How to use exec with parameter to interact with running process being extracted

Question

Salve! Well, I have scoured the web (and Stack Overflow) for an answer. I need help getting my Inno installer to send a commandline with parameters to a running application.

In myapplication_setup.exe I have packed myapplication.exe. Now, myapplication.exe is equipped with the ability to receive commandline parameters. If I launch a second instance with certain parameters, it will pass them to the first instance and then exit its own second instance (both are exited). This lets me use the second instance of myapplication.exe to make the first instance exit. This part works perfectly if I do it from a batch file or cmd box or run box.

Now, I need the installer to call this commandline: "c:\myapplication\myapplication.exe quit" and then check to see if both instances have exited. I might be able to get away with just checking for the second instance that the installer has launched, because they both exit at about the same time. I don't know inno so well, so here is the code I have come up with to do the commandline function. Problem is that I always get the ResultCode of 267 and myapplication has never exited.

The setup program needs to call the exec function and make sure myapplication.exe has exited before it extracts the new version of myapplication.exe.

Could someone look over my code and help me out? Thanks!

[code]
function PrepareToInstall(var NeedsRestart: Boolean): String;
var
  ResultCode:   Integer;
begin
   if Exec('C:\myapplication\myapplication.exe', 'quit', '{app}', SW_HIDE, ewWaitUntilTerminated, ResultCode) then
   begin
      msgbox('True: C:\myapplication\myapplication.exe : ' + IntToStr(ResultCode), mbInformation, MB_OK);
   end
   else begin
      msgbox('False: C:\myapplication\myapplication.exe : ' + IntToStr(ResultCode), mbInformation, MB_OK);
      SysErrorMessage(ResultCode)
   end;
end;

Solution 1

It appears the 267 is an "invalid directory" error.
Are you sure the Exec is pointing to the proper location?
Personally, I would change your code to the following :

[code]
function PrepareToInstall(var NeedsRestart: Boolean): String;
var
  ResultCode:   Integer;
begin
   if Exec(ExpandConstant('{app}\myapplication.exe'), 'quit', '', SW_HIDE, ewWaitUntilTerminated, ResultCode) then
   begin
      msgbox('True: C:\myapplication\myapplication.exe : ' + IntToStr(ResultCode), mbInformation, MB_OK);
   end
   else begin
      msgbox('False: C:\myapplication\myapplication.exe : ' + SysErrorMessage(ResultCode), mbInformation, MB_OK);      
   end;
end;

This of course assumes that the existing myapplication.exe is in {app} as well. To be sure, you can always extract the myapplication.exe to the temp directory and run it from there. Something like:

[code]
function PrepareToInstall(var NeedsRestart: Boolean): String;
var
  ResultCode:   Integer;
begin
   ExtractTemporaryFile('myapplication.exe'); 
   if Exec(ExpandConstant('{tmp}\myapplication.exe'), 'quit', '', SW_HIDE, ewWaitUntilTerminated, ResultCode) then
   begin
      msgbox('True: myapplication.exe : ' + IntToStr(ResultCode), mbInformation, MB_OK);
   end
   else begin
      msgbox('False: myapplication.exe : ' + SysErrorMessage(ResultCode), mbInformation, MB_OK);      
   end;
end;

Solution 2

From the Inno Help...

"Do not include quotes in the Filename parameter; the function will add them automatically."

This one caught me out, too. I created an installer that calls the installer of a 3rd-party product. It worked fine. But the uninstaller had to look in the registry for the UninstallString of the 3rd-party product. The string in the registry contains quotes, so when I passed it to Exec, it failed with error code 267.

The solution was to call: RemoveQuotes(uninstallString);