How to run a Command Prompt command with Visual Ba

Question

I'm trying to code something in Visual Basic, more specifically Visual Studio 2010. I want, with a button click, my program to execute a command. Is that possible?

Answer 1

You need to use CreateProcess [ http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682425(v=vs.85).aspx ]

For ex:

LPTSTR szCmdline[] = _tcsdup(TEXT("\"C:\Program Files\MyApp\" -L -S")); CreateProcess(NULL, szCmdline, /.../);

Answer 2

Or, you could do it the really simple way.

Dim OpenCMD 
OpenCMD = CreateObject("wscript.shell")
OpenCMD.run("Command Goes Here")

Answer 3

Yes. You can use Process.Start to launch an executable, including a console application.

If you need to read the output from the application, you may need to read from it's StandardOutput stream in order to get anything printed from the application you launch.

Answer 4

Here is an example:

Process.Start("CMD", "/C Pause")


/C  Carries out the command specified by string and then terminates
/K  Carries out the command specified by string but remains

And here is a extended function: (Notice the comment-lines using CMD commands.)

#Region " Run Process Function "

' [ Run Process Function ]
'
' // By Elektro H@cker
'
' Examples :
'
' MsgBox(Run_Process("Process.exe")) 
' MsgBox(Run_Process("Process.exe", "Arguments"))
' MsgBox(Run_Process("CMD.exe", "/C Dir /B", True))
' MsgBox(Run_Process("CMD.exe", "/C @Echo OFF & For /L %X in (0,1,50000) Do (Echo %X)", False, False))
' MsgBox(Run_Process("CMD.exe", "/C Dir /B /S %SYSTEMDRIVE%\*", , False, 500))
' If Run_Process("CMD.exe", "/C Dir /B", True).Contains("File.txt") Then MsgBox("File found")

Private Function Run_Process(ByVal Process_Name As String, _
                             Optional Process_Arguments As String = Nothing, _
                             Optional Read_Output As Boolean = False, _
                             Optional Process_Hide As Boolean = False, _
                             Optional Process_TimeOut As Integer = 999999999)

    ' Returns True if "Read_Output" argument is False and Process was finished OK
    ' Returns False if ExitCode is not "0"
    ' Returns Nothing if process can't be found or can't be started
    ' Returns "ErrorOutput" or "StandardOutput" (In that priority) if Read_Output argument is set to True.

    Try

        Dim My_Process As New Process()
        Dim My_Process_Info As New ProcessStartInfo()

        My_Process_Info.FileName = Process_Name ' Process filename
        My_Process_Info.Arguments = Process_Arguments ' Process arguments
        My_Process_Info.CreateNoWindow = Process_Hide ' Show or hide the process Window
        My_Process_Info.UseShellExecute = False ' Don't use system shell to execute the process
        My_Process_Info.RedirectStandardOutput = Read_Output '  Redirect (1) Output
        My_Process_Info.RedirectStandardError = Read_Output ' Redirect non (1) Output
        My_Process.EnableRaisingEvents = True ' Raise events
        My_Process.StartInfo = My_Process_Info
        My_Process.Start() ' Run the process NOW

        My_Process.WaitForExit(Process_TimeOut) ' Wait X ms to kill the process (Default value is 999999999 ms which is 277 Hours)

        Dim ERRORLEVEL = My_Process.ExitCode ' Stores the ExitCode of the process
        If Not ERRORLEVEL = 0 Then Return False ' Returns the Exitcode if is not 0

        If Read_Output = True Then
            Dim Process_ErrorOutput As String = My_Process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd() ' Stores the Error Output (If any)
            Dim Process_StandardOutput As String = My_Process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd() ' Stores the Standard Output (If any)
            ' Return output by priority
            If Process_ErrorOutput IsNot Nothing Then Return Process_ErrorOutput ' Returns the ErrorOutput (if any)
            If Process_StandardOutput IsNot Nothing Then Return Process_StandardOutput ' Returns the StandardOutput (if any)
        End If

    Catch ex As Exception
        'MsgBox(ex.Message)
        Return Nothing ' Returns nothing if the process can't be found or started.
    End Try

    Return True ' Returns True if Read_Output argument is set to False and the process finished without errors.

End Function

#End Region