Attempting to implement a poor man's test of whether a process is still running or not (essentially an equivalent of the trivial kill(pid, 0).)
Hoped to be able to simply call OpenProcess with some minimal desired access then test for either GetLastError() == ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER or GetExitCodeProcess(...) != STILL_ACTIVE.
Nice try... Running on Windows XP, as administrator:
HANDLE hProc = OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION, FALSE, pid);
if (!hProc) {
DWORD dwLastError = GetLastError();
}
...fails miserably with dwLastError == ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED when pid is owned by a different (not SYSTEM) user. Moreover, if pid was originally owned by a different user but has since terminated, OpenProcess also fails with ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED (not ERROR_INVALID_PARAMETER.)
Do I have to use Process32First/Process32Next or EnumProcesses?
I absolutely do not want to use SeDebugPrivilege.
Thanks,
V
If you have a process ID:
// this should succeed even when a medium integrity process
// requests access to a high integrity process
if (HANDLE h = OpenProcess(SYNCHRONIZE, FALSE, pid))
{
// do a wait, if the handle is signaled: not running
DWORD wait = WaitForSingleObject(h, 0);
if (wait == WAIT_OBJECT_0) return FALSE;
}
// cannot get a handle to the process:
// probably running at system integrity level
// I'm not sure how reliable this check is, but it seems to work:
// if access is denied: running
// if invalid parameter: not running
else if (GetLastError() != ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED) return FALSE;
If you have a window handle that should be valid for as long as the process is running, this is a good alternative:
if (hWnd && !IsWindow(hWnd)) return FALSE;
static BOOL
isProcessAlive(DWORD th32ProcessID) {
BOOL bSuccess = FALSE;
HANDLE hSnap = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0);
if (hSnap != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
PROCESSENTRY32 pe32 = { sizeof(pe32), 0 };
if (Process32First(hSnap, &pe32)) {
while (pe32.th32ProcessID != pid && Process32Next(hSnap, &pe32));
_ASSERT(GetLastError() == 0 || GetLastError() == ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES);
bSuccess = (pe32.th32ProcessID == th32ProcessID);
}
CloseHandle(hSnap);
}
return bSuccess;
}
Related
I am working on my library which needs to capture and process the standard output (and err) of a child process as it runs. The problem arises when ReadFile is used to read the output, it does not return once the process ends (gets killed or exits).
It looks like ReadFile is not able to detect that the other end of the pipe (the write handle) is closed. According to the documentation it should return FALSE and set the last error to ERROR_BROKEN_PIPE:
If an anonymous pipe is being used and the write handle has been closed, when ReadFile attempts to read using the pipe's corresponding read handle, the function returns FALSE and GetLastError returns ERROR_BROKEN_PIPE.
Here is my code, I have stripped out the irrelevant bits: (NOTE: I have updated the allium_start to follow the suggested changes, I am keeping the original for reference, please use the newer function code to find flaws)
bool allium_start(struct TorInstance *instance, char *config, allium_pipe *output_pipes) {
// Prepare startup info with appropriate information
SecureZeroMemory(&instance->startup_info, sizeof instance->startup_info);
instance->startup_info.dwFlags = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES pipe_secu_attribs = {sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES), NULL, true};
HANDLE pipes[2];
if (output_pipes == NULL) {
CreatePipe(&pipes[0], &pipes[1], &pipe_secu_attribs, 0);
output_pipes = pipes;
}
instance->startup_info.hStdOutput = output_pipes[1];
instance->startup_info.hStdError = output_pipes[1];
instance->stdout_pipe = output_pipes[0]; // Stored for internal reference
// Create the process
bool success = CreateProcessA(
NULL,
cmd,
NULL,
NULL,
config ? true : false,
0,
NULL,
NULL,
&instance->startup_info,
SecureZeroMemory(&instance->process, sizeof instance->process)
);
// Return on failure
if (!success) return false;
}
char *allium_read_stdout_line(struct TorInstance *instance) {
char *buffer = instance->buffer.data;
// Process the input
unsigned int read_len = 0;
while (true) {
// Read data
unsigned long bytes_read;
if (ReadFile(instance->stdout_pipe, buffer, 1, &bytes_read, NULL) == false || bytes_read == 0) return NULL;
// Check if we have reached end of line
if (buffer[0] == '\n') break;
// Proceed to the next character
++buffer; ++read_len;
}
// Terminate the new line with null character and return
// Special handling for Windows, terminate at CR if present
buffer[read_len >= 2 && buffer[-1] == '\r' ? -1 : 0] = '\0';
return instance->buffer.data;
}
The allium_start creates the pipe for output redirection (it uses the same pipe for both stdout and stderr to get merged streams) and then creates the child process. The other allium_read_stdout_line function is responsible for reading the output from the pipe and returning it when it encounters a new line.
