Closing Applications

[VB6Coder]

I need to write a VB application which will close down another application. The application it needs to close doesn't have a constant window title, but I do know the EXE name.

Is there any way I can close an application down if I only know the EXE name.


Thanks in advance.

[VbAndersonic]

How is the application you want to close executed? Does your program use the Shell command to open it?

[sproll]

This is third time i reply such Q.
:-)

you can use
CreateToolhelp32Snapshot to create a Snapshot,pass it to Process32First to get the first process ID in OS,use Process32Next functions to get the remaining .
and use OpenProcess to get process handle,
use GetExitCodeProcess,ExitProcess to exit a process.

[nabeels786]

if you have Spy++ (it comes with VB me thinks or VC++), open that and get the windows class name.

'in module
Public Declare Function FindWindow Lib "user32" Alias "FindWindowA" (ByVal _
  lpClassName As String, ByVal lpWindowName As String) As Long
Public Declare Function SendMessage Lib "user32" Alias "SendMessageA" (ByVal _
  hwnd As Long, ByVal wMsg As Long, ByVal wParam As Long, lParam As Any) As Long
 
Public Const WM_CLOSE = &H10
 
 
'in command button or whereever
 
w_handle = FindWindow("classname", vbNullString)
SendMessage(w_handle, WM_CLOSE, CLng(0), CLng(0)

thats the best way to do it. if you dont have Spy++ but if you know what the possible captions are then do:

captions[1]="cap1"
captions[2]="cap2"
for i = 1 to ubound(captions)
w_handle = FindWindow(vbNullString,captions[i])
SendMessage(w_handle, WM_CLOSE, CLng(0), CLng(0)
next i

captions have to be *exactly* the same as they show on the window
if it doesnt find the window it wont give an error btw

hope that helps,
nabeel

[gulliver]

I tried to use WM_CLOSE with PostMessage but I'm afraid the application I'm trying to close still stays resident in memory. I know this because I can still see it when I press Ctrl-Alt-Del.

How can I get rid of the App altogether?

[Wak]

Option Explicit

Public Declare Function ProcessFirst Lib "kernel32" _
Alias "Process32First" (ByVal hSnapshot As Long, uProcess As _
PROCESSENTRY32) As Long

Public Declare Function ProcessNext Lib "kernel32" _
Alias "Process32Next" (ByVal hSnapshot As Long, uProcess As _
PROCESSENTRY32) As Long

Public Declare Function CreateToolhelpSnapshot Lib "kernel32" _
Alias "CreateToolhelp32Snapshot" (ByVal lFlags As Long, _
lProcessID As Long) As Long

Public Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
hObject As Long) As Long

Public Declare Function OpenProcess Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
dwDesiredAccess As Long, ByVal bInheritHandle As Long, _
ByVal dwProcessId As Long) As Long

Public Declare Function TerminateProcess Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
hProcess As Long, ByVal uExitCode As Long) As Long

Public Const MAX_PATH = 260

Public Type PROCESSENTRY32
    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 * MAX_PATH
End Type

Public Function KillApp(myName As String) As Boolean
    On Local Error Resume Next
    Const PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS = 0
    Dim uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32
    Dim rProcessFound As Long
    Dim hSnapshot As Long
    Dim szExename As String
    Dim exitCode As Long
    Dim myProcess As Long
    Dim AppKill As Boolean
    Dim appCount As Integer
    Dim i As Integer
    On Local Error GoTo Finish
    appCount = 0
    
    Const TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS As Long = 2&
    
    uProcess.dwSize = Len(uProcess)
    hSnapshot = CreateToolhelpSnapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0&)
    rProcessFound = ProcessFirst(hSnapshot, uProcess)
    
    Do While rProcessFound
        i = InStr(1, uProcess.szexeFile, Chr(0))
        szExename = LCase$(Left$(uProcess.szexeFile, i - 1))
        If Right$(szExename, Len(myName)) = LCase$(myName) Then
            KillApp = True
            appCount = appCount + 1
            myProcess = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, False, uProcess.th32ProcessID)
            AppKill = TerminateProcess(myProcess, exitCode)
            Call CloseHandle(myProcess)
        End If
        rProcessFound = ProcessNext(hSnapshot, uProcess)
    Loop

    Call CloseHandle(hSnapshot)
Finish:
End Function

Usage:

KillApp("C:\myApp.exe")

[gulliver]

Thanks for that but it was uneccessary as I worked out my own way to do it:

'Closing calculator
lHandle = FindWindow(vbNullString, "Calculator")
CloseWindow (lHandle)
PostMessage lHandle, WM_CLOSE, 0&, 0&
PostMessage lHandle, WM_QUIT, 0&, 0&

This removes the app from the task list after closing it.

