start() [3/4]

static process xtd::diagnostics::process::start ( const ustring &  file_name )

static

Starts a process resource by specifying the name of a document or application file and associates the resource with a new Process component.

Parameters

file_name

The name of a document or application file to run in the process.

Returns

A new xtd::diagnostics::process that is associated with the process resource. Note that a new process that's started alongside already running instances of the same process will be independent from the others. In addition, Start may return a xtd::diagnostics::process with its xtd::diagnostics::process::has_exited property already set to true. In this case, the started process may have activated an existing instance of itself and then exited.

Exceptions

xtd::invalid_operation_exception

No file name was specified in the file_name parameter's xtd::diagnostics::process_start_info::file_name property.

Remarks

Use this overload to start a process resource by specifying its file name. The overload associates the resource with a new xtd::diagnostics::process object.

This overload lets you start a process without first creating a new xtd::diagnostics::process instance. The overload is an alternative to the explicit steps of creating a new xtd::diagnostics::process instance, setting the xtd::diagnostics::process_start_info::file_name member of the xtd::diagnostics::process::start_info property, and calling xtd::diagnostics::process::start for the xtd::diagnostics::process instance.

Starting a process by specifying its file name is similar to typing the information in the Run dialog box of the Windows Start menu. Therefore, the file name does not need to represent an executable file. It can be of any file type for which the extension has been associated with an application installed on the system. For example the file name can have a .txt extension if you have associated text files with an editor, such as Notepad, or it can have a .doc if you have associated .doc files with a word processing tool, such as Microsoft Word. Similarly, in the same way that the Run dialog box can accept an executable file name with or without the .exe extension, the .exe extension is optional in the fileName parameter. For example, you can set the fileName parameter to either "Notepad.exe" or "Notepad".

This overload does not allow command-line arguments for the process. If you need to specify one or more command-line arguments for the process, use the xtd::diagnostics::process::start(xtd::diagnostics::process_start_info) or xtd::diagnostics::process::start(ustring, ustring) overloads.

Unlike the other overloads, the overload of xtd::diagnostics::process::start that has no parameters is not a static member. Use that overload when you have already created a Process instance and specified start information (including the file name), and you want to start a process resource and associate it with the existing Process instance. Use one of the static overloads when you want to create a new xtd::diagnostics::process component rather than start a process for an existing component. Both this overload and the overload that has no parameters allow you to specify the file name of the process resource to start.

If you have a path variable declared in your system using quotes, you must fully qualify that path when starting any process found in that location. Otherwise, the system will not find the path. For example, if c:\mypath is not in your path, and you add it using quotation marks: path = path%;"c:\mypath", you must fully qualify any process in c:\mypath when starting it.

Whenever you use xtd::diagnostics::process::start to start a process, you might need to close it or you risk losing system resources. Close processes using xtd::diagnostics::process::close_main_window or xtd::diagnostics::process::kill. You can check whether a process has already been closed by using its xtd::diagnostics::process::has_exited property.