The issue occurs at the ReadFile function call, it never returns if there is nothing to read after the process exits, from my understanding all the handles of a process are closed by Windows when it ends, so it looks like ReadFile is not able to detect the fact that the pipe (write handle) at the other end has been closed.
How do I fix this? I have been searching for a solution but I have found none so far, one potential option is to use multi-threading and put ReadFile in a separate thread so that it doesn't block the whole program, by using that method I can check if the process still exists periodically while I wait for the reading to finish... or kill/stop the thread if the process is gone.
I do prefer fixing the issue instead of opting for a workaround, but I am open to any other solutions to make it work. Thanks in advance!
Edit: After reading #RemyLebeau's answer and #RbMm's comments in that answer, it is pretty clear that my understand of how handle inheritance works is fundamentally flawed. So I incorporated their suggestions (SetHandleInformation to disable inheritance of read handle and closing it after creating the child process) into my allium_start function:
bool allium_start(struct TorInstance *instance, char *config, allium_pipe *output_pipes) {
// Prepare startup info with appropriate information
SecureZeroMemory(&instance->startup_info, sizeof instance->startup_info);
instance->startup_info.dwFlags = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES pipe_secu_attribs = {sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES), NULL, true};
HANDLE pipes[2];
if (output_pipes == NULL) {
CreatePipe(&pipes[0], &pipes[1], &pipe_secu_attribs, 0);
output_pipes = pipes;
}
SetHandleInformation(output_pipes[0], HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0);
instance->startup_info.hStdOutput = output_pipes[1];
instance->startup_info.hStdError = output_pipes[1];
instance->stdout_pipe = output_pipes[0]; // Stored for internal reference
// Create the process
bool success = CreateProcessA(
NULL,
cmd,
NULL,
NULL,
config ? true : false,
0,
NULL,
NULL,
&instance->startup_info,
SecureZeroMemory(&instance->process, sizeof instance->process)
);
// Close the write end of our stdout handle
CloseHandle(output_pipes[1]);
// Return on failure
if (!success) return false;
}
(The below text was originally here before edit 2)
But sadly it still doesn't work :(
Edit 2 (after accepting answer): It does work! See my last comment on the accepted answer.
You are not managing your pipes correctly, or more specifically, you are not controlling the inheritance of your pipe handles. DO NOT let the child process inherit the reading handle of your pipe (output_pipes[0]), otherwise the pipe will not break correctly when the child process ends.
Read MSDN for more details:
Creating a Child Process with Redirected Input and Output
The case of the redirected standard handles that won’t close even though the child process has exited
Use SetHandleInformation() or PROC_THREAD_ATTRIBUTE_LIST to prevent CreateProcess() from passing output_pipes[0] to the child process as an inheritable handle. The child process does not need access to that handle, so there is no need to pass it over the process boundary anyway. It only needs access to the writing handle of your pipe (output_pipes[1]).
For anonymous pipelines, the read process and the write process will have the handler of hRead and hWrite, each of process has its own handler(copy after inheritance). So after your child process exit and close the handler in it, anther hWrite still in parent process. We must pay attention to close hRead in the write process, close hWrite in the read process.
I can reproduce this ReadFile issue, and if closing write handler after setting child's hStdOutput and hStdError, the ReadFile will return 0 after the child process exit.
