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[C#] Ways to validate outside process status - Printable Version

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+---- Thread: [C#] Ways to validate outside process status (/showthread.php?tid=5998841)



Ways to validate outside process status - 991z3r0 - Aug 13, 2019

So far i've just been going off of the processor time since that's the only thing i can easily watch from Process but i was wondering what i could do as a more logical and reliable validation.

VSTOInstaller.exe is the installer executable and i need to check for the loading time from when it's first open until the process itself is done loading it's inital whatever it loads.

I don't know much of anything about WinAPI except the examples and docs i try to understand. So far i've goten PostMessage working great for all the UI manipulation(key sending) but i'm wondering if anyone has an example on how to maybe read through the controlID's of a process for a specific captioned item? Is that possible?

I guess i'm just asking for some logical processes i could use to check for an item on another process if that is even possible. It's a button captioned "install" that shows once the loading is done.


RE: Ways to validate outside process status - MavenGradle - Aug 13, 2019

Have you taken a look at anonymous pipes? This would be an excellent solution if you're trying to communicate between two processes.

I take it that whatever VSTOInstaller.exe is, it's not something you made and thus you don't have any control over it? If you don't have any control over it, it's very useful to know what kind of installer it is, because most installers will leave some kind of log where the status of the installation is recorded. You can then retrieve the status of the installation. Sometimes, they return this installation status code when running the installer using the terminal/commandline. If you're simply trying to install something for the user, most of the time there's an option to start an installer in silent mode, which requires no user feedback.

Hope this helps.


RE: Ways to validate outside process status - 991z3r0 - Aug 13, 2019

(Aug 13, 2019 11:29 AM)MavenGradle Wrote:  Have you taken a look at anonymous pipes? This would be an excellent solution if you're trying to communicate between two processes.

I take it that whatever VSTOInstaller.exe is, it's not something you made and thus you don't have any control over it? If you don't have any control over it, it's very useful to know what kind of installer it is, because most installers will leave some kind of log where the status of the installation is recorded. You can then retrieve the status of the installation. Sometimes, they return this installation status code when running the installer using the terminal/commandline. If you're simply trying to install something for the user, most of the time there's an option to start an installer in silent mode, which requires no user feedback.

Hope this helps.

Ah sorry i should have provided some more info.

So this is for a .application ClickOnce install. There is an installer but it's via a hosted .application file. I didn't look for any silent switches because the ClickOnce shit is total ass whole, which is why i'm making this "simple" tool. I don't think the program has any CLI unfortunately but i can do some more testing here soon so check. i THINK it leaves an install log but i'm not sure if it's actively open until you close the process itself. I'm still doing alot of trial and error with ways to go about this but thanks for the info.

EDIT: Shit(you cant curse anymore?) i think i can just use the registry entries as a validation check, i just need to see what the last entered item is and when it is entered corresponding to the UI.