[Wak]

The difference is...

my code will close an entire process
but your will only close a windowed application.

What if the window isn't visible??
Or if the Application Doesn't use Windows?

[Soccerist]

hey, i'm looking for a similar thing. will gulliver's method work if i know the hwnd of the program opened? i don't want any non-visable windows not to be closed.

[Wak]

When an application starts, it registers the process with Windows. While my code is actually closing the whole process, similar to the way that windows does it, when you press Alt + Ctrl + Delete and then click End Task.

The other guys code is just the same as pressing the x button in the corner of the window. It may seem the same at first, but be on the safe side, and close the whole process along with anything else that goes with it in the way of windows or whatever.

Make Sense???

[Soccerist]

i understand what you mean. the problem for me is i dont' know the name of the exe file to terminate. i used shell command to open a file associated to the exe. so i have the hwnd because it's one of it's parameters.

[Soccerist]

actually, the hwnd isn't for the new exe... is it? =\

[Wak]

What are you shelling if you are using the shell command??? Is it not like ShellExecute() where you have to specify the executables path also?? Just pass that. Also... take a look at the looping sequence, it will tell you an abbreviated class name for each of the running files there.

[Soccerist]

whoops, i'm sorry, yes, i meant ShellExecute(). i specified the path of the file to be opened. in my case, it was an mp3 file so the program associated with it opened up. i am looking to close the program associated with it after a certain amount of time. will passing the file i opened work? no right? i would have to specify the exe that was associated with the file. u were sayin check the loop for abbreviated class names. where do i look for that?
thanks for the help

[Wak]

I see two options...

Find in the registry what programs will open for that file extension (.mp3) or You can use the class that is shown when u press alt + ctrl + del to do it, but to do this, you need to know the program that will be used to open the mp3 file anyway...

If u know which one u want, I might be able to get you some code.

[Soccerist]

hmm. the thing is, i would like for it to work for any program that is associated with the mp3 so that it would work on other computers. Is there a way to follow/analyze the processes so that when ShellExecute() command is issued, we can capture the filename of the exe when it begins to run?

i think it's better to look into that method, if possible, because i would like for my program to be able to open a .wav .mpg .avi file or such and terminate it's associated program after a certain time.

[Soccerist]

oh well, i suppose i will just have the user browse and specify the app to close at the first time using my prog.

thanks for the help

[VB6Coder]

Hi Wak

I've just tried to run your KillApp procedure on Windows 95 and it works fine, but it doesn't work when I run it on Windows 2000.

It looks like it is because the OpenProcess calls returns 0.



How can I get this to run on Windows 2000?

[sebmaurice]

The KillApp function doesn't work with Windows NT family (NT 4, 2000, XP)

Matthew GATES wrote it :
[email protected]

How can we get this to run on Windows NT 4, 2000, XP ?


I have VB 5 Pro


Thank you in advance for your help !

[Soccerist]

i am on 2000 too.

[Soccerist]

also, wak, i think i like the option of looking into the registry to find exes associated to the mp3(or whatever file type). where can i get code to do that?

[sebmaurice]

Matthew GATES mailed me :

I've noticed it doesn't work with NT or 2000. Coding is different, I, nor I
don't think anyone else has found a way to kill an app on WinNT or Win2k
without the regular PostMessage/SendMessage API functions.

[pradeepkrao]

You can use CreateProcess() to create a new window application or a simple application ..

To terminate it use PostThreadMessage() if it is a window application (the message to be posted is WM_QUIT )

and if it is a simple application without a window.. use TerminateProcess()

[sebmaurice]

I think it is interesting !

Can you give me a sample source code, please ?

Thank you.