Here is my code sample,
Parent.cpp:
#include <windows.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <stdio.h>
HANDLE childInRead = NULL;
HANDLE W1 = NULL;
HANDLE W2 = NULL;
HANDLE R2 = NULL;
HANDLE R1 = NULL;
#define BUFSIZE 4096
void CreateChildProcess() {
TCHAR applicationName[] = TEXT("kids.exe");
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
STARTUPINFO si;
BOOL success = FALSE;
ZeroMemory(&pi, sizeof(PROCESS_INFORMATION));
ZeroMemory(&si, sizeof(STARTUPINFO));
si.cb = sizeof(STARTUPINFO);
si.hStdError = W1;
si.hStdOutput = W1;
si.hStdInput = R2;
si.dwFlags |= STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
success = CreateProcess(NULL, applicationName, NULL, NULL, TRUE, CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE, NULL, NULL, &si, &pi);
if (!success) {
printf("Error creating child process \n");
}
else {
printf("Child process successfuly created \n");
CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
}
}
int main()
{
printf("Parent process running.... \n");
DWORD dRead, dWritten;
CHAR chBuf[BUFSIZE] = { 0 };
BOOL bSuccess = FALSE;
SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttr;
secAttr.nLength = sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES);
secAttr.bInheritHandle = TRUE;
secAttr.lpSecurityDescriptor = NULL;
printf("Creating first pipe \n");
if (!CreatePipe(&R1, &W1, &secAttr, 0)) {
printf("\n error creating first pipe \n");
}
printf("Creating second pipe \n");
if (!CreatePipe(&R2, &W2, &secAttr, 0)) {
printf("\n error creating second pipe \n");
}
if (!SetHandleInformation(R1, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0)) {
printf("\n R1 SetHandleInformation \n");
}
if (!SetHandleInformation(W2, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0)) {
printf("\n W1 SetHandleInformation \n");
}
printf("\n Creating child process..... \n");
HANDLE hStdOut = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
HANDLE hStdIn = GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE);
CreateChildProcess();
CloseHandle(W1);
CloseHandle(R2);
for (;;) {
printf("Inside for loop \n");
//1. read from stdin
printf("read from stdin:\n");
bSuccess = ReadFile(hStdIn, chBuf, BUFSIZE, &dRead, NULL);
if (!bSuccess) {
printf("error reading \n");
break;
}
//2. write to Pipe2
printf("write to Pipe2...\n");
bSuccess = WriteFile(W2, chBuf, 100, &dWritten, NULL);
if (!bSuccess) {
printf("error reading \n");
break;
}
//3. read from Pipe1
printf("read from Pipe1...\n");
bSuccess = ReadFile(R1, chBuf, BUFSIZE, &dRead, NULL);
if (!bSuccess)
{
printf("error reading :%d \n", GetLastError());
break;
}
//4. write to stdout
printf("write to stdout:\n");
bSuccess = WriteFile(hStdOut, chBuf, 100, &dWritten, NULL);
if (!bSuccess) {
printf("error reading \n");
break;
}
}
getchar();
return 0;
}
Kids.cpp:
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#define BUFSIZE 4096
int main()
{
DWORD dRead, dWritten;
CHAR chBuf[BUFSIZE];
BOOL success = FALSE;
HANDLE stdIn = GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE);
HANDLE stdOut = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
printf("Child process running....");
if (stdIn == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE || stdOut == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE) {
ExitProcess(1);
}
//for (;;) {
success = ReadFile(stdIn, chBuf, BUFSIZE, &dRead, NULL);
//if (!success || dRead == 0) break;
success = WriteFile(stdOut, chBuf, dRead, &dWritten, NULL);
//if (!success) break;
//}
return 0;
}
UWP (or "Metro") apps in Windows 8/10 can be suspended when they are not in the foreground. Apps in this state continue to exist but no longer consume CPU time. It looks like this change was introduced to improve performance on low-power/storage devices like tablets and phones.
What is the most elegant and simple method to detect a process in this state?
I can see 2 possible solutions at the moment:
Call NtQuerySystemInformation() and the enumerate each process and each thread. A process is "suspended" if all threads are in the suspended state. This approach will require a lot of code and critically NtQuerySystemInformation() is only semi-documented and could be removed in a future OS. NtQueryInformationProcess() may also offer a similar solution with the same problem.
Call GetProcessTimes() and record the counters for each process. Wait some longish time (minutes) and check again. If the process counters haven't changed then assume the process is suspended. I admit this is a hack but maybe could work if the time period is long enough.
Is there a more elegant way?
for this exist PROCESS_EXTENDED_BASIC_INFORMATION - meaning of flags in it described in this answer. you are need IsFrozen flag. so you need open process with PROCESS_QUERY_LIMITED_INFORMATION access (for do this for all processes, you will be need have SE_DEBUG_PRIVILEGE enabled in token). and call NtQuerySystemInformation with ProcessBasicInformation and PROCESS_EXTENDED_BASIC_INFORMATION as input. for enumerate all processes we can use NtQuerySystemInformation with SystemProcessInformation. of course possible and use CreateToolhelp32Snapshot + Process32First + Process32Next but this api very not efficient, compare direct call to NtQuerySystemInformation
also possible enumerate all threads in process and check it state and if state wait - wait reason. this is very easy, because all this information already returned by single call to NtQuerySystemInformation with SystemProcessInformation. with this we not need open processes. usually both this ways give the same result (for suspended/frozen) processes, but however use IsFrozen is most correct solution.
