C# Signature:

[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
static extern bool CreateProcess(string lpApplicationName,
   string lpCommandLine, ref SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpProcessAttributes,
   ref SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpThreadAttributes, bool bInheritHandles,
   uint dwCreationFlags, IntPtr lpEnvironment, string lpCurrentDirectory,
   [In] ref STARTUPINFO lpStartupInfo,
   out PROCESS_INFORMATION lpProcessInformation);

VB Signature:

<DllImport("kernel32.dll")> _
Shared Function CreateProcess(lpApplicationName As String, _
   lpCommandLine As String, ByRef lpProcessAttributes As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, _
   ByRef lpThreadAttributes As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES,bInheritHandles As Boolean, _
   dwCreationFlags As UInt32, lpEnvironment As IntPtr, lpCurrentDirectory As String, _
   <[In]> ByRef lpStartupInfo As STARTUPINFO, _
   <[Out]> ByRef lpProcessInformation As PROCESS_INFORMATION) As Boolean
End Function

User-Defined Types:

STARTUPINFO, PROCESS_INFORMATION, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES

Notes:

This is great for starting an external app and then use the PID and handle for calls to functions such as WaitForSingleObject and all window message functions.

Tips & Tricks:

Add this in constructor of a class to logically treat the app as an object.

Sample Code C#:

public static void StartupNotepad()
{
     const uint NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS = 0x0020;

     bool retValue;
     string Application = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("windir") + @"\Notepad.exe";
     string CommandLine = @" c:\boot.ini";
     PROCESS_INFORMATION pInfo = new PROCESS_INFORMATION();
     STARTUPINFO sInfo = new STARTUPINFO();
     SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES pSec = new SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES();
     SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES tSec = new SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES();
     pSec.nLength = Marshal.SizeOf(pSec);
     tSec.nLength = Marshal.SizeOf(tSec);

     //Open Notepad
     retValue = CreateProcess(Application,CommandLine,
     ref pSec,ref tSec,false,NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS,
     IntPtr.Zero,null,ref sInfo,out pInfo);

     Console.WriteLine("Process ID (PID): " + pInfo.dwProcessId);
     Console.WriteLine("Process Handle : " + pInfo.hProcess);
}

Sample Code VB:

Public Shared Sub StartupNotepad()
      Const NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS AS UInt32 = &h2

     Dim retValue As Boolean
     Dim Application As String = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("windir") & "\Notepad.exe"
     Dim CommandLine As String = " c:\boot.ini"
     Dim pInfo As PROCESS_INFORMATION = New PROCESS_INFORMATION()
     Dim sInfo As STARTUPINFO = New STARTUPINFO()
     Dim pSec As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES  = New SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES()
     Dim tSec As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES = New SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES()
     pSec.nLength = Marshal.SizeOf(pSec)
     tSec.nLength = Marshal.SizeOf(tSec)

     //Open Notepad
     retValue = CreateProcess(Application,CommandLine, _
     ref pSec,ref tSec,false,NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, _
     IntPtr.Zero,null,ref sInfo,out pInfo)

     Console.WriteLine("Process ID (PID): " + pInfo.dwProcessId)
     Console.WriteLine("Process Handle : " + pInfo.hProcess)
End Sub

Alternative Managed API:

System.Diagnostics.Process.Start

Further Reading

If the approach outlined above does not work verbatim, try the variation by Thottam R. Sriram: http://blogs.msdn.com/thottams/archive/2006/08/11/696013.aspx

Please edit this page!

Do you have...

• helpful tips or sample code to share for using this API in managed code?
• corrections to the existing content?
• variations of the signature you want to share?
• additional languages you want to include?

Select "Edit This Page" on the right hand toolbar and edit it! Or add new pages containing supporting types needed for this API (structures, delegates, and more).