Get Process Information Action

Get Process Information

Creates and populates a dataset with information about the specified Windows process, such as Process Name, ID, start time, thread/handle count, system resource usage by the process, and so on. Useful for gathering am assortment of information regarding a specified process. This action can get process information from the local computer or a remote computer. This action creates and populates a dataset with property information about the specified Windows process. If getting information about a process that resides on the local machine, the information populated by the specified dataset differ depending on whether the Use WMI option is enabled/disabled. If enabled, AWE retrieves process information via the Win32_Process WMI class. If disabled, AWE retrieves the information via the.NET Framework Class Library. Refer to the Dataset Columns table below.

Declaration

General Tab

Property	Type	Required	Default	Markup	Description
Local machine					If enabled, specifies that the process to retrieve information about resides on the local computer. This parameter is enabled by default. This property has no markup. It is used in Visual Mode during design time only.
Remote machine					If enabled, specifies that the process to retrieve information about resides on a remote computer. Other parameters become active if this parameter is enabled. This property has no markup. It is used in Visual Mode during design time only.
Use WMI	Yes/No	No	No	CLOSEMESSAGE="NO"	WMI is the communication layer that Microsoft servers use to interact with remote computers on the network, however, it can be used to communicate with the local computer as well. If set to YES, specifies to use WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) to get the process information on the local computer. If set to NO (default),.Net is used instead. When the Remote machine option is selected, the Use WMI parameter is automatically enabled and grayed out. This is because only WMI can be used to get process information from a remote computer.
Machine Name	Text	Yes	(Empty)	a)REMOTEMACHINE="machine.domain.com" b)REMOTEMACHINE="xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"	The host name or IP address of the remote computer from which to retrieve process information. This parameter is available only if the Remote Machine parameter is enabled.
Domain Name	Text	Yes	(Empty)	DOMAINNAME="netauto"	The domain name of the remote computer to get process information from. This parameter is available only if the Remote Machine parameter is enabled.
Username	Text	Yes	(Empty)	USERNAME="Bruce.Wayne"	A valid user name used to log onto the remote machine from which to get process information. This parameter is available only if the Remote Machine parameter is enabled.
Password	Text	Yes	(Empty)	PASSWORD="batman"	The password corresponding to the username entered in the Username field. This parameter is available only if the Remote Machine parameter is enabled.
Get process by process name	Text	No	(Empty)	PROCESSNAME="firefox.exe"	If enabled, specifies the name of the process to get information about. This can be entered manually or it can be selected from the drop-down menu.
Get process by process ID	Number	No	(Empty)	PROCESSID="23432"	If enabled, specifies the unique identifier (a number used to uniquely identify a process) of the process to get information about.
Create and populate dataset with process information	Text	Yes	(Empty)	RESULTDATASET="ProcessInfo"	The name of a dataset to be created and populated with information about the specified process. More information about the dataset that this action creates can be found below.

Description Tab

The Description tab allows you to customize the text description of any step as it appears in the Task Builder's Steps Pane.

Error Causes Tab

The Error Causes tab allows you to select/omit specific errors that should cause a particular step to fail.

On Error Tab

The On Error tab allows you to determine what the task should do if a particular step encounters an error.

More about On Error properties

Dataset Columns

The table below represents the complete list of dataset columns populated during runtime and their description as derived from the Win32_Process WMI class (populated when Use WMI option is enabled).