[pradeepkrao]

'copy the following code in your bas file
Public Type SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES_TYPE
nLength As Long
lpSecurityDescriptor As Long
bInheritHandle As Long
End Type

Public Type STARTUPINFO_TYPE
cb As Long
lpReserved As Long
lpDesktop As Long
lpTitle As Long
dwX As Long
dwY As Long
dwXSize As Long
dwYSize As Long
dwXCountChars As Long
dwYCountChars As Long
dwFillAttribute As Long
dwFlags As Long
wShowWindow As Integer
cbReserved2 As Integer
lpReserved2 As Long
hStdInput As Long
hStdOutput As Long
hStdError As Long
End Type

Public Type PROCESS_INFORMATION_TYPE
hProcess As Long
hThread As Long
dwProcessID As Long
dwThreadID As Long
End Type

Public Declare Function CreateProcessA Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
lpApplicationName As Long, ByVal lpCommandLine As String, _
lpProcessAttributes As Any, lpThreadAttributes As Any, _
ByVal bInheritHandles As Long, ByVal dwCreationFlags As Long, _
ByVal lpEnvironment As Long, ByVal lpCurrentDirectory As Long, _
lpStartupInfo As Any, lpProcessInformation As Any) As Long

Public Declare Function PostThreadMessage Lib "user32" Alias "PostThreadMessageA" (ByVal _
idThread As Long, _
ByVal msg As Long, _
ByVal wParam As Long, _
ByVal lParam As Long) As Long


Global Const NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H20&
Global Const STARTF_USESTDHANDLES = &H100&
Global Const WM_QUIT = &H12

Public udtProc As PROCESS_INFORMATION_TYPE

Public Function Terminate()
Dim ret As Long
ret = PostThreadMessage(udtProc.dwThreadID, WM_QUIT, 0, 0)
End Function


' call this function to start your application

Public Function CreateProcess(prcs)
Dim lngret As Long
Dim udtStart As STARTUPINFO_TYPE
Dim udtSa As SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES_TYPE

udtSa.nLength = Len(udtSa)
udtSa.bInheritHandle = 1&
udtSa.lpSecurityDescriptor = 0&

udtStart.cb = Len(udtStart)
udtStart.dwFlags = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES

' prcs = "c:\temp\yourapp.exe" your application path

lngret& = CreateProcessA(0&, prcs, udtSa, udtSa, 1&, NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, 0&, 0&, udtStart, udtProc)

End Function

[VB6Coder]

How do I terminate an application in Windows 2000 that I didn't start, and is already running?

Cheers

[pradeepkrao]

Hwnd = FindWindow(0&, "Application caption")

If (Not (0 = Hwnd)) Then
ret = PostMessage(Hwnd, 16, 0, 0)
End If


this would do if it is a window .....

[sebmaurice]

Thank you pradeepkrao

I will test your code as soon as possible but can I have a sample code with TerminateProcess() function ?

(you wrote : "(...)and if it is a simple application without a window... use TerminateProcess()"

Thank you for your work.

[pradeepkrao]

wait ... i will prepare the code and send it to you after testing it...

Pradeep

any help ... mail me at
[email protected]

[pradeepkrao]

Hi,

here is the code... To terminate any process one must provide the pid of the process.

I will create a process and then terminate it...


copy the code below to your form....


Private Declare Function OpenProcess Lib "kernel32.dll" (ByVal _
dwAccess As Long, ByVal fInherit As Integer, ByVal hObject _
As Long) As Long


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



Const PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS = &H1F0FFF


Private Sub Form_Load()

ProcessID& = Shell("notepad", vbNormalFocus)

'processID of the application which you want to kill should be supplied

processhandle& = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, True, ProcessID&)

MsgBox "notepad has been launched!"

ret& = TerminateProcess(processhandle, 0&)

MsgBox "notepad has been terminated!"

End Sub



oopppp,

try it.. and let me know...


Pradeep

[VB6Coder]

Here is the code to kill a process in Windows 95/98/2000, when you don't know the Process ID.
You use the PROCESS_TERMINATE constant in the OpenProcess call instead of PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS.

