Call an *.exe-file through a *.dll-file and submit parameters, too

Question

I'm trying to start an *.exe-file with the help of a *.dll-file instead of calling the *.exe-file directly. It will be used for a program that is able to start *.dll-files, but not *.exe-files.

In this case: The browser.exe is written in vb.NET and the browser.dll file in C++ (I could not find any dll snippet for vb.NET).

The code-snippet for the browser.dll (MFC-DLL) that has been generated by VS2008 and has been modified a little bit by me looks as follows:

[...]
CBrowserStartApp::CBrowserStartApp()
{
    system("start .\\browser.exe");
}

CBrowserStartApp theApp;

BOOL CBrowserStartApp::InitInstance()
{
    CWinApp::InitInstance();
    system("start .\\browser.exe");
    return TRUE;
}

I can compile it without errors.

The funny thing is that there's an error message if I start the dll with Rundll32.exe and add any parameter. Then the program starts, but the error message is still there. It says something as "Error in browser.dll. Missing Content v" if I start it with "Rundll32.exe browser.dll v". If I leave out the parameter "v", nothing happens. Neither an error appears nor the actual application. What am I doing wrong here?

The next question I have is as follows: Usually I start the *.exe-File with parameters such as a URL (e.g., "browser.exe http://www.google.com"). How can I add such URLs to the *.dll-file? The same trick as for usual program (e.g., args = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs())? How can I access them and take them forward to the actual *.exe-file then?

Thx, Markus G.

Answer 1

Since you're alrady using WinApi, use the native CreateProcess.