C CreateProcess exec system command

In C, you can use the CreateProcess function to execute an external system command. This function is available in the Windows API. Here's how you can use it:

cCopy code
#include <stdio.h>

#include <windows.h>



int main() {

    // Command to execute

    const char* command = "notepad.exe";  // Replace with your command



    // CreateProcess parameters

    STARTUPINFO si;

    PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;



    ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(si));

    si.cb = sizeof(si);

    ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(pi));



    // Create the process

    if (CreateProcess(NULL,    // Module name (use NULL to specify the command)

                      (LPSTR)command,  // Command to execute

                      NULL,    // Process handle not inheritable

                      NULL,    // Thread handle not inheritable

                      FALSE,   // Set handle inheritance to FALSE

                      0,       // No creation flags

                      NULL,    // Use parent's environment block

                      NULL,    // Use parent's starting directory

                      &si,     // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure

                      &pi))    // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure

    {

        // Wait for the process to finish (optional)

        WaitForSingleObject(pi.hProcess, INFINITE);



        // Close process and thread handles

        CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);

        CloseHandle(pi.hThread);

    }

    else {

        printf("CreateProcess failed (%d).\n", GetLastError());

        return 1;

    }



    return 0;

}

Replace "notepad.exe" with the full path to the executable you want to run or the command you want to execute. The CreateProcess function creates a new process and waits for it to finish before proceeding. If you don't want to wait, you can remove the WaitForSingleObject line.

Make sure to include the appropriate header files (stdio.h and windows.h) and compile the code using a C compiler compatible with the Windows API (like MinGW or Visual Studio).

Keep in mind that using CreateProcess directly requires careful handling of arguments and paths, especially if your command contains spaces or special characters. If you need to pass arguments to the command, you might want to wrap them properly and adjust the command string accordingly.