Question

In a batchscript, I need to get a list of process IDs with given binary path C:\path\to\binary.exe.
In Linux, I can just do pidof /path/to/binary.

Is there a Win32 executable which does the same, supported from WinXP Home to Win7 (tasklist won’t work)?

The package which includes this has to be portable, so a 10MB download is not what I’m looking for.

Is there a C function available which does this and is supported from WinXP to Win7? Note: I want to match a process path, not a filename which could be used by other applications too.

Answer 1

You can use Toolhelp APIs to enumerate processes, get their full path and compare it with the required process name. You need to walk the modules list for each process. The first module in the list is the process executable itself. Here’s a sample code:

int main( int argc, char* argv[] )
{

    if( argc > 1 )
    {
        printf( "\nGetting PID of: %s\n", argv[1] );
        HANDLE hProcSnapshot = ::CreateToolhelp32Snapshot( TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0 );
        if( INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE != hProcSnapshot )
        {
            PROCESSENTRY32 procEntry = {0};
            procEntry.dwSize = sizeof(PROCESSENTRY32);
            if( ::Process32First( hProcSnapshot, &procEntry ) )
            {
                do
                {
                    HANDLE hModSnapshot = ::CreateToolhelp32Snapshot( TH32CS_SNAPMODULE, procEntry.th32ProcessID );
                    if( INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE != hModSnapshot )
                    {
                        MODULEENTRY32 modEntry = {0};
                        modEntry.dwSize = sizeof( MODULEENTRY32 );
                        if( Module32First( hModSnapshot, &modEntry ) )
                        {
                            if( 0 == stricmp( argv[1], modEntry.szExePath ) )
                            {
                                printf( "\nPID: %ld\n", procEntry.th32ProcessID );
                                ::CloseHandle( hModSnapshot );
                                break;
                            }
                        }
                        ::CloseHandle( hModSnapshot );
                    }
                }
                while( ::Process32Next( hProcSnapshot, &procEntry ) );
            }
            ::CloseHandle( hProcSnapshot );
        }
    }
    return 0;
}