void PrintSuspended()
{
BOOLEAN b;
RtlAdjustPrivilege(SE_DEBUG_PRIVILEGE, TRUE, FALSE, &b);
ULONG cb = 0x1000;
NTSTATUS status;
do
{
status = STATUS_INSUFFICIENT_RESOURCES;
if (PBYTE buf = new BYTE[cb])
{
if (0 <= (status = NtQuerySystemInformation(SystemProcessInformation, buf, cb, &cb)))
{
union {
PBYTE pb;
SYSTEM_PROCESS_INFORMATION* spi;
};
pb = buf;
ULONG NextEntryOffset = 0;
do
{
pb += NextEntryOffset;
if (!spi->UniqueProcessId)
{
continue;
}
if (HANDLE hProcess = OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_LIMITED_INFORMATION, FALSE,
(ULONG)(ULONG_PTR)spi->UniqueProcessId))
{
PROCESS_EXTENDED_BASIC_INFORMATION pebi;
if (0 <= NtQueryInformationProcess(hProcess, ProcessBasicInformation, &pebi, sizeof(pebi), 0) &&
pebi.Size >= sizeof(pebi))
{
if (pebi.IsFrozen)
{
DbgPrint("f:%x %wZ\n", spi->UniqueProcessId, spi->ImageName);
}
}
CloseHandle(hProcess);
}
if (ULONG NumberOfThreads = spi->NumberOfThreads)
{
SYSTEM_THREAD_INFORMATION* TH = spi->TH;
do
{
if (TH->ThreadState != StateWait || TH->WaitReason != Suspended)
{
break;
}
} while (TH++, --NumberOfThreads);
if (!NumberOfThreads)
{
DbgPrint("s:%x %wZ\n", spi->UniqueProcessId, spi->ImageName);
}
}
} while (NextEntryOffset = spi->NextEntryOffset);
}
delete [] buf;
}
} while (status == STATUS_INFO_LENGTH_MISMATCH);
}
On Windows 10, I'm waiting for input from the console using
WaitForSingleObject( GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE), ... )
and to cancel this waiting using CancelSynchronousIo().
But the cancellation does nothing (returns 0 and GetLastError() is ERROR_NOT_FOUND).
Any idea what I could be doing wrong?
Should I be able to cancel this waiting for new input on stdin?
(I actually want to do this with any HANDLE whose GetFileType() is FILE_TYPE_CHAR, not only stdin, but stdin is certainly the most important use case and the simplest to test with).
Related discussions I've found:
Synchronous ReadFile() on stdin cannot be unblocked by CancelSynchronousIo()
win32: how stop ReadFile (stdin|pipe)
But unfortunately they only discuss ReadFile(), not WaitForSingleObject(). I've also tried WaitForMultipleObjects() (with just a single object in the array), same problem.
(Background: I'm trying to improve input handling in the GHC Haskell compiler runtime.)
CancelSynchronousIo cancel I/O operations that are issued by the specified thread. more concrete it cancel IRP packets which associated with specified thread via call IoCancelIrp. if use undocumented NtCancelSynchronousIoFile (CancelSynchronousIo internally call it with IoRequestToCancel = 0) we can be more selective - cancel only i/o request which used specified IoRequestToCancel (system check that Irp->UserIosb == IoRequestToCancel and cancel only this requests)
but WaitForSingleObject this is not I/O request. this call not create any IRP which can be canceled. so - no way do this.
however if you use WaitForSingleObjectEx with bAlertable set to TRUE - you can break wait by queue apc to thread by using QueueUserAPC . also if use NtWaitForSingleObject instead WaitForSingleObjectEx we can also alert thread by using undocumented call NtAlertThread. in this case NtWaitForSingleObject will break with STATUS_ALERTED (note that WaitForSingleObjectEx which internally call NtWaitForSingleObject do special check for STATUS_ALERTED and in case this status - again run NtWaitForSingleObject - as result we can not break WaitForSingleObjectEx by call NtAlertThread, but NtWaitForSingleObject will be breaked.
