Why does Process.Start not open my win32 app

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I am trying to run an .exe that is a windows app written in Smalltalk.

It is located at "C:\Program Files (x86)\AppFolder\app.exe"

I want to open the app (in same way as how it works when you double click on app.exe).

When I execute the following it does not actually start the app. I see part of the splash screen but then the app does not open. I see that a process has started but I do not see the app screen...

Process.Start(@"C:\Program Files (x86)\AppFolder\app.exe");

Note, I can run a .bat file with the following and this does work from c#..

VB

cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\AppFolder"
app.exe
exit

Why does this not work and how do I get the c# program to execute the .exe as if it called from the folder?

Thanks in advance
John

Posted 12-Nov-15 9:02am

ukjohnct

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Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 12-Nov-15 15:15pm

Not clear. What does work and what not? And, most importantly, remember that we have no idea what this file is. This program can be written in such a stupid way that it is sensitive to the working directory.
—SA

ukjohnct 12-Nov-15 17:20pm

Thanks SA.

Seems strange to me that I have to set the current directory when I have entered a fully qualified path name but this did fix it.

John

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 12-Nov-15 20:51pm

You are very welcome. Next time, to address to anyone, you have to comment on one's post, otherwise that person won't get a notification. I didn't. You could comment on the answer post, another comment ("Reply"), etc.
Good luck, call again.
—SA

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Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-12T09:19:00

These two ways are not equivalent.

To mimic your batch behavior, first change the current directory: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.directory.setcurrentdirectory%28v=vs.110%29.aspx[^].

Of course, correctly written applications behave nicely. They either ignore current directory (anyone can use absolutely any directory to start any application; it's also called "start directory"), or input/output file locations would totally depend on this directory (approach typical for console-only applications), but it all cases it would nicely inform you on what it expects. But stupid people often write application which don't behave nicely. But why using them?

Anyway, I fully answered your question; please try it out.

—SA