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Language: Pascal
Expertise: Beginner

Jan 18, 1999

Question:
I am using CreateProcess to run applications in Windows NT. I cannot start any applications that are located in the directory Program Files. The user properties are set the same for every directory. Is there another way to start the applications?

Answer:
There is not another way to start the applications that I'd recommend. However, here's a wrapper function that I use in my own programs:

{Supply a fully qualified path name in ProgramName
 and any arguments on the command line. As the help file
 states: "If lpApplicationName is NULL, the first white space-delimited 
 token of the command line specifies the module name..." In English,
 the characters before the first space encountered (or if no space is
 encountered as in a single program call) is interpreted as the
 EXE to execute. The rest of the string is the argument line.}
procedure ExecNewProcess(ProgramName : String);
var
  StartInfo  : TStartupInfo;
  ProcInfo   : TProcessInformation;
  CreateOK   : Boolean;
begin

  { fill with known state }
  FillChar(StartInfo,SizeOf(TStartupInfo),#0);
  FillChar(ProcInfo,SizeOf(TProcessInformation),#0);
  StartInfo.cb := SizeOf(TStartupInfo);

  CreateOK := CreateProcess(nil, PChar(ProgramName), nil, nil,False,
              CREATE_NEW_PROCESS_GROUP+NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, 
              nil, nil, StartInfo, ProcInfo);

  { check to see if successful }
  if CreateOK then
    //may or may not be needed. Usually wait for child processes
    WaitForSingleObject(ProcInfo.hProcess, INFINITE);
end;

Compare this code to what you've written and see if there are any differences. I use it a lot and it works just fine.