Windows System Programming Third Edition [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Several of the flags control the priority of the new process's threads. The possible values are explained in more detail at the end of Chapter 7. For now, just use the parent's priority (specify nothing) or NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS.

lpEnvironment points to an environment block for the new process. If NULL, the process uses the parent's environment. The environment block contains name and value strings, such as the search path.

lpCurDir specifies the drive and directory for the new process. If NULL, the parent's working directory is used.

lpStartupInfo specifies the main window appearance and standard device handles for the new process. Use the parent's information, which is obtained from GetStartupInfo. Alternatively, zero out the associated STARTUPINFO structure before calling CreateProcess. To specify the standard input, output, and error handles, set the standard handler fields (hStdInput, hStdOutput, and hStdError) in the STARTUPINFO structure. For this to be effective, also set another STARTUPINFO member, dwFlags, to STARTF_USESTDHANDLES, and set all the handles that the child process will require. Be certain that the handles are inheritable and that the CreateProcess bInheritHandles flag is set. The Inheritable Handles subsection gives more information and an example.

lpProcInfo specifies the structure for containing the returned process, thread handles, and identification. The PROCESS_INFORMATION structure is as follows:

typedef struct PROCESS_INFORMATION {
HANDLE hProcess;
HANDLE hThread;
DWORD dwProcessId;
DWORD dwThreadId;
} PROCESS_INFORMATION;

Why do processes and threads need handles in addition to IDs? The ID is unique to the object for its entire lifetime and in all processes, whereas a given process may have several handles, each having distinct attributes, such as security access. For this reason, some process management functions require IDs, and others require handles. Furthermore, process handles are required for the general-purpose, handle-based functions. Examples include the wait functions discussed later in this chapter, which allow waiting on handles for several different object types, including processes. Just as with file handles, process and thread handles should be closed when no longer required.

Note:
The new process obtains environment, working directory, and other information from the CreateProcess call. Once this call is complete, any changes in the parent will not be reflected in the child process. For example, the parent might change its working directory after the CreateProcess call, but the child process working directory will not be affected, unless the child changes its own working directory. The two processes are entirely independent.

Specifying the Executable Image and the Command Line

Either lpApplicationName or lpCommandLine specifies the executable image name. The rules are as follows.

• lpApplicationName, if not NULL, is the name of the executable. Quotation marks can be used if the image name contains spaces. More detailed rules are described below.

• Otherwise, the executable is the first token in lpCommandLine.

Usually, only lpCommandLine is specified, with lpApplicationName being NULL. Nonetheless, there are detailed rules for lpApplicationName.

• If lpApplicationName is not NULL, it specifies the executable module. Specify the full path and file name, or use a partial name and the current drive and directory will be used; there is no additional searching. Include the file extension, such as .EXE or .BAT, in the name.

• If the lpApplicationName string is NULL, the first white-space-delimited token in lpCommandLine is the program name. If the name does not contain a full directory path, the search sequence is as follows:

  1. The directory of the current process's image

  2. The current directory

  3. The Windows system directory, which can be retrieved with GetSystemDirectory

  4. The Windows directory, which is retrievable with GetWindowsDirectory

  5. The directories as specified in the environment variable PATH

The new process can obtain the command line using the usual argv mechanism, or it can invoke GetCommandLine to obtain the command line as a single string.

Notice that the command line is not a constant string. This is consistent with the fact that the argv parameters to the main program are not constant. A program could modify its arguments, although it is advisable to make any changes in a copy of the argument string.

The new process is not required to be built with the same UNICODE definition as that of the parent process. All combinations are possible. Using _tmain as discussed in Chapter 2 is helpful in developing code for either UNICODE or ASCII operation.

Inheritable Handles

Frequently, a child process requires access to an object referenced by a handle in the parent; if this handle is inheritable, the child can receive a copy of the parent's open handle. The standard input and output handles are frequently shared with the child in this way. To make a handle inheritable so that a child receives and can use a copy requires several steps.Chapter 15 shows how to include a security descriptor.

HANDLE h1, h2, h3;
SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES sa =
{sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES), NULL, TRUE };
...
h1 = CreateFile (..., &sa, ... ); /* Inheritable. */
h2 = CreateFile (..., NULL, ... ); /* Not inheritable. */
h3 = CreateFile (..., &sa, ...);
/* Inheritable. sa can be reused. */

A child process still needs to know the value of an inheritable handle, so the parent needs to communicate handle values to the child using an interprocess communication (IPC) mechanism or by assigning the handle to standard I/O in the STARTUPINFO structure, as is done in the first example of this chapter (Program 6-1) and in several additional examples throughout the book. This is generally the preferred technique because it allows I/O redirection in a standard way and no changes are needed in the child program.Exercise 62 suggests how to demonstrate this, and a solution is presented on the book's Web site.

The inherited handles are distinct copies. Therefore, a parent and child might be accessing the same file using different file pointers. Furthermore, each of the two processes can and should close its own handle.

Figure 6-2 shows how two processes can have distinct handle tables with two distinct handles associated with the same file or other object. Process 1 is the parent, and Process 2 is the child. The handles will have identical values in both processes if the child's handle has been inherited, as is the case with Handles 1 and 3.

On the other hand, the handle values may be distinct. For example, there are two handles for File D, where Process 2 obtained a handle by calling CreateFile rather than by inheritance. Finally, as is the case with Files B and E, one process may have a handle to an object while the other does not. This would be the case when the child process creates the handle or when a handle is duplicated from one process to another, as described in the upcoming Duplicating Handles section.