How to know if application was run from console or explorer?

Question

I'm writing a small application that should run both as winform mode or console mode. The problem is that I don't know how my application was started-up. If it was started-up using console it should do some staff, other wise it should display a winform.

Friend NotInheritable Class Program
    Shared Sub Main()

        If The application was run in console mode then
            'Run console processes
        Else
            'Open winform
            Application.Run(New Form1)
        End If
    End Sub
End Class

Cheers in advance :) !

Answer 1

I found an answer for what you need, but it's in C#. You can simply use a C# to VB.net converter if you don't know C#, or convert it manually

Found from a similar question: https://stackoverflow.com/a/3346055/1388267

/// <summary>
/// A utility class to determine a process parent.
/// </summary>
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct ParentProcessUtilities
{
    // These members must match PROCESS_BASIC_INFORMATION
    internal IntPtr Reserved1;
    internal IntPtr PebBaseAddress;
    internal IntPtr Reserved2_0;
    internal IntPtr Reserved2_1;
    internal IntPtr UniqueProcessId;
    internal IntPtr InheritedFromUniqueProcessId;

    [DllImport("ntdll.dll")]
    private static extern int NtQueryInformationProcess(IntPtr processHandle, int processInformationClass, ref ParentProcessUtilities processInformation, int processInformationLength, out int returnLength);

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the parent process of the current process.
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns>An instance of the Process class.</returns>
    public static Process GetParentProcess()
    {
        return GetParentProcess(Process.GetCurrentProcess().Handle);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the parent process of specified process.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="id">The process id.</param>
    /// <returns>An instance of the Process class.</returns>
    public static Process GetParentProcess(int id)
    {
        Process process = Process.GetProcessById(id);
        return GetParentProcess(process.Handle);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets the parent process of a specified process.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="handle">The process handle.</param>
    /// <returns>An instance of the Process class.</returns>
    public static Process GetParentProcess(IntPtr handle)
    {
        ParentProcessUtilities pbi = new ParentProcessUtilities();
        int returnLength;
        int status = NtQueryInformationProcess(handle, 0, ref pbi, Marshal.SizeOf(pbi), out returnLength);
        if (status != 0)
            throw new Win32Exception(status);

        try
        {
            return Process.GetProcessById(pbi.InheritedFromUniqueProcessId.ToInt32());
        }
        catch (ArgumentException)
        {
            // not found
            return null;
        }
    }
}

You can get the handle of the parent process, then check its name to know whether it's explorer or command prompt

EDIT: Just got it converted to VB.net so you can use it directly:

''' <summary>
''' A utility class to determine a process parent.
''' </summary>
<StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _
Public Structure ParentProcessUtilities
    ' These members must match PROCESS_BASIC_INFORMATION
    Friend Reserved1 As IntPtr
    Friend PebBaseAddress As IntPtr
    Friend Reserved2_0 As IntPtr
    Friend Reserved2_1 As IntPtr
    Friend UniqueProcessId As IntPtr
    Friend InheritedFromUniqueProcessId As IntPtr

    <DllImport("ntdll.dll")> _
    Private Shared Function NtQueryInformationProcess(processHandle As IntPtr, processInformationClass As Integer, ByRef processInformation As ParentProcessUtilities, processInformationLength As Integer, ByRef returnLength As Integer) As Integer
    End Function

    ''' <summary>
    ''' Gets the parent process of the current process.
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <returns>An instance of the Process class.</returns>
    Public Shared Function GetParentProcess() As Process
        Return GetParentProcess(Process.GetCurrentProcess().Handle)
    End Function

    ''' <summary>
    ''' Gets the parent process of specified process.
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="id">The process id.</param>
    ''' <returns>An instance of the Process class.</returns>
    Public Shared Function GetParentProcess(id As Integer) As Process
        Dim process__1 As Process = Process.GetProcessById(id)
        Return GetParentProcess(process__1.Handle)
    End Function

    ''' <summary>
    ''' Gets the parent process of a specified process.
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <param name="handle">The process handle.</param>
    ''' <returns>An instance of the Process class.</returns>
    Public Shared Function GetParentProcess(handle As IntPtr) As Process
        Dim pbi As New ParentProcessUtilities()
        Dim returnLength As Integer
        Dim status As Integer = NtQueryInformationProcess(handle, 0, pbi, Marshal.SizeOf(pbi), returnLength)
        If status <> 0 Then
            Throw New Win32Exception(status)
        End If

        Try
            Return Process.GetProcessById(pbi.InheritedFromUniqueProcessId.ToInt32())
        Catch generatedExceptionName As ArgumentException
            ' not found
            Return Nothing
        End Try
    End Function
End Structure