How to get the Executable name of a window

Question

I try to get the name of executable name of all of my launched windows and my problem is that:

I use the method

UINT GetWindowModuleFileName(      
H         


        

Answer 1

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=228469

The executive summary is, GetWindowModuleFileName doesn't work for windows in other processes in NT based Windows.

Instead, you can use QueryFullProcessImageName once you have a handle to the process. You can get a handle to the process with OpenProcess which you can use once you have a process id. You can get the process id from the HWND by using GetWindowThreadProcessId

Answer 2

This is an example of how get the name of executable that creates window, hope it can give you some ideas about:

    while(true)
    {
    Sleep(250);//reduce cpu usage
    CHAR __name[MAX_PATH];//name buffer
    HWND hwnd;//window handle
    DWORD pid;//process pid
    hwnd=FindWindow(NULL,NULL);//find any window
    PROCESSENTRY32 entry;//process structure containing info about processes
    entry.dwSize=sizeof(PROCESSENTRY32);
    HANDLE snapshot=CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS,0);//get processes
    if(hwnd!=0)
    {
        GetWindowThreadProcessId(hwnd,&pid);//get found window pid
    }
    if (Process32First(snapshot,&entry)==TRUE)//start listing processes
    {
        while (Process32Next(snapshot,&entry)==TRUE)
        {
            if (stricmp(entry.szExeFile,"explorer.exe")==0)
            {
                if(pid!=entry.th32ProcessID)//if found window pid is explorers one, skip it
                {
                    HANDLE hProcess=OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS,FALSE,pid);//open processusing PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS to get handle
                    if(hProcess!=NULL)
                    {
                        GetModuleFileNameEx(hProcess,NULL,__name,MAX_PATH);//get executable path
                        cout<<"Found: "<<__name<<endl;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

To use GetModuleFileNameEx() you probably will need to set linker settings to link library psapi. Also include psapi.h.

Answer 3

The GetWindowModuleFileName function works for windows in the current process only.

You have to do the following:

1. Retrieve the window's process with GetWindowThreadProcessId.
2. Open the process with PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION and PROCESS_VM_READ access rights using OpenProcess.
3. Use GetModuleFileNameEx on the process handle.

If you really want to obtain the name of the module with which the window is registered (as opposed to the process executable), you can obtain the module handle with GetWindowLongPtr with GWLP_HINSTANCE. The module handle can then be passed to the aforementioned GetModuleFileNameEx.

Example:

TCHAR buffer[MAX_PATH] = {0};
DWORD dwProcId = 0; 

GetWindowThreadProcessId(hWnd, &dwProcId);   

HANDLE hProc = OpenProcess(PROCESS_QUERY_INFORMATION | PROCESS_VM_READ , FALSE, dwProcId);    
GetModuleFileName((HMODULE)hProc, buffer, MAX_PATH);
CloseHandle(hProc);

Answer 4

Aaah. I read the MSDN page at the bottom.

From http://support.microsoft.com/?id=228469

GetWindowModuleFileName and GetModuleFileName correctly retrieve information ab... GetWindowModuleFileName and GetModuleFileName correctly retrieve information about windows and modules in the calling process. In Windows 95 and 98, they return information about windows and modules in other processes. However, in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, since module handles are no longer shared by all processes as they were on Windows 95 and 98, these APIs do not return information about windows and modules in other processes.

To get more information on Windows 2000, use the Process Status Helper set of APIs (known as PSAPI, see Psapi.h include file), available since Windows NT 4.0. APIs such as GetModuleFileNameEx and GetModuleBaseName offer equivalent functionality.

Try using GetModuleFileNameEx instead.

Answer 5

Well according to the MSDN page for GetWindowModuleFileName you appear to be calling it correctly, and if your executable is located in the the root of C: it is returning the correct value:

The GetWindowModuleFileName function retrieves the full path and file name of the module associated with the specified window handle.

What are you expecting to get back?