[RESOLVED] is possible? Shell a Program and Pause it.

[kakablack]

is possible? Shell a Program and Pause it?
(run a program and quickly pause it before show window)

[LaVolpe]

I doubt it. How would your app or the O/S know how to pause executing code. I can think of some potential options, but the code would be extremely advanced and include global hooking, DLL injection, subclassing the other processes message loop -- if it would even work.

Maybe if you provide far more details of what you are attempting to do, other workarounds might be offered.

[yosef_mreh]

i don' think so
when u shell aprogram u let the DOS - OS control it.
after the shell u cannt control what what u run.

[Pradeep1210]

Why do you want to do that anyway??

You may consider starting the program minimized so that it doesn't come to the foreground.

[Siddharth Rout]

LaVolpe is right when he says that you can stop a shell but that depends on what are you trying to shell...

For example, if you are trying to shell notepad then by the time you try to hook into it, it will be launched... however if you are trying to shell an application which takes some time to run, yes, you can stop/terminate it...

[Siddharth Rout]

Ok here is something that I tried...

Description: The only Application which I remember takes time is Acrobat (It keeps on loading api's and other stuff unless you have turned that option off) So I experimented with it and successfully terminated it before it launched...

Requirements: One form with two commandbutton (Command1 and Command2), Acrobat exe or any other program that takes time to load. If you choose any other program, amend it in the code.

Note: Remember to click the 2nd Commandbutton in less than a second else Acrobat will launch

Option Explicit

Private Declare Function CreateToolhelp32Snapshot Lib "kernel32" _
(ByVal dwFlags As Long, ByVal th32ProcessID As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function Process32First Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hSnapshot As _
Long, lppe As tagPROCESSENTRY32) As Boolean

Private Declare Function Process32Next Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hSnapshot As Long, _
lppe As tagPROCESSENTRY32) As Boolean

Private Declare Function OpenProcess Lib "kernel32" (ByVal dwDesiredAccess _
As Long, ByVal bInheritHandle As Long, ByVal dwProcessId As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function TerminateProcess Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hProcess As _
Long, ByVal uExitCode As Long) As Long

Private Const MAX_PATH As Integer = 1024
Private Const TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS As Integer = 2
Private Const INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE As Long = -1
Private Const PROCESS_TERMINATE As Long = 1

Private Type tagPROCESSENTRY32
  dwSize As Long
  cntUsage As Long
  th32ProcessID As Long
  th32DefaultHeapID As Long
  th32ModuleID As Long
  cntThreads As Long
  th32ParentProcessID As Long
  pcPriClassBase As Long
  dwFlags As Long
  szExeFile As String * 1024
End Type

Private Sub Command1_Click()
    Dim Pid As Long, flnm As String
    
    '~~> Replace this with the relevant Application
    flnm = "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 6.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe"
    
    '~~> Execute Acrobat.Exe
    Pid = Shell(flnm, vbNormalFocus)
End Sub
Private Sub Command2_Click()
    '~~> Kill Acrobat.Exe before it launches
    TerminateProcByname ("Acrobat.exe")
End Sub

Public Sub TerminateProcByname(lpname As String)
    Dim LngRet As Long, LngRet2 As Long, Lngprocid As Long
    Dim ProcEntry As tagPROCESSENTRY32
     
    If Len(Trim(lpname)) = 0 Then Exit Sub
     
    LngRet = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0)
     
    If Not LngRet = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE Then
        ProcEntry.dwSize = Len(ProcEntry)
    End If
     
    If Process32First(LngRet, ProcEntry) Then
        Do
            If Not ProcEntry.th32ProcessID = 0 Then
                If InStr(1, ProcEntry.szExeFile, lpname, vbTextCompare) Then
                    Lngprocid = ProcEntry.th32ProcessID
                    LngRet = OpenProcess(PROCESS_TERMINATE, 0, Lngprocid)
                    If Not LngRet = 0 Then
                        If Not TerminateProcess(LngRet, LngRet2) = 0 Then _
                        MsgBox "Shell Terminated: " & ProcEntry.szExeFile
                    Else
                        MsgBox "Permission denied!", vbInformation
                    End If
                End If
            End If
        Loop While Process32Next(LngRet, ProcEntry)
    End If
End Sub

Hope this helps...

ps: Though I like Pradeep's idea but I am currently trying to pause and then resume the shell... lets see what can I achieve...

[dee-u]

Have a search for SuspendThread, perhaps that should work for you. I have this small utility that catches the opening of applications of choice and when caught it is being suspended until the correct password is provided.

Edit:
Here are the necessary stuffs needed, in a module.

