How to parse tshark arguments in ShellExecute function

Question

I want to call tshark.exe from a c++ script via ShellExecute. Is there any way to parse cmd arguments to the application? e.g. specify output file like this

tshark -w output.pcap

Here is the code

#include <Windows.h>
#include <shellapi.h>

int main()
{
    ShellExecute(NULL, "open", "tshark.exe", NULL, "C:\Program Files\Wireshark", SW_SHOWDEFAULT);
    return 0;
}

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/shellapi/nf-shellapi-shellexecutea fourth argument is parameters — user2980207, Dec 12 '19 at 17:21
I've read it, but I don't quite understand the syntax. How an I supposed to add -w output.pcap to this? — waifu_anton, Dec 12 '19 at 19:54
Code doesn't compile. Go [here](https://stackoverflow.com/q/388242/1889329) before moving forward. — IInspectable, Dec 12 '19 at 19:59

Remy Lebeau · Accepted Answer · 2019-12-12T22:56:52.947

The 4th parameter to ShellExecute() passes command-line arguments to the new process, eg:

ShellExecute(NULL, "open", "tshark.exe", "-w output.pcap", "C:\\Program Files\\Wireshark", SW_SHOWDEFAULT);

Though, you really should be using CreatProcess() instead (ShellExecute() is just going to call it anyway):

STARTUPINFO si = {};
PROCESS_INFORMATION pi = {};

si.cb = sizeof(si);
si.dwFlags = STARTF_USESHOWWINDOW;
si.wShowWindow = SW_SHOWDEFAULT;

char cmd[] = "tshark.exe -w output.pcap";
if (CreateProcessA(NULL, cmd, NULL, NULL, FALSE, 0, NULL, "C:\\Program Files\\Wireshark", &si, &pi))
{
    CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
    CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
}

Oh, thanks. I tried it before but for some reason it didn't work. Don't know why. Now everything is OK — waifu_anton, Dec 12 '19 at 22:57

How to parse tshark arguments in ShellExecute function

1 Answers1