c# - run a foreign exe inside a windows form app

Question

i have a c# powered windows form app and i want to run a exe inside it. that program is another seperate executable file. lets say that that exe is not a dot net app, but written in another language, does it matter ?

so i would want that program to lie inside my winforms, how can i do it?? Also, can i place it anywhere in the winforms? are there like properties already included by default? thanks. hage u tried doing these? if so what are the steps to take? thank you stackoverflow for making a nice developer community. i really cherish this

Answer 1

You can do this by PInvoking SetParent():

[DllImport("user32.dll")]
        static extern IntPtr SetParent(IntPtr hWndChild, IntPtr hWndNewParent);

First you need to start the third party application within your application:

var clientApplication = Process.Start("PATH_TO_YOUR_EXECUTABLE");

then set its MainWindowHandle to your main window handle:

SetParent(clientApplication.MainWindowHandle, YourMainWindowOrAContainerControl.Handle);