how to get return value of an exe called by ShellExecute

Question

How to get the return value of an exe which is called by shellexecute function.

ShellExecute(NULL, NULL, TEXT ( ".\\dpinstx86.exe" ), NULL, NULL, SW_SHOWNORMAL);

In the above example I want the return value of "dpinstx86.exe".

Solution

Use ShellExecuteEx instead to get the process handle, and GetExitCodeProcess to get the exit code.

SHELLEXECUTEINFO ShExecInfo = {0};
ShExecInfo.cbSize = sizeof(SHELLEXECUTEINFO);
ShExecInfo.fMask = SEE_MASK_NOCLOSEPROCESS;
ShExecInfo.hwnd = NULL;
ShExecInfo.lpVerb = NULL;
ShExecInfo.lpFile = "c:\\MyProgram.exe";        
ShExecInfo.lpParameters = "";   
ShExecInfo.lpDirectory = NULL;
ShExecInfo.nShow = SW_SHOW;
ShExecInfo.hInstApp = NULL; 
ShellExecuteEx(&ShExecInfo);
WaitForSingleObject(ShExecInfo.hProcess,INFINITE);

Comments

[user1703401]

Don't forget to wait on the handle.

[kol]

codeproject.com/Articles/1842/… ...and call GetExitCodeProcess() with the hProcess member of SHELLEXECUTEINFO.

[2vision2]

Dear Kol, Does the GetExitProcess returns the error code of the exe I'm calling in "ShellExecuteEx"?? i.e., does "lpExitCode" the second parameter of "GetExitProcess" contains the return value of "dpinst.exe" as per my example...and do I want to wait for the shellexecuteEx to complete?

[Ben]

@Hans - for clarification, wait meaning WaitForSingleObject(), I hope (new to this so please correct me if I'm wrong...)

[David Heffernan]

You also leak the handle. Close it after you've waited on it. You also fail to check for errors. CreateProcess is a much better choice.