system() and no console ?

[Bugs]

I'm very new to C and am having a hard time figuring out how to pass a
command to the underlying OS so as it doesn't keep the console window
open. By double-clicking from Windows Explorer, I want the other
process to just spawn and the console to close.

For example, on Windows XP, I make the following call:

system(my_command);

where my_command = 'my_program.exe'.
But in Windows the console window stays open until my_program.exe exits.
I guess that makes sense but how would I change my_command or is there
an alternative to system() that would spawn a new process and then
immediately return so my application can complete and close the console?
I tried 'my_program.exe &', but that didnt work either.

Thanks!

 

[Walter Roberson]

I'm very new to C and am having a hard time figuring out how to pass a
command to the underlying OS so as it doesn't keep the console window
open. By double-clicking from Windows Explorer, I want the other
process to just spawn and the console to close.

Anything to do with underlying OS's and console windows is outside the
scope of C itself. You should ask the question in a Windows newsgroup.

 

[Bugs]

Anything to do with underlying OS's and console windows is outside the
scope of C itself. You should ask the question in a Windows newsgroup.

My apologies, I'll ask in the Windows newsgroup. I thought the answer
might be an alternative C library call instead of system() ?
Thanks

 

[Jack Klein]

My apologies, I'll ask in the Windows newsgroup. I thought the answer
might be an alternative C library call instead of system() ?
Thanks

Two things.

Try the Windows group it is
excellent and has a good traffic level and response rate.

And there is no alternative standard C library call to system(). This
is the one and only function that allows a C program to possibly
interact with other executables. All others are non-standard,
platform specific extensions. The methods you find for Windows will
not work at all on Linux or a Macintosh.

 

[Walter Roberson]

Walter Roberson wrote:

My apologies, I'll ask in the Windows newsgroup. I thought the answer
might be an alternative C library call instead of system() ?

Sorry, doesn't exist.

If it were Unix then there are techniques involving multiple shell levels
and 'nohup' -- or better yet, POSIX extensions such as setsid()
and O_NOCTTY when opening devices. But those are OS (or at least POSIX)
specific, not part of C, and I have idea what the Windows paradigm would be.

 

[Bugs]

Thanks to everyone who responded.
FYI - I found a workaround:
As I'm passing system() a platform-specific WinXP command, I changed the
command from 'myprogram.exe' to 'start myprogram.exe' and that worked
fine. The console still pops up but for just an instant.
Thanks again.

 

[Keith Thompson]

Thanks to everyone who responded.
FYI - I found a workaround:
As I'm passing system() a platform-specific WinXP command, I changed
the command from 'myprogram.exe' to 'start myprogram.exe' and that
worked fine. The console still pops up but for just an instant.

<COMPLETELY_OT>
START /?
prints a usage message that you might find illuminating.
</COMPLETELY_OT>