How do I get the application exit code from a Windows command line?

Question

I am running a program and want to see what its return code is (since it returns different codes based on different errors).

I know in Bash I can do this by running

echo $?

What do I do when using cmd.exe on Windows?

Answer 1

Two ways...

The results are stored in a environment variable named errorlevel so...

echo %errorlevel%

and a special syntax of the if command:

if errorlevel

see if /? for details.

For Example

@echo off
my_nify_exe.exe
if errorlevel 1 (
   echo Failure Reason Given is %errorlevel%
   exit /b %errorlevel%
)

Answer 2

Use the built-in ERRORLEVEL Variable:

echo %ERRORLEVEL%

But beware if an application has defined an environment variable named ERRORLEVEL! See http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2008/09/26/8965755.aspx.

Answer 3

It might not work correctly when using a program that is not attached to the console, because that app might still be running while you think you have the exit code. A solution to do it in C++ looks like below:

#include "stdafx.h"
#include "windows.h"
#include "stdio.h"
#include "tchar.h"
#include "stdio.h"
#include "shellapi.h"

int _tmain( int argc, TCHAR *argv[] )
{

    CString cmdline(GetCommandLineW());
    cmdline.TrimLeft('\"');
    CString self(argv[0]);
    self.Trim('\"');
    CString args = cmdline.Mid(self.GetLength()+1);
    args.TrimLeft(_T("\" "));
    printf("Arguments passed: '%ws'\n",args);
    STARTUPINFO si;
    PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;

    ZeroMemory( &si, sizeof(si) );
    si.cb = sizeof(si);
    ZeroMemory( &pi, sizeof(pi) );

    if( argc < 2 )
    {
        printf("Usage: %s arg1,arg2....\n", argv[0]);
        return -1;
    }

    CString strCmd(args);
    // Start the child process. 
    if( !CreateProcess( NULL,   // No module name (use command line)
        (LPTSTR)(strCmd.GetString()),        // Command line
        NULL,           // Process handle not inheritable
        NULL,           // Thread handle not inheritable
        FALSE,          // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
        0,              // No creation flags
        NULL,           // Use parent's environment block
        NULL,           // Use parent's starting directory 
        &si,            // Pointer to STARTUPINFO structure
        &pi )           // Pointer to PROCESS_INFORMATION structure
    ) 
    {
        printf( "CreateProcess failed (%d)\n", GetLastError() );
        return GetLastError();
    }
    else
        printf( "Waiting for \"%ws\" to exit.....\n", strCmd );

    // Wait until child process exits.
    WaitForSingleObject( pi.hProcess, INFINITE );
    int result = -1;
    if(!GetExitCodeProcess(pi.hProcess,(LPDWORD)&result))
    { 
        printf("GetExitCodeProcess() failed (%d)\n", GetLastError() );
    }
    else
        printf("The exit code for '%ws' is %d\n",(LPTSTR)(strCmd.GetString()), result );
    // Close process and thread handles. 
    CloseHandle( pi.hProcess );
    CloseHandle( pi.hThread );
    return result;
}