Option Explicit

Private Type THREADENTRY32
    dwSize              As Long
    cntUsage            As Long
    th32ThreadID        As Long
    th32OwnerProcessID  As Long
    tpBasePri           As Long
    tpDeltaPri          As Long
    dwFlags             As Long
End Type

Private Declare Function CreateToolhelp32Snapshot Lib "kernel32.dll" ( _
                ByVal dwFlags As Long, _
                ByVal th32ProcessID As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32.dll" ( _
                ByVal hObject As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function OpenThread Lib "kernel32.dll" ( _
                ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, _
                ByVal bInheritHandle As Boolean, _
                ByVal dwThreadId As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function ResumeThread Lib "kernel32.dll" ( _
                ByVal hThread As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function SuspendThread Lib "kernel32.dll" ( _
                ByVal hThread As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function Thread32First Lib "kernel32.dll" ( _
                ByVal hSnapshot As Long, _
                ByRef lpte As THREADENTRY32) As Boolean
Private Declare Function Thread32Next Lib "kernel32.dll" ( _
                ByVal hSnapshot As Long, _
                ByRef lpte As THREADENTRY32) As Boolean


Private Const TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS    As Long = &H2
Private Const THREAD_SUSPEND_RESUME As Long = &H2
Private Const TH32CS_SNAPTHREAD     As Long = &H4

Public Thread() As THREADENTRY32

Public Sub SuspendThreads(ByVal ProcessID As Long)
    Dim lCount  As Long
    Dim i       As Long
    
    lCount = Thread32_Enum(Thread(), ProcessID)
    For i = 0 To lCount
        If Thread(i).th32OwnerProcessID = ProcessID Then
            Thread_Suspend CLng(Thread(i).th32ThreadID)
        End If
    Next
End Sub

Private Sub Thread_Suspend(ByVal ProcessID As Long)
    Dim hThread         As Long
    Dim lSuspendCount   As Long
        
    hThread = OpenThread(THREAD_SUSPEND_RESUME, False, ProcessID)
    lSuspendCount = SuspendThread(hThread)
       
End Sub

Private Function Thread32_Enum(ByRef Thread() As THREADENTRY32, ByVal lProcessID As Long) As Long
    Dim THREADENTRY32   As THREADENTRY32
    Dim hSnapshot       As Long
    Dim lThread         As Long
    
    ReDim Thread(0)
    
    hSnapshot = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPTHREAD, lProcessID) ': 'If hSnapShot = INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE Then Call Err_Dll(Err.LastDllError, "CreateToolHelp32Snapshoot ::: INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE failed", sLocation, "Thread32_Enum")
    
    THREADENTRY32.dwSize = Len(THREADENTRY32)
    If Thread32First(hSnapshot, THREADENTRY32) = False Then
        Thread32_Enum = -1
        Exit Function
    Else
        ReDim Thread(lThread)
        Thread(lThread) = THREADENTRY32
    End If
    
    Do
        If Thread32Next(hSnapshot, THREADENTRY32) = False Then
            Exit Do
        Else
            lThread = lThread + 1
            ReDim Preserve Thread(lThread)
            Thread(lThread) = THREADENTRY32
        End If
    Loop
    
    Thread32_Enum = lThread
End Function

Public Sub ResumeThreads(ByVal ProcessID As Long)
    
    Dim lCount  As Long
    Dim i       As Long
    
    lCount = Thread32_Enum(Thread(), ProcessID)
    For i = 0 To lCount
        If Thread(i).th32OwnerProcessID = ProcessID Then
            Thread_Resume CLng(Thread(i).th32ThreadID)
        End If
    Next
End Sub

Private Sub Thread_Resume(ByVal ProcessID As Long)
    
    Dim hThread         As Long
    Dim lSuspendCount   As Long
        
    hThread = OpenThread(THREAD_SUSPEND_RESUME, False, ProcessID)
    lSuspendCount = ResumeThread(hThread) ': If lSuspendCount = -1 Then Err_Dll Err.LastDllError, "OpenThread failed", sLocation, "Suspend_Thread"
        
End Sub

Sample usage:

Option Explicit

Private ID As Long

Private Sub cmdResume_Click()
    If ID > 0 Then
        ResumeThreads ID
    End If
End Sub

Private Sub cmdShell_Click()
    ID = Shell("Notepad.exe", vbMaximizedFocus)
End Sub

Private Sub cmdSuspend_Click()
    If ID > 0 Then
        SuspendThreads ID
    End If
End Sub

[kakablack]

thanks thanks thanks to every body
special thanks to dee-u

Code:
SuspendThreads Process_ID

To resume a thread:
Code:
ResumeThreads Process_ID

its worked
but how can i run a application and quickly get pid to suspend it?
do you have idea?

[Pradeep1210]

thanks thanks thanks to every body
special thanks to dee-u


its worked
but how can i run a application and quickly get pid to suspend it?
do you have idea?

The SHELL command returns a handle to the window.

You can pass that handle to this procedure to get it's ProcessID

Function WindowToProcessId(ByVal hWnd As Long) As Long
    Dim lpProc As Long
    Call GetWindowThreadProcessId(hWnd, lpProc)
    WindowToProcessId= lpProc
End Function

[dee-u]

I actually modified my code so show a working sample, have a look!

[kakablack]

I actually modified my code so show a working sample, have a look!

hehe
are you vb brother!
Большое спасибо профессиональные брата
many thanks men

[dee-u]

Большое спасибо профессиональные брата

What does that mean?

[kakablack]

Thank you brother, professional