so if you need break waiting for std input - create additional thread, which must call not CancelSynchronousIo (this senseless) but QueueUserAPC or NtAlertThread (only if you use NtWaitForSingleObject for wait). and input thread must wait in alertable state. so demo code can look like:
extern "C" NTSYSCALLAPI NTSTATUS NTAPI NtAlertThread(HANDLE ThreadHandle);
VOID NTAPI OnApc(ULONG_PTR Parameter)
{
DbgPrint("OnApc(%p)\n", Parameter);
}
DWORD CALLBACK BreakWaitThread(HANDLE hThread)
{
switch (LONG status = MessageBoxW(0, L"Use Apc(yes) or Alert(No) ?", L"BreakWaitThread",
MB_ICONQUESTION|MB_YESNOCANCEL|MB_DEFBUTTON3))
{
case IDYES:
if (!QueueUserAPC(OnApc, hThread, 0))
{
DbgPrint("QueueUserAPC=%u\n", GetLastError());
}
break;
case IDNO:
if (0 > (status = NtAlertThread(hThread)))
{
DbgPrint("AlertThread=%x\n", status);
}
break;
case IDCANCEL:
DbgPrint("canceled\n");
break;
default:
DbgPrint("MessageBox=%x\n", status);
}
CloseHandle(hThread);
return 0;
}
void ConsoleLoop(HANDLE hStdIn)
{
ULONG NumberOfEvents, NumberOfEventsRead, n;
INPUT_RECORD buf[8], *p;
for (;;)
{
switch (ZwWaitForSingleObject(hStdIn, TRUE, 0))
//switch (WaitForSingleObjectEx(hStdIn, INFINITE, TRUE))
{
case WAIT_OBJECT_0:
while (GetNumberOfConsoleInputEvents(hStdIn, &NumberOfEvents) && NumberOfEvents)
{
do
{
NumberOfEventsRead = min(RTL_NUMBER_OF(buf), NumberOfEvents);
if (ReadConsoleInput(hStdIn, buf, NumberOfEventsRead, &NumberOfEventsRead) && NumberOfEventsRead)
{
n = NumberOfEventsRead;
p = buf;
do
{
if (p->EventType == KEY_EVENT)
{
DbgPrint("%u(%u) %C %x %x %x\n",
p->Event.KeyEvent.bKeyDown,
p->Event.KeyEvent.wRepeatCount,
p->Event.KeyEvent.uChar.UnicodeChar,
p->Event.KeyEvent.wVirtualKeyCode,
p->Event.KeyEvent.wVirtualScanCode,
p->Event.KeyEvent.dwControlKeyState);
if (VK_OEM_PERIOD == p->Event.KeyEvent.wVirtualKeyCode)
{
return ;//if user type '.' return for demo
}
}
} while (p++, --n);
}
else
{
FlushConsoleInputBuffer(hStdIn);
break;
}
} while (NumberOfEvents -= NumberOfEventsRead);
}
continue;
case STATUS_USER_APC:
DbgPrint("\nUSER_APC\n");
return;
case STATUS_ALERTED:
DbgPrint("\nALERTED\n");
return;
case WAIT_FAILED :
DbgPrint("\nWAIT_FAILED=%u\n", GetLastError());
return;
default:
__debugbreak();
return;
}
}
}
void SimpleDemo()
{
if (HANDLE hCurrentThread = OpenThread(THREAD_ALERT|THREAD_SET_CONTEXT , FALSE, GetCurrentThreadId()))
{
ULONG dwThreadId;
HANDLE hThread = CreateThread(0, 0, BreakWaitThread, hCurrentThread, 0, &dwThreadId);
if (hThread)
{
ConsoleLoop(GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE));
PostThreadMessage(dwThreadId, WM_QUIT, 0, 0);
WaitForSingleObject(hThread, INFINITE);
CloseHandle(hThread);
}
else
{
CloseHandle(hCurrentThread);
}
}
}
Console I/O is difficult to use asynchronously, it is simply not designed for it. See IO Completion Ports (IOCP) and Asynchronous I/O through STDIN, STDOUT and STDERR for some possible workarounds.
If that is not an option for you, then you will have to either:
use WaitForSingleObject() in a loop with a short timeout. Create a flag variable that your loop can look at on each iteration to break the loop if the flag is set.
use WaitForMutipleObjects(), giving it 2 HANDLEs to wait on - one for the console (or whatever), and one for an event object from CreateEvent(). Then you can signal the event with SetEvent() when you want to break the wait. The return value of WaitForMutipleObjects() will tell you which HANDLE was signaled.
I'm able to create a child process and pipe its stdin and stdout. It works fine when it is in text mode.
