How to Achieve Asynchronous Process Execution in C#?

Asynchronous Process Execution in C#

Question:

In the .NET framework, the Process.Start method allows us to run external applications or execute batch files. However, this method is synchronous, meaning it blocks the calling thread until the process completes. Is there an asynchronous alternative to Process.Start that enables us to await the process completion?

Answer:

Although Process.Start is a synchronous method, there are ways to achieve asynchronous process execution in C#. Here are two approaches:

Using Task.Run:

If you simply want to start a process asynchronously, you can use the Task.Run method. This will create a new thread and execute the process on that thread, freeing up the calling thread.

private async void RunCommandAsync()
{
    await Task.Run(() => Process.Start("command to run"));
}

Async Wait for Process Completion:

If you want to asynchronously wait for the process to finish and get its exit code, you can use the Process.Exited event together with TaskCompletionSource:

private async Task<int> RunProcessAsync(string fileName)
{
    var tcs = new TaskCompletionSource<int>();

    var process = new Process
    {
        StartInfo = { FileName = fileName },
        EnableRaisingEvents = true
    };

    process.Exited += (sender, args) =>
    {
        tcs.SetResult(process.ExitCode);
        process.Dispose();
    };

    process.Start();

    return await tcs.Task;
}

This approach will create a new process and register an event handler for the Exited event. When the process exits, the event handler will be triggered, and the TaskCompletionSource will be completed with the process's exit code. The await operation will suspend the execution of the calling code until the process completes.

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