C#•3y ago

✅ Closing first terminal, opening second terminal

// in file A
var p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.FileName = "test.exe";
p.Start();

// in file B
var p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.FileName = "main_app.exe";
p.Start();

// in file A
var p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.FileName = "test.exe";
p.Start();

// in file B
var p = new Process();
p.StartInfo.FileName = "main_app.exe";
p.Start();

My main program in

main_app.exe

main_app.exe

. When I run my main program, it opens in terminal 1 as expected. When

main_app.exe

main_app.exe

runs the new process to start a second program, I would like for that second program to open in a new terminal (terminal 2) and the terminal (terminal 1) to be closed. So close current terminal, open new terminal. Then when the second program finishes it's process and relaunches

main_app.exe

main_app.exe

, I would like for terminal 2 to close, and a new terminal (terminal 3) to open. How would I accomplish this?

TL:DR

```
main_app.exe
```
```
main_app.exe
```
=> terminal 1
```
test.exe
```
```
test.exe
```
=> terminal 2
terminal 1 finishes work, opens terminal 2, closes terminal 1
terminal 2 finishes work, opens terminal 3, closes terminal 2

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:35 AM

why?

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:36 AM

I have tried

I have also looked at https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3616010/start-command-windows-and-run-commands-inside, https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=CreateNoWindow+c%23&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.diagnostics.processstartinfo.createnowindow?view=net-7.0 and other sites to find a solution. Nothing works

Jjcotton42 why?

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:36 AM

to keep it clean

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:36 AM

what if I'm running your app from an already open terminal?

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:37 AM

then when the installer starts, it would close the current window, open a new one => installer does its thing, then closes that window and reopens the console back to main application

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:38 AM

it's no different than any other application, microsoft included, that are GUI applications that when it runs an update, it closes the current application and opens an updater screen, then when the update is finished, it closes the update window and reopens the applicaiton

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:38 AM

just doing it with console instead of a GUI app

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:38 AM

huh?
I'm talking about like I already have a terminal open, and run

main_app.exe

main_app.exe

, or whatever
you shouldn't be closing my terminal

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:38 AM

also, that happens with GUI apps b/c the app that's drawing the window has exited
for a terminal app the app drawing the window is... the terminal

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:38 AM

it's not comparable

arion•9/27/23, 2:39 AM

Whats wrong with just doing

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:39 AM

your terminal app just should not care
there's no reason for it to do so

Aarion Whats wrong with just doing ```cs Process.Start("test.exe"); Environment.Exit()...

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:40 AM

I have this currently, but it doesn't close the window

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:41 AM

I'm talking about like I already have a terminal open, and run main_app.exe, or whatever
you shouldn't be closing my terminal.

this is like telling the GUI application that it shouldn't be closing your main applications window because you already have the main applications window open....

arion•9/27/23, 2:41 AM

What jcotton is likely trying to say is that your program shouldnt need to know who the parent who executed it is. It opens a lot of potential issues up

arion•9/27/23, 2:42 AM

Console applications arnt windows like a gui app

MMek > I'm talking about like I already have a terminal open, and run main_app.exe, o...

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:42 AM

this is like telling the GUI application that it shouldn't be closing your main applications window because you already have the main applications window open....

no it's not

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:42 AM

the window here is being drawn and maintained by the terminal application

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:42 AM

not your application

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:43 AM

it's literally none of your app's business what my terminal window setup is like
you're a console app, not a gui app

Jjcotton42 the window here is being drawn and maintained by the terminal application

arion•9/27/23, 2:44 AM

For example on this, the discord server has a bot called modix which allows for outputting the terminal contents, in a way, its similar

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:45 AM

ok so instead of getting passive aggresive responses, would you be inclined to elaborate on what potential issues this could cause by doing what I'm wanting to do with a console based application please?

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:46 AM

there's just no reason to do it like that

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:46 AM

that's not an explanation of what potential issues it could cause...

arion•9/27/23, 2:47 AM

Windows Terminal: if you close the main window it either minimizes to tray or closes all terminal instances active in it

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:47 AM

ok that I can understand, so what I'm wanting to do would involve opening my second application in a new terminal instance instead of the current terminal instance

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:49 AM

so other than the lack of potential issues that it could cause with what I'm wanting to do, I could do an alternative of just clearing the console before the second process starts, and then clearing the console when the second process is finished, yes?

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:50 AM

so that I get the window closing effect without actually closing the windows

arion•9/27/23, 2:52 AM

Console.Clear() doesnt close the terminal instance, it just removes all foreground and background text and formatting. It erases all output from the instance

arion•9/27/23, 2:53 AM

A "new terminal instance" is dependent on the terminal application

Windows terminal creates new tabs for each "terminal" instance

arion•9/27/23, 2:54 AM

the old conhost or whatever its called used to have independent instances, but that brings us back to what jcotton said

arion•9/27/23, 2:55 AM

implementation of that is dependent on the terminal application

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:55 AM

ok that makes sense so far

arion•9/27/23, 2:56 AM

conhost was that version's "Terminal Application", the latest (Windows Terminal) is the current "Terminal Application"

arion•9/27/23, 2:56 AM

on mac its something different

arion•9/27/23, 2:56 AM

and on linux too

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:57 AM

right. so what would be the best way to go about getting the window close effect without causing any potential harm or problems?

arion•9/27/23, 2:58 AM

If you use VS Code or Rider they have their own integrated terminals, in those cases, the terminal application would be their own respective processes

arion•9/27/23, 2:58 AM

VS Code would be its own Terminal application

jcotton42•9/27/23, 2:58 AM

again, why do you want that effect so bad?

Aarion If you use VS Code or Rider they have their own integrated terminals, in those c...

MekOP•9/27/23, 2:59 AM

I use visual studio, and I publish my projects to 's and test from those so that it opens in a legit windows terminal

arion•9/27/23, 3:00 AM

Specifically check for that specific terminal application and exit your program immediately if its not supported

Potential harm would be: you kill unintended processes

Jjcotton42 again, why do you want that effect so bad?

MekOP•9/27/23, 3:01 AM

because I like that effect. Is that such a bad thing? At this point I'm aware of your opinion that "it's literally none of your app's business what my terminal window setup is like", and that it can cause potential problems (which is currently being discussed), so I'm asking of a nicer way to go about doing what I want to achieve because it's what i want to do with my application.

Aarion Specifically check for that specific terminal application and exit your program ...

MekOP•9/27/23, 3:02 AM

so given that the potential harm would be killing unintended processes, I'd rather not do that. I'd rather find a cleaner or nicer way to go about it, even if it is just using to clear the screen in between processes starting/stopping

MMek I use visual studio, and I publish my projects to `.exe`'s and test from those s...

arion•9/27/23, 3:08 AM

What happens when I start a console program .exe

If you close the Terminal window if its being ran within VS Code it would close VS Code

arion•9/27/23, 3:08 AM

What happens whenn I start a console program in the old conhost

MekOP•9/27/23, 3:10 AM

ok. So then I'll just clear the console before/after each new process. no problems there

jcotton42•9/27/23, 3:11 AM

is this the kind of app someone would start from their terminal?

MekOP•9/27/23, 3:12 AM

nope ~~it's an exe file~~ it's a console based application that is packaged down into an exe file that the user would click or double click to open and run that opens in a terminal

arion•9/27/23, 3:13 AM

You dont necessarily need to create a new terminal instance tbf, you could start your 2nd program and read that info to your first program

eg.

though it would likely be at the point where there's little use to start a new program