Option Explicit

Private Declare Function ProcessFirst Lib "kernel32" _
Alias "Process32First" (ByVal hSnapshot As Long, uProcess As _
PROCESSENTRY32) As Long

Private Declare Function ProcessNext Lib "kernel32" _
Alias "Process32Next" (ByVal hSnapshot As Long, uProcess As _
PROCESSENTRY32) As Long

Private Declare Function CreateToolhelpSnapshot Lib "kernel32" _
Alias "CreateToolhelp32Snapshot" (ByVal lFlags As Long, _
lProcessID As Long) As Long

Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal _
hObject As Long) As Long

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 = 260

Private Type PROCESSENTRY32
    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 * MAX_PATH
End Type

Private Function KillApp(myName As String) As Boolean
    On Local Error Resume Next
    Const PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS = 0
    Const PROCESS_TERMINATE = 1
    Dim uProcess As PROCESSENTRY32
    Dim rProcessFound As Long
    Dim hSnapshot As Long
    Dim szExename As String
    Dim exitCode As Long
    Dim myProcess As Long
    Dim AppKill As Boolean
    Dim appCount As Integer
    Dim i As Integer
    On Local Error GoTo Finish
    appCount = 0
    
    Const TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS As Long = 2&
    
    uProcess.dwSize = Len(uProcess)
    hSnapshot = CreateToolhelpSnapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0&)
    rProcessFound = ProcessFirst(hSnapshot, uProcess)
    
    Do While rProcessFound
        i = InStr(1, uProcess.szexeFile, Chr(0))
        szExename = LCase$(Left$(uProcess.szexeFile, i - 1))
        If Right$(szExename, Len(myName)) = LCase$(myName) Then
            KillApp = True
            appCount = appCount + 1
            myProcess = OpenProcess(PROCESS_TERMINATE, False, uProcess.th32ProcessID)
            AppKill = TerminateProcess(myProcess, exitCode)
            Call CloseHandle(myProcess)
        End If
        rProcessFound = ProcessNext(hSnapshot, uProcess)
    Loop

    Call CloseHandle(hSnapshot)
Finish:
End Function

Public Sub Main()
    
    Call KillApp("Notepad.exe")

End Sub

[sebmaurice]

Ok, I will test pradeepkrao and VB6Coder's code as soon as posssible and I tell you the results.

[sebmaurice]

I tried to combine

- the Serge DYMKOV's IsApplicationRunning function and the pradeepkrao's CreateProcess(prcs) function
- the Serge DYMKOV's IsApplicationRunning function and the VB6Coder's KillApp modified function (with the PROCESS_TERMINATE constant in the OpenProcess call)


Results : the same thing ! These combined functions don't work with Windows NT !


This is the Serge DYMKOV's function.

Private Declare Function GetWindowsDirectory Lib "kernel32" _
Alias "GetWindowsDirectoryA" (ByVal lpBuffer As String, ByVal nSize As Long) As Long

Public Declare Function Process32First Lib "kernel32" ( _
ByVal hSnapshot As Long, lppe As PROCESSENTRY32) As Long

Public Declare Function Process32Next Lib "kernel32" ( _
ByVal hSnapshot As Long, lppe As PROCESSENTRY32) As Long

Public Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "Kernel32.dll" _
(ByVal Handle As Long) As Long

Public Declare Function OpenProcess Lib "Kernel32.dll" _
(ByVal dwDesiredAccessas As Long, ByVal bInheritHandle As Long, _
ByVal dwProcId As Long) As Long

Public Declare Function EnumProcesses Lib "psapi.dll" _
(ByRef lpidProcess As Long, ByVal cb As Long, _
ByRef cbNeeded As Long) As Long

Public Declare Function GetModuleFileNameExA Lib "psapi.dll" _
(ByVal hProcess As Long, ByVal hModule As Long, _
ByVal strModuleName As String, ByVal nSize As Long) As Long

Public Declare Function EnumProcessModules Lib "psapi.dll" _
(ByVal hProcess As Long, ByRef lphModule As Long, _
ByVal cb As Long, ByRef cbNeeded As Long) As Long

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

Public Declare Function GetVersionExA Lib "kernel32" _
(lpVersionInformation As OSVERSIONINFO) As Integer

Public Type PROCESSENTRY32
dwSize As Long
cntUsage As Long
th32ProcessID As Long ' This process
th32DefaultHeapID As Long
th32ModuleID As Long ' Associated exe
cntThreads As Long
th32ParentProcessID As Long ' This process's parent process
pcPriClassBase As Long ' Base priority of process threads
dwFlags As Long
szExeFile As String * 260 ' MAX_PATH
End Type

