Creates a new process and its primary thread. The new process runs in the same address space of the calling process or in a separate address space.

Syntax

BOOL WINAPI CreateProcessW(
  [in, optional]      LPCWSTR lpApplicationName,
  [in, out, optional] LPWSTR  lpCommandLine,
  [in, optional]      LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpProcessAttributes,
  [in, optional]      LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES lpThreadAttributes,
  [in]                BOOL    bInheritHandles,
  [in]                DWORD   dwCreationFlags,
  [in, optional]      LPVOID  lpEnvironment,
  [in, optional]      LPCWSTR lpCurrentDirectory,
  [in]                LPSTARTUPINFOW lpStartupInfo,
  [out]               LPPROCESS_INFORMATION lpProcessInformation
);
                    

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
lpApplicationName	LPCWSTR	The name of the module to be executed.
lpCommandLine	LPWSTR	The command line string for the process.
lpProcessAttributes	LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES	Security attributes for the process.
lpThreadAttributes	LPSECURITY_ATTRIBUTES	Security attributes for the primary thread.
bInheritHandles	BOOL	If TRUE, the child process inherits handles.
dwCreationFlags	DWORD	Flags that control the creation of the process.
lpEnvironment	LPVOID	Environment block for the new process.
lpCurrentDirectory	LPCWSTR	The current directory for the process.
lpStartupInfo	LPSTARTUPINFOW	Startup information for the new process.
lpProcessInformation	LPPROCESS_INFORMATION	Receives information about the new process.

Return Value

Returns TRUE if successful, FALSE otherwise. Call GetLastError for more information.

Remarks

This function is used extensively for launching applications and other processes on Windows.

Retrieves the process identifier of the calling process.

Syntax

DWORD WINAPI GetCurrentProcessId(void);
                    

Return Value

The return value is the process identifier of the calling process.

Remarks

Process identifiers are unique within a system.

Terminates the specified process and any threads that it owns.

Syntax

BOOL WINAPI TerminateProcess(
  [in] HANDLE hProcess,
  [in] UINT   uExitCode
);
                    

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
hProcess	HANDLE	A handle to the process to be terminated.
uExitCode	UINT	The application-defined exit code.

Return Value

Returns TRUE if successful, FALSE otherwise.

Remarks

This function is used to forcefully end a process.

Contains information about a newly created process and its primary thread.

Members

Name	Type	Description
hProcess	HANDLE	A handle to the new process.
hThread	HANDLE	A handle to the primary thread of the new process.
dwProcessId	DWORD	The identifier of the new process.
dwThreadId	DWORD	The identifier of the primary thread of the new process.

Specifies the window station, standard handles, and appearance of the main window for a process.

Members

Name	Type	Description
cb	DWORD	The size of the structure, in bytes.
lpReserved	LPWSTR	Reserved; must be NULL.
lpDesktop	LPWSTR	The name of the desktop.
lpTitle	LPWSTR	The title of the window.
dwX	DWORD	The x-coordinate of the upper-left corner of the window.
dwY	DWORD	The y-coordinate of the upper-left corner of the window.
dwXSize	DWORD	The width of the window.
dwYSize	DWORD	The height of the window.
dwXCountChars	DWORD	The number of characters in the width of the console window.
dwYCountChars	DWORD	The number of characters in the height of the console window.
dwFillAttribute	DWORD	The background and text colors in the console window.
dwFlags	DWORD	Flags that control whether the other members of this structure are used.
wShowWindow	WORD	How the window is to be shown.
cbReserved2	WORD
hStdInput	HANDLE	Handle to the standard input buffer.
hStdOutput	HANDLE	Handle to the standard output buffer.
hStdError	HANDLE	Handle to the standard error buffer.