To execute a copy; pass "cmd.exe" as the app and "/c command" as the args. Set pDir to the dir where you want the operation to take place. Pass false for show. (The /c tells cmd.exe to execute the command and then exit.)

bool Execute(LPCTSTR pApp, LPCTSTR pArgs, bool show, LPCTSTR pDir)
{
if (!pApp)
{
SetLastError(ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND);
return false;
}

SHELLEXECUTEINFO execInfo;
memset(&execInfo, 0, sizeof(execInfo));

execInfo.cbSize       = sizeof(execInfo);
execInfo.fMask        = SEE\_MASK\_NOCLOSEPROCESS | SEE\_MASK\_FLAG\_NO\_UI;
execInfo.lpFile       = pApp;
execInfo.lpParameters = pArgs;
execInfo.nShow        = show ? SW\_SHOW : SW\_HIDE;

char path\[MAX\_PATH\];

if (pDir)
{
	execInfo.lpDirectory = pDir;
}
else
{
	lstrcpyn(path, pApp, MAX\_PATH);
	if (PathRemoveFileSpec(path))
	{
		if (path\[0\])
			execInfo.lpDirectory = path;
	}
}

// DTDirExits is an internal function that uses GetFileAttributes() to test if a path is an existing directory
if (execInfo.lpDirectory && !DTDirExists(execInfo.lpDirectory))
{
SetLastError(ERROR_PATH_NOT_FOUND);
return false;
}

if (!ShellExecuteEx(&execInfo))
	return false;

if (execInfo.hProcess)
	CloseHandle(execInfo.hProcess);

return true;

}

modified on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 11:15 AM

chandu004 · modified on Tuesday, August 4, 2009 11:15 AM

thank you, i would try your logic also. thanks again.

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chandu004

Rajesh R Subramanian wrote:

Redirecting an arbitrary Console's Input/Output[^]

dear rajesh, this seems to be a perfect source match for my type of requirement. today iam planning to integrate this feature into my app. but i found it in vs 2008. i have to use it in vc 6.0. i will try it and come here if iam facing any problems. many more thanks again.

-------------------------------------------- Suggestion to the members: Please prefix your main thread subject with [SOLVED] if it is solved. thanks. chandu.