[RESOLVED] cmd.exe

[chaos75]

Hi im would like to make a gui for a console program i use. I am able to start the cmd.exe and change to the directory the program is in. My problem is after i issue a command to the console such as cd c:\myconsoleapp cmd.exe closes why is this. I would like the console to stay running so i can issure more commands to it without having to re declare streamwriter and reader and starting the process each time.

  myProcess.startInfo.CreateNoWindow = false
     myProcess.StartInfo.FileName = "cmd.exe"      
     myProcess.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false
     myProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = True
     myProcess.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = True      
     myProcess.Start()
   

        Dim myStreamWriter As system.IO.StreamWriter = myProcess.StandardInput

        Dim mystreamreader As system.IO.StreamReader = myProcess.StandardOutput

       myStreamWriter.WriteLine("cd C:\myconsoleapp")
      
                 myStreamWriter.Close()
 
       Dim str As String = mystreamreader.ReadToEnd
          
          //display console text in textbox        
          shelltb.Text = shelltb.Text & vbcrlf & str

[Bulldog]

Pass "/K" as a Process.StartInfo.Arguments property

MyProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = "/K"

[chaos75]

nope that didnt change anything. What is that for any way? maybe i should explain better. i want to start cmd.exe which i can do, then i want to run a console program that runs as a shell so once i do that i get a # symbol in the cmd.exe window from which i can issue commands such as "cd /system" or "rm filename.xxx" But whats happening is the process closes after one command is issued and then the output from the window is being displayed in my text box so i cant issue any more commands.

[Bulldog]

That's "keep" as far as I remember. I dont have an example in front of me but Im sure that's the one, maybe it has to be "/K "

[minitech]

Well, I suggest removing the line that closes the StreamWriter.

[chaos75]

if i comment out the streamwriter.close line then the cmd.exe window stays opened but my program freezes untill i manualy close cmd.exe. I tried /K and \K neither worked.

[Bulldog]

I was trying to find it on MSDN and found this link to the same subject.

http://www.microsoft.com/communities...r=US&sloc=&p=1

[chaos75]

ok ill chexk that out later and post back if i got it to work thanx for the help guys

[minitech]

Sorry, I thought that's what you wanted to do...
Maybe you could use this code, then write anytime to the window, plus I don't think your program will freeze...

'Class-level

Dim t As Thread = New Thread(AddressOf TheSubWhereTheProcessStarts)
Dim sWriter As StreamWriter, sReader As StreamReader
Private Sub begin()
t.Start() ' Start the thread and the process, plus initialize the streamwriter & readers
Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000) 'Wait for the other thread to declare everything
End Sub

So, you can write things to it at any time, does not freeze. If you want to close the box, you should use a class-level boolean, plus SyncLock.

Hope this is helpful!

[Rock_Vacirca]

I have recently been down this road. The thread, and solution, are here:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/For...d-8538061db76c

Rock

[chaos75]

So i have to embead the console into my app? there must be a better way. Why does cmd.exe close after i send anything to it dosnt matter if its a command or just random text? I have no problem sending and getting info from the cmd.exe window it just wont stay opened for more than one command and i need to be able to keep sending diffrent commands

[Rock_Vacirca]

So i have to embead the console into my app? there must be a better way. Why does cmd.exe close after i send anything to it dosnt matter if its a command or just random text? I have no problem sending and getting info from the cmd.exe window it just wont stay opened for more than one command.

No, you don't HAVE to embed the cmd console, it is just one approach. I explored three methods before I found the one that suited me best:

1. Opening then hiding a cmd window, then redirecting its input and output to a TextBox.

2. Embedding a cmd window into a Panel

3. Embedding console.exe into a Panel.

One of the problems we found with redirection was that if you typed rubbish at the prompt, then instead of cmd reporting that the command was not recognised it would just close instead. We never did find why this happened. It also suffered from a lack of a buffer, and colored text was not reproduced.

One of the problems with embedding cmd.exe into a panel was that as cmd.exe is not a UI (and hence no message loop) you could not use WaitForInputIdle, and you had to use a Thread.Sleep instead, and the value for this was arbitrary and could vary from machine to machine.

The solution that suited me was to embed console.exe (a replacement for cmd.exe) which does have a UI, and was much more well-behaved than cmd.exe. I could also switch off the MenuBar and ToolBar with just a switch in its settings file, no need for code.

I pointed you to the thread so you could see the various discussions that we had as we went down this road (there are more than one thread there, just search on my name), and so you could decide if any of the approaches better suited your requirements. As for why your approach fails I have no idea, I am no expert, I just wanted to point you to a solution that does work.

Rock

[chaos75]

Ok thanx, I didnt realize a bad command would close cmd.exe and that was what was happening. I forgot a space between cd and the directory so cmd.exe didnt recognize it and closed. So i can use cmd.exe as long as i make sure no bad commands are issued other wise it will close.