C++ popen command without console
c++, command, console, popen
Solution
Assuming Windows (since this is the only platform where this behavior is endemic):
CreatePipe() to create the pipes necessary to communicate, and CreateProcess to create the child process.
HANDLE StdInHandles[2];
HANDLE StdOutHandles[2];
HANDLE StdErrHandles[2];
CreatePipe(&StdInHandles[0], &StdInHandles[1], NULL, 4096);
CreatePipe(&StdOutHandles[0], &StdOutHandles[1], NULL, 4096);
CreatePipe(&StdErrHandles[0], &StdErrHandles[1], NULL, 4096);
STARTUPINFO si; memset(&si, 0, sizeof(si)); /* zero out */
si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESTDHANDLES;
si.hStdInput = StdInHandles[0]; /* read handle */
si.hStdOutput = StdOutHandles[1]; /* write handle */
si.hStdError = StdErrHandles[1]; /* write handle */
/* fix other stuff in si */
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;
/* fix stuff in pi */
CreateProcess(AppName, commandline, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES, FALSE, CREATE_NO_WINDOW |DETACHED_PROCESS, lpEnvironment, lpCurrentDirectory, &si, &pi);
This should more than get you on your way to doing what you wish to accomplish.
Problem
when I use popen to get the output of a command, say dir, it will prompt out a console. however, can I get the output of a command without the appearance of the console? I am using Visual C++ and want to make an Library to return the output of some command, say, dir.