Process.Start Functionality

Question

Does the Process.Start method call the underlying Windows API function CreateProcess?

Looking at the Microsoft documentation it appears Process.Start can be used in either C++ or C# but CreateProcess can only be used in C++.

I'm just trying to determine if one function utilizes the other and if that's the general case for API calls in C# vs C++.

Answer 1

There are 3 possible native functions it could call depending on the settings in the StartInfo you passed in.

• If UseShellExecute = true it will call ShellExecuteEx .
• If UseShellExecute = false and you set a username then it will call CreateProcessWithLogonW .
• If UseShellExecute = false and you did not set a username then it will call CreateProcess .

You can follow the code yourself via the reference source .

If you wanted to call CreateProcess directly (or any native function) you would need to perform a " Platform Invoke (P/Invoke) ". There are websites that help you figure out the P/Invoke signatures for common functions . This process is a lot more complex and involved and it is just simpler to just use Process.Start .