However, when I try to set the I/O in the child process to be in the binary format (i.e. no 0x0A to 0x0D 0x0A translation) the child process fails. _setmode returns -1 which has been documented to indicate failure. Why is that and how can it be fixed?
Parent code resembles the following:
const std::string path; // = "path_to.exe"
PROCESS_INFORMATION info;
SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES sec_attr;
//in-out from the CHILD process' perspective
HANDLE out_r = nullptr;
HANDLE out_w = nullptr;
HANDLE in_r = nullptr;
HANDLE in_w = nullptr;
sec_attr.nLength = sizeof(SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES);
sec_attr.lpSecurityDescriptor = NULL;
sec_attr.bInheritHandle = TRUE; //inherit by child processes
if (!CreatePipe(&out_r, &out_w, &sec_attr, 0))
throw std::exception();
if (!SetHandleInformation(out_r, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0))
throw std::exception();
if (!CreatePipe(&in_r, &in_w, &sec_attr, 0))
throw std::exception();
if (!SetHandleInformation(in_r, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0))
throw std::exception();
if (out_r && out_w && in_r && in_w)
{
startup_info.hStdError = out_w;
startup_info.hStdOutput = out_w;
startup_info.hStdInput = in_r;
startup_info.dwFlags = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
}
if (CreateProcessA(path.c_str(), (char*)cmd, NULL, NULL, TRUE, 0, NULL, NULL, &startup_info, &info)
!= TRUE)
{
DWORD error = GetLastError();
//error handling
}
// ... read data using ReadFile
Child code resembles the following:
int status = _setmode(_fileno(stdin), _O_BINARY);
if (status == -1)
throw std::exception();
status = _setmode(_fileno(stdout), _O_BINARY);
if (status == -1)
throw std::exception();
puts("hello from the child process");
I'm looking at the MSDN article Creating a Child Process with Redirected Input and Output that provides a reference implementation for nearly what you're trying to do here.
One subtle difference I see is, where in your parent code is written (the second call to SetHandleInformation()):
if (!SetHandleInformation(in_r, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0))
the MSDN example (translated to use your variable names) would be written:
if (!SetHandleInformation(in_w, HANDLE_FLAG_INHERIT, 0))
Here are a couple more SO pages that would be worth looking at as well, if this small change doesn't help:
What is the simplest way to write to stdout in binary mode?
Win32 changing to binary mode child's Stdout (pipe)
I 'm using the CreatePipe to redirect stdin/out from a process to my process.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa365152(v=vs.85).aspx
This works ok so far. The problem is when I want to terminate the thread that waits for the client process to write something.
I can use CancelIoEx() but this only works in Vista+, and I also want an XP solution. Without CancelIoEx(), ReadFile() in the other thread never returns.
I cannot also use OVERLAPPED ReadFile, for pipes created with CreatePipe do not support it.
Any options?
Save a handle to the write end of the stdout pipe when creating the child process. You can then write a character to this to unblock the thread that has called ReadFile (that is reading from the read end of the stdout pipe). In order not to interpret this as data, create an Event (CreateEvent) that is set (SetEvent) in the thread that writes the dummy character, and is checked after ReadFile returns. A bit messy, but seems to work.
/* Init */
stdout_closed_event = CreateEvent(NULL, TRUE, FALSE, NULL);
/* Read thread */
read_result = ReadFile(stdout_read, data, buf_len, &bytes_read, NULL);
if (!read_result)
ret = -1;
else
ret = bytes_read;
if ((bytes_read > 0) && (WAIT_OBJECT_0 == WaitForSingleObject(stdout_closed_event, 0))) {
if (data[bytes_read-1] == eot) {
if (bytes_read > 1) {
/* Discard eot character, but return the rest of the read data that should be valid. */
ret--;
} else {
/* No data. */
ret = -1;
}
}
}
/* Cancel thread */
HMODULE mod = LoadLibrary (L"Kernel32.dll");
BOOL WINAPI (*cancel_io_ex) (HANDLE, LPOVERLAPPED) = NULL;
if (mod != NULL) {
cancel_io_ex = (BOOL WINAPI (*) (HANDLE, LPOVERLAPPED)) GetProcAddress (mod, "CancelIoEx");
}
if (cancel_io_ex != NULL) {
cancel_io_ex(stdout_write_pipe, NULL);
} else {
SetEvent(stdout_closed_event);
WriteFile(stdout_write_pipe, &eot, 1, &written, NULL);
}