how to read a list of current running process in linux using C++

Question

i need to read the list of current running process into a C++ program. I know that one way to do is to use ps command and other is to read /proc file system but i want to know how one can get names of processes by reading /proc file system. also is there any other way to read the list.

Answer 1

There is no other way to read the list, /proc exists for this purpose. The simplest way to find out exactly how to do this job would be to read the source for procps, which may include a library to do most of the work for you.

Answer 2

You can read all information from /proc/<process pid>/. I guess the file cmdline and the link exe in each of these directories will be relevant for you.

Answer 3

you might want to try out libstatgrab, it should be able to give you unified access to that information on many different operating systems. It will still open /proc on GNU/Linux, but you won't know.