Start a Process and Capture the Output in c#

Simple sample for running a process synchronously and capturing the output

public string GetEnvironmentVars()
{
    Process process = new Process();
    // UseShellExecute must be 'false' when redirecting the output
    process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
    process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
    process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
    process.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
    process.StartInfo.FileName = "p4";
    process.StartInfo.Arguments = " set ";
    //process.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = dir;
    process.Start();
    string output = process.StandardOutput.ReadToEnd();
    //string error = process.StandardError.ReadToEnd();
    // Wait a reasonable ammount of time for it to finish
    bool res = process.WaitForExit(5000); 
    return res ? output : "Command \"" + 
        process.StartInfo.FileName + process.StartInfo.Arguments +
        "\" failed to exit:" + Environment.NewLine + output;
}

Open An EMail In Outlook

If are running a PC with Outlook and you want to open an email using Outlook from your application (but not send it immediately)
Following sample opens an email dialog with a specified document already attached

private void butEMailFiles_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
    string archiveName = GetExistingArchiveName();
    if (File.Exists(archiveName))
    {
        RunShellCommand("Outlook.exe", "/a \"" + archiveName + "\""); 
    }
}

private static void RunShellCommand(string app, string args)
{
    string dir = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(app);
    string file = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(app);

    Process process = new Process();
    process.StartInfo.FileName = file;
    process.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = dir;
    process.StartInfo.Arguments = args;
    process.Start();
}

Run Batch File in C#

Quick method to create and run a batch file, the contents of which are passed as a string.

private void RunBatchFile(
  string batFileContents, 
  int waitToFinishSecs)
{
    string batFile = Path.GetTempFileName();
    batFile = batFile.Replace(".tmp", ".bat");
    File.WriteAllText(batFile, batFileContents);
    string dir = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(batFile);
    string file = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(batFile);

    Process process = new Process();
    process.StartInfo.FileName = file;
    process.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = dir;
    bool res = false; // Dont do anything with this yet
    try
    {
        process.Start();
        res = process.WaitForExit(waitToFinishSecs*1000);
        File.Delete(batFile);
    }
    catch (Win32Exception winex)
    {
        Debug.WriteLine(winex.ToString());
        throw;
    }    
}

Open Explorer At Some Directory in C#

Use the following code snippet:

// Open explorer in user temporary directory
OpenExplorerInDir(System.IO.Path.GetTempPath());
...
private void OpenExplorerInDir(string dir)
{
  string exe = "explorer.exe";

  //Driectory.Exists
  Process exeProcess = new Process();
  exeProcess.StartInfo.FileName = exe;
  exeProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = "/e,/root," + dir;
  exeProcess.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal;
  exeProcess.Start();
}

Using Process

// Starting a windows program with Process
private void StartXXX()
{
 string dir = @"C:\CODE\blahblahblah\Server\XXX\bin";
 string exe = "XXX.exe";

 Process shellRunProcess = new Process();
 shellRunProcess.StartInfo.FileName = exe;
 shellRunProcess.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = dir;
 shellRunProcess.StartInfo.Arguments = "-c";
 shellRunProcess.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Minimized;
 shellRunProcess.Start();
}


// Terminating a process
private void TerminateXXX()
{
 // Remove the '.exe' extension when looking for the process
 Process[] processes = Process.GetProcessesByName("XXX"); 
 foreach (Process p in processes)
 {
  p.CloseMainWindow();
 }
}

When running a batch file or console type application, you can start if like so and have the output redirected to a control in your form. See this link for more information Launching A Console Process And Redirecting the Output

private void StartProcessWithoutWindow()
{
 Process process = new Process();
 process.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
 process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;
 process.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
 process.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = true;
 process.StartInfo.FileName = FileName;
 process.StartInfo.Arguments = Arguments;
 process.StartInfo.WorkingDirectory = WorkingDirectory;
 process.Start();
}

Using Shell To Start A Process

Starting another OS process. Eg to open an image in the defult editor/viewer

Process shellRunProcess = new Process();
shellRunProcess.StartInfo.FileName = fileName;
shellRunProcess.Start();