Name	Description
Caption	Short description of an object—a one-line string.
CommandLine	Command line used to start a specific process, if applicable. This property is new for Windows XP.
CreationClassName	Name of the first concrete class in the inheritance chain that is used to create an instance. You can use this property with other key properties of the class to uniquely identify all of the instances of the class and its subclasses.
CreationDate	Date the process begins executing.
CSCreationClassName	Creation class name of the scoping computer system.
CSName	Name of the scoping computer system..
Description	Description of an object.
ExecutablePath	Path to the executable file of the process.
ExecutionState	This property is not implemented and does not get populated for any instance of this class. This property is always NULL.
Handle	Process identifier.
HandleCount	Total number of open handles owned by the process. HandleCount is the sum of the handles currently open by each thread in this process. A handle is used to examine or modify the system resources. Each handle has an entry in a table that is maintained internally. Entries contain the addresses of the resources and data to identify the resource type.
InstallDate	Date a process is installed. The process may be installed without a value being written to this property.
KernelModeTime	Time in kernel mode, in 100 nanosecond units. If this information is not available, use a value of 0 (zero).
MaximumWorkingSetSize	Maximum working set size of the process. The working set of a process is the set of memory pages visible to the process in physical RAM. These pages are resident, and available for an application to use without triggering a page fault.
MinimumWorkingSetSize	Minimum working set size of the process. The working set of a process is the set of memory pages visible to the process in physical RAM. These pages are resident and available for an application to use without triggering a page fault.
Name	Label for an object. When inherited by a subclass, the property can be overridden to be a key property.
OSCreationClassName	Creation class name of the scoping operating system.
OSName	Name of the scoping operating system.
OtherOperationCount	Number of I/O operations performed that are not read or write operations.
OtherTransferCount	Amount of data transferred during operations that are not read or write operations.
PageFaults	Number of page faults that a process generates.
PageFileUsage	Amount of page file space that a process is using currently. This value is consistent with the VMSize value in TaskMgr.exe.
ParentProcessId	Unique identifier of the process that creates a process. Process identifier numbers are reused, so they only identify a process for the lifetime of that process. It is possible that the process identified by ParentProcessId is terminated, so ParentProcessId may not refer to a running process. It is also possible that ParentProcessId incorrectly refers to a process that reuses a process identifier. You can use the CreationDate property to determine whether the specified parent was created after the process represented by this Win32_Process instance was created.
PeakPageFileUsage	Maximum amount of page file space used during the life of a process.
PeakVirtualSize	The peak paged memory size.
PeakWorkingSetSize	Peak working set size of a process.
Priority	Scheduling priority of a process within an operating system. The higher the value, the higher priority a process receives. Priority values can range from 0 (zero), which is the lowest priority to 31, which is highest priority.
PrivatePageCount	Current number of pages allocated that are only accessible to the process represented by this Win32_Process instance.
ProcessId	Global process identifier that is used to identify a process. The value is valid from the time a process is created until it is terminated.
QuotaNonPagedPoolUsage	Quota amount of nonpaged pool usage for a process.
QuotaPagedPoolUsage	Quota amount of paged pool usage for a process.
QuotaPeakNonPagedPoolUsage	Peak quota amount of nonpaged pool usage for a process.
QuotaPeakPagedPoolUsage	Peak quota amount of paged pool usage for a process.
ReadOperationCount	Number of read operations performed.
ReadTransferCount	Amount of data read.
SessionId	Unique identifier that an operating system generates when a session is created. A session spans a period of time from logon until logoff from a specific system.
Status	This property is not implemented and does not get populated for any instance of this class. It is always NULL.
TerminationDate	Process was stopped or terminated. To get the termination time, a handle to the process must be held open. Otherwise, this property returns NULL.
ThreadCount	Number of active threads in a process. An instruction is the basic unit of execution in a processor, and a thread is the object that executes an instruction. Each running process has at least one thread.
UserModeTime	Time in user mode, in 100 nanosecond units. If this information is not available, use a value of 0 (zero).
VirtualSize	Current size of the virtual address space that a process is using, not the physical or virtual memory actually used by the process. Using virtual address space does not necessarily imply corresponding use of either disk or main memory pages. Virtual space is finite, and by using too much, the process might not be able to load libraries. This value is consistent with what you see in Perfmon.exe.
WindowsVersion	Version of Windows in which the process is running.
WorkingSetSize	Amount of memory in bytes that a process needs to execute efficiently—for an operating system that uses page-based memory management. If the system does not have enough memory (less than the working set size), thrashing occurs. If the size of the working set is not known, use NULL or 0 (zero). If working set data is provided, you can monitor the information to understand the changing memory requirements of a process.
WriteOperationCount	Number of write operations performed.
WriteTransferCount	Amount of data written.