Public Type OSVERSIONINFO
dwOSVersionInfoSize As Long
dwMajorVersion As Long
dwMinorVersion As Long
dwBuildNumber As Long
dwPlatformId As Long '1 = Windows 95.
'2 = Windows NT

szCSDVersion As String * 128
End Type

Public Const PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION = 1024
Public Const PROCESS_VM_READ = 16
Public Const MAX_PATH = 260
Public Const STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED = &HF0000
Public Const SYNCHRONIZE = &H100000
'STANDARD_RIGHTS_REQUIRED Or SYNCHRONIZE Or &HFFF
Public Const PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS = &H1F0FFF
Public Const TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS = &H2&
Public Const hNull = 0

Public Enum ePlatform
eWin95_98 = 1
eWinNT = 2
End Enum

Public gDBType As String

Public Function IsApplicationRunning(pEXEName As String) As Boolean

On Error Resume Next

Select Case getVersion()
Case eWin95_98
Dim lProc As Long, strName As String
Dim hSnap As Long, proc As PROCESSENTRY32

hSnap = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0)
If hSnap = hNull Then Exit Function
proc.dwSize = Len(proc)
' Iterate through the processes
lProc = Process32First(hSnap, proc)
Do While lProc
strName = StrZToStr(proc.szExeFile)
If InStr(UCase(strName), UCase(pEXEName)) Then
IsApplicationRunning = True
Exit Function
End If
lProc = Process32Next(hSnap, proc)
Loop
Case eWinNT
Dim cb As Long
Dim cbNeeded As Long
Dim NumElements As Long
Dim lProcessIDs() As Long
Dim cbNeeded2 As Long
Dim lNumElements2 As Long
Dim lModules(1 To 200) As Long
Dim lRet As Long
Dim strModuleName As String
Dim nSize As Long
Dim hProcess As Long
Dim i As Long

'Get the array containing the process id's for each process object
cb = 8
cbNeeded = 96
Do While cb <= cbNeeded
cb = cb * 2
ReDim lProcessIDs(cb / 4) As Long
lRet = EnumProcesses(lProcessIDs(1), cb, cbNeeded)
Loop
NumElements = cbNeeded / 4
For i = 1 To NumElements
'Get a handle to the Process
hProcess = OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION _
Or PROCESS_VM_READ, 0, lProcessIDs(i))
'Got a Process handle
If hProcess <> 0 Then
'Get an array of the module handles for the specified
'process
lRet = EnumProcessModules(hProcess, lModules(1), 200, _
cbNeeded2)
'If the Module Array is retrieved, Get the ModuleFileName
If lRet <> 0 Then
strModuleName = Space(MAX_PATH)
nSize = 500
lRet = GetModuleFileNameExA(hProcess, lModules(1), _
strModuleName, nSize)
strModuleName = Left(strModuleName, lRet)
'Check for the client application running
If InStr(UCase(strModuleName), UCase(pEXEName)) Then
IsApplicationRunning = True
Exit Function
End If
'List1.AddItem Left(strModuleName, lRet)
End If
End If
'Close the handle to the process
lRet = CloseHandle(hProcess)
Next
End Select
End Function

Function StrZToStr(pString As String) As String
StrZToStr = Left$(pString, Len(pString) - 1)
End Function

Public Function getVersion() As ePlatform
Dim osinfo As OSVERSIONINFO
Dim lRetVal As Integer

osinfo.dwOSVersionInfoSize = 148
osinfo.szCSDVersion = Space$(128)
lRetVal = GetVersionExA(osinfo)
getVersion = osinfo.dwPlatformId
End Function

'Usage
App="Drive\Path\File.exe"
If IsApplicationRunning(App) Then
Call KillApp(App) '(or Call CreateProcess(App) )
End if

[VB6Coder]

The KillApp function works fine on Windows 2000, so I'm surprised it's not working on Windows NT.

Try just passing the name of the Exe in to the KillApp function. e.g.

Call KillApp("Notepad.exe")

This should kill all instances of the app.

[sebmaurice]

Try just passing the name of the Exe in to the KillApp function.

e.g.

code :

Call KillApp("Notepad.exe")

This should kill all instances of the app.

I tested your function (with the PROCESS_TERMINATE constant in the OpenProcess call) and it doesn't work with Windows NT 4 SP6 !

The KillApp function works fine on Windows 2000, so I'm surprised it's not working on Windows NT.

So am I !!!


However, the Serge DYMKOV's IsApplicationRunning works fine on Windows NT 4.