How to start a Process in a Thread

Question

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FURTHER EDIT the following is not production code - I\'m just playing around with a couple of classes trying to figure out how I run processes wit

Answer 1

You can start the process in another thread by using the start keyword like below this cod:

Process.Start("start notepad.exe");

in this way, your GUI program doesn't freeze when you run the notepad.

Answer 2

you can make changes like

ThreadStart ths = new ThreadStart(delegate() { pr.Start(); });

Answer 3

A ThreadStart expects a delegate that returns void. Process.Start returns bool, so is not a compatible signature. You can swallow the return value in by using a lambda that gives you a delegate of the correct return type (i.e. void) as follows:

    Process pr = new Process();
    ProcessStartInfo prs = new ProcessStartInfo();
    prs.FileName = @"notepad.exe";
    pr.StartInfo = prs;

    ThreadStart ths = new ThreadStart(() => pr.Start());
    Thread th = new Thread(ths);
    th.Start();

...but it's probably advisable to check the return value:

    ThreadStart ths = new ThreadStart(() => {
        bool ret = pr.Start();
        //is ret what you expect it to be....
    });

Of course, a process starts in a new process (a completely separate bunch of threads), so starting it on a thread is completely pointless.

Answer 4

Just start the process normally using this code:

Process.Start("notepad.exe");

There is no point and no benefits in creating a thread to run a new process. It's like running a batch file that executes "cmd.exe" when you can directly execute "cmd.exe"... you are just doing more than what's necessary for nothing. Don't reinvent the wheel and play easy :P

Answer 5

Not answering directly the OP, but as this thread helped me track the right direction, I do want to answer this:

"starting it on a thread is completely pointless"

I have a .Net server that uses NodeJS as its TCP socket manager. I wanted the NodeJS to write to the same output as the .Net server and they both run in parallel. So opening in a new thread allowed me to use

processNodeJS.BeginErrorReadLine()
processNodeJS.BeginOutputReadLine()
processNodeJS.WaitForExit()

while not blocking the main thread of the .Net server.

I hope it makes sense to someone and if you have a better way to implement what I've just described, I'll be more than happy to hear.