Can Process.Start() take the system PATH into account?

Question

I've been searching and experimenting for a while with this, but I have had no luck.

I am trying to make a console program to automate some tasks that I couldn't quite do with a BAT file. I want to call "signcode.exe" from the Windows SDK, the bin folder with all the tools in my system PATH, and I can call "signcode" from anywhere, but Process.Start is ignoring the path.

Current code:

System.Diagnostics.Process sign = new System.Diagnostics.Process();
sign.StartInfo.FileName         = signCommand.Substring(0, signCommand.IndexOf(' '));  // signtool.exe
sign.StartInfo.Arguments        = signCommand.Substring(signCommand.IndexOf(' ') + 1); // /sign /a file1 file2

// sign.StartInfo.EnvironmentVariables["Path"] = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH");  // This doesn't work either
sign.StartInfo.UseShellExecute              = false;
sign.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput       = true;
sign.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError        = true;

sign.Start();  // Throws Win32Exception - The system cannot find the file specified

I've confirmed that StartInfo.EnvironmentVariables["Path"] matches my system path, and contains the Windows SDK folder. Setting it manually doesn't work either.

I've even tried setting TempPath as shown on the MSDN page for EnvironmentVariables Property, but that didn't work either. I wonder why you would be able to set this if it has no effect.

If System.Diagnostics.Process cannot use the path, are there any other functions I could use? I'd like to see the output of the command in my console application as well.

Here is some additional debug values:

Console.WriteLine("Sign Filename = '{0}'", sign.StartInfo.FileName);
Sign Filename = 'signtool.exe'

Console.WriteLine("Sign Arguments = '{0}'", sign.StartInfo.Arguments);
Sign Arguments = '/sign /f C:\Visual Studio\Projects\MGInsight\MGInsight\APPARENTINC.pfx /t http://timestamp.comodoca.com/authenticode "C:\Visual Studio\Projects\MGInsight\MGInsight\Publish\Application Files\\MGInsight_0_9_1_85\MGInsight.exe" "C:\Visual Studio\Projects\MGInsight\MGInsight\Publish\Application Files\\MGInsight_0_9_1_85\XPXScanner.dll" "C:\Visual Studio\Projects\MGInsight\MGInsight\Publish\Application Files\\MGInsight_0_9_1_85\NetworkCalculations.dll"'

Console.WriteLine("Sign Path = '{0}'", sign.StartInfo.EnvironmentVariables["Path"]);
Sign Path = 'C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;"C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFi\bin\";"C:\Program Files\Common Files\Intel\WirelessCommon\";"C:\Program Files (x86)\cwRsync\bin";"C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\cmd";"C:\Program Files (x86)\Git\bin";"C:\Program Files (x86)\Zend\ZendServer\bin";"C:\Program Files (x86)\Zend\ZendServer\share\ZendFramework\bin";"C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin";"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\";"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Windows Performance Toolkit\";C:\MinGW\bin;"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\ILMerge";"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Bin";C:\Program Files (x86)\Nmap'

The path "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Bin" is where signtool.exe is, and I can run it from a command prompt by simply typing signtool, but if I run this application from the same prompt, it doesn't register that path.

Answer 1

I'm pretty sure Process.Start does respect PATH.

• Are you sure your signCommand value is correct?
• Is the directory value in PATH specified using quotes? The docs mention that such values will not be respected.

Note that FileName can also be a full path to the executable.

Answer 2

Adding to mhutch's answer: It does indeed take PATH into consideration, but I have noticed you actually need to restart Visual Studio to pick up any path changes. It is kind of sneaky.