Getting process ID using process name in C ??

[jayasekar.k]

Hi, is that possible to get the process id, using a process name in c program.
In shell it is possible using pgrep, but in c program ??
Does any one has the answer ??

[Rubberman]

I'm not aware of a standard function to get this information, but you can look at the source for the pidof system command to see how it does that.

[Rubberman]

FWIW, most functions that do this sort of thing access the /proc file system where process ids of all running processes exist as directories and they have entries for such things as the command line it was started with, a link to the executable that is running the process, etc.

[jayasekar.k]

FWIW, most functions that do this sort of thing access the /proc file system where process ids of all running processes exist as directories and they have entries for such things as the command line it was started with, a link to the executable that is running the process, etc.

you can refer this link:
linuxforums.org/forum/linux-programming-scripting/40078-c-printing-linux-process-table.htm

few question arises with this link
if you want to create a single instance application in linux using daemon process, then problem arises.
1. when you run the daemon say XX 1st time, it checks for the process XX. the process exist since we are running the same, so it will say that the program is running and it will come out. how to solve this problem.

[Rubberman]

you can refer this link:
linuxforums.org/forum/linux-programming-scripting/40078-c-printing-linux-process-table.htm

few question arises with this link
if you want to create a single instance application in linux using daemon process, then problem arises.
1. when you run the daemon say XX 1st time, it checks for the process XX. the process exist since we are running the same, so it will say that the program is running and it will come out. how to solve this problem.

Most daemon processes that have to run as a singleton (only one instance), will check for other processes that are using their resources, but they usually check the PID of the processes to make sure that it isn't "self".