The abstract Process class a process- that is, an executing program. Methods provided by the Process is used to perform input, output, waiting for the process o complete, checking exit status of the process and destroying process.

• It extends class Object.
• It is used primarily as a superclass for the type of object created by exec() in the Runtime class.
• ProcessBuilder.start() and Runtime.getRuntime.exec() methods creates a native process and return an instance of a subclass of Process that can be used to control the process and obtain information about it.
• ProcessBuilder.start() is the most preferred way to create process.

ProcessBuilder.start() vs Runtime.getRuntime.exec(): ProcessBuilder allows us to redirect the standard error of the child process into its standard output. Now we don’t need two separate threads one reading from stdout and one reading from stderr.

Constructor

Methods:

1. void destroy(): Kills the subprocess.

   Syntax: public abstract void destroy().
   Returns: NA.
   Exception: NA.
   

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   // Java code illustrating destroy()  // method for windows operating system public class ProcessDemo      public static void main(String[] args)      {         try          {                            // create a new process             System.out.println("Creating Process");                            ProcessBuilder builder = new ProcessBuilder("notepad.exe");             Process pro = builder.start();                    // wait 10 seconds             System.out.println("Waiting");             Thread.sleep(10000);                    // kill the process             pro.destroy();             System.out.println("Process destroyed");                }              catch (Exception ex)          {             ex.printStackTrace();         }     } }

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   Output:

   
   
   
   

   Creating Process
   Waiting
   Process destroyed
   

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   // Java code illustrating destroy() // method for Mac Operating System import java.lang.*; import java.io.*; class ProcessDemo {     public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException, Exception     {         System.out.println("Creating process");                        //creating process         ProcessBuilder p = new ProcessBuilder(new String[]                          {"open", "/Applications/Facetime.app"});         Process pro = p.start();                        //waiting for 10 second         Thread.sleep(10000);                        System.out.println("destroying process");                        //destroying process         pro.destroy();     } }

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   Output:

   Creating process
   destroying process
   

2. int exitValue(): This method returns the exit value for the subprocess.

   Syntax: public abstract int exitValue().
   Returns: This method returns the exit value of 
   the subprocess represented by this Process object. 
   By convention, the value 0 indicates normal termination.
   Exception: IllegalThreadStateException ,
   if the subprocess represented by this Process object has not yet terminated.
   

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   // Java code illustrating exitValue() method public class ProcessDemo  {     public static void main(String[] args)     {         try          {             // create a new process             System.out.println("Creating Process");                            ProcessBuilder builder = new ProcessBuilder("notepad.exe");             Process pro = builder.start();                    // kill the process             pro.destroy();                            // checking the exit value of subprocess             System.out.println("exit value: " + pro.exitValue());                }              catch (Exception ex)          {             ex.printStackTrace();         }     } }

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   Output:

   Creating Process
   1
   

3. abstract InputStream getErrorStream(): This method gets the input stream of the subprocess.

   Syntax: public abstract InputStream getInputStream().
   Returns: input stream that reads input from the process out output stream.
   Exception: NA.
   

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   // Java code illustrating // getInputStream() method import java.lang.*; import java.io.*; class ProcessDemo {     public static void main(String arg[]) throws IOException, Exception     {         // creating the process         Runtime r = Runtime.getRuntime();                    // shell script for loop from 1 to 3         String[] nargs = {"sh", "-c", "for i in                  1 2 3; do echo $i; done"};                        Process p = r.exec(nargs);                BufferedReader is =              new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(p.getInputStream()));         String line;                    // reading the output         while ((line = is.readLine()) != null)                    System.out.println(line);     } }

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   Output:

   1
   2
   3
   

4. abstract OutputStream getOutputStream(): This method gets the output stream of the subprocess. Output to the stream is piped into the standard input stream of the process represented by this Process object.

   Syntax: public abstract OutputStream getOutputStream()
   Returns: the output stream connected to the normal input of the subprocess.
   Exception: NA.
   

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   // Java code illustrating  // getOutputStream() method import java.io.BufferedOutputStream; import java.io.OutputStream;    public class ProcessDemo  {     public static void main(String[] args)     {         try          {             // create a new process             System.out.println("Creating Process");             Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("notepad.exe");                    // get the output stream             OutputStream out = p.getOutputStream();                    // close the output stream             System.out.println("Closing the output stream");             out.close();         }              catch (Exception ex)          {             ex.printStackTrace();         }     } }

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   Output:

   Creating Process...
   Closing the output stream...
   

5. abstract InputStream getErrorStream(): It returns an input stream that reads input from the process err output stream.

   Syntax: public abstract InputStream getErrorStream().
   Returns: the input stream connected to the error stream of the subprocess.
   Exception: NA.
   

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   // Java code illustrating  // getErrorStream() method import java.io.InputStream;    public class ProcessDemo {     public static void main(String[] args)      {         try          {             // create a new process             System.out.println("Creating Process");                            Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("notepad.exe");                    // get the error stream of the process and print it             InputStream error = p.getErrorStream();                            for (int i = 0; i < error.available(); i++)              {                 System.out.println("" + error.read());             }                    // wait for 10 seconds and then destroy the process             Thread.sleep(10000);             p.destroy();                }                     catch (Exception ex)          {             ex.printStackTrace();         }     } }

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   Output:

   Creating Process
   

6. int waitFor(): Returns the exit code returned by the process. This method does not return until the process on which it is called terminates.

   Syntax: public int waitFor().
   Returns: the exit value of the process. By convention, 0 indicates normal termination.
   Exception: throws InterruptedException.
   

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   // Java code illustrating  // waitFor() method    public class ProcessDemo  {     public static void main(String[] args)      {         try          {             // create a new process             System.out.println("Creating Process");             Process p = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("notepad.exe");                    // cause this process to stop                 // until process p is terminated             p.waitFor();                    // when you manually close notepad.exe                 // program will continue here             System.out.println("Waiting over");         }          catch (Exception ex)          {             ex.printStackTrace();         }     } }

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   Output:

   Creating Process...
   Waiting over.
   

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