The table below contains the complete list of dataset columns populated during runtime and their description as derived from the.NET Framework Class Library (populated when Use WMI option is disabled).

Name	Description
BasePriority	The base priority of the associated process.
CanRaiseEvents	A value indicating whether the component can raise an event.
Container	The IContainer that contains the Component.
DesignMode	A value that indicates whether the Component is currently in design mode.
EnableRaisingEvents	Gets or sets whether the Exited event should be raised when the process terminates.
Events	The list of event handlers that are attached to this Component.
ExitCode	The value that the associated process specified when it terminated.
ExitTime	The time that the associated process exited.
Handle	The native handle of the associated process.
HandleCount	The number of handles opened by the process.
HasExited	A value indicating whether the associated process has been terminated.
Id	The unique identifier for the associated process.
MachineName	The name of the computer the associated process is running on.
MainModule	The main module for the associated process.
MainWindowHandle	The window handle of the main window of the associated process.
MaxWorkingSet	Gets or sets the maximum allowable working set size for the associated process.
MinWorkingSet	Gets or sets the minimum allowable working set size for the associated process.
Modules	The modules that have been loaded by the associated process.
NonpagedSystemMemorySize	The nonpaged system memory size allocated to this process.
NonpagedSystemMemorySize64	The amount of nonpaged system memory allocated for the associated process.
PagedMemorySize	The paged memory size.
PagedMemorySize64	The amount of paged memory allocated for the associated process.
PagedSystemMemorySize	The paged system memory size.
PagedSystemMemorySize64	The amount of pageable system memory allocated for the associated process.
PeakPagedMemorySize	The peak paged memory size.
PeakPagedMemorySize64	The maximum amount of memory in the virtual memory paging file used by the associated process.
PeakVirtualMemorySize	The peak virtual memory size.
PeakVirtualMemorySize64	The maximum amount of virtual memory used by the associated process.
PeakWorkingSet	The peak working set size for the associated process.
PeakWorkingSet64	The maximum amount of physical memory used by the associated process.
PriorityBoostEnabled	Gets or sets a value indicating whether the associated process priority should temporarily be boosted by the operating system when the main window has the focus.
PriorityClass	Gets or sets the overall priority category for the associated process.
PrivateMemorySize	Gets the private memory size.
PrivateMemorySize64	Gets the amount of private memory allocated for the associated process.
PrivilegedProcessorTime	PrivilegedProcessorTime Gets the privileged processor time for this process.
ProcessName	Gets the name of the process.
ProcessorAffinity	Gets or sets the processors on which the threads in this process can be scheduled to run.
Responding	A value indicating whether the user interface of the process is responding.
SessionId	The Terminal Services session identifier for the associated process.
Site	Gets or sets the ISite of the Component. (Inherited from Component.)
StandardError	A stream used to read the error output of the application.
StandardInput	A stream used to write the input of the application.
StandardOutput	A stream used to read the output of the application.
StartInfo	Gets or sets the properties to pass to the Start method of the Process.
StartTime	The time that the associated process was started.
SynchronizingObject	Gets or sets the object used to marshal the event handler calls that are issued as a result of a process exit event.
Threads	The set of threads that are running in the associated process.
TotalProcessorTime	The total processor time for this process.
UserProcessorTime	The user processor time for this process.
VirtualMemorySize	The size of the process's virtual memory.
VirtualMemorySize64	The amount of the virtual memory allocated for the associated process.
WorkingSet	The associated process's physical memory usage.
WorkingSet64	The amount of physical memory allocated for the associated process.

Variables and Expressions

All text fields allow the use of expressions, which can be entered by surrounding the expression in percentage signs (example: %MYVARIABLE%, % Left('Text',2)%). To help construct these expressions, you can open Expression Builder from these fields by pressing F2.