pinvoke.net: Edit: kernel32.CreateProcess

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Summary: Creates a new process and its primary thread.

!!!!C# Signature:
 [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError=true, CharSet=CharSet.Auto)]
 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], [STARTUPINFOEX]

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

Replace [STARTUPINFO] with [STARTUPINFOEX] to use UpdateProcThreadAttribute and extend CreateProcess.  Make sure you include the flag EXTENDED_STARTUPINFO_PRESENT (0x00080000)

!!!!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)
 
     retValue = CreateProcess(Application, CommandLine, pSec, tSec, False, NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, IntPtr.Zero, vbNull, sInfo, pInfo)
 
     Console.WriteLine("Process ID (PID): " + pInfo.dwProcessId)
     Console.WriteLine("Process Handle : " + pInfo.hProcess)
 End Sub

!!!!Alternative Managed API:
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start@msdn

!!!!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

Documentation: CreateProcess@msdn on MSDN