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Description

Searches for a process by name and returns whether the process was found or not. This is a convenient alternative to manually enumerating all processes with LM_EnumProcesses.

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Function Signature

LM_API lm_bool_t LM_CALL
LM_FindProcess(lm_string_t   process_name,
               lm_process_t *process_out);

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Parameters

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process_name
lm_string_t
required
The name of the process you are trying to find (e.g., "game.exe"). It can also be a relative path, such as /game/hello for a process at /usr/share/game/hello.Note: lm_string_t is defined as const char *
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process_out
lm_process_t *
required
A pointer to the lm_process_t structure that will be populated with information about the found process.

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Return Value

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return
lm_bool_t
Returns LM_TRUE if the process with the specified name was found successfully, or LM_FALSE otherwise.

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Process Structure

The process_out parameter is populated with the following structure: 
typedef struct lm_process_t {
    lm_pid_t  pid;          // Process ID
    lm_pid_t  ppid;         // Parent process ID
    lm_arch_t arch;         // Process architecture
    lm_size_t bits;         // Process bits (32 or 64)
    lm_time_t start_time;   // Process start timestamp in ms since boot
    lm_char_t path[LM_PATH_MAX];  // Full path to process executable
    lm_char_t name[LM_PATH_MAX];  // Process name
} lm_process_t;

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Examples

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Find Process by Exact Name

#include <libmem/libmem.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    lm_process_t process;
    
    if (LM_FindProcess("game.exe", &process)) {
        printf("Found game.exe!\n");
        printf("  PID: %d\n", process.pid);
        printf("  Path: %s\n", process.path);
        printf("  Bits: %zu\n", process.bits);
    } else {
        printf("game.exe not found\n");
    }
    
    return 0;
}

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Find Process by Relative Path

#include <libmem/libmem.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    lm_process_t process;
    
    // Find process with path ending in "/game/hello"
    if (LM_FindProcess("/game/hello", &process)) {
        printf("Found process!\n");
        printf("  Full path: %s\n", process.path);
        printf("  PID: %d\n", process.pid);
    } else {
        printf("Process not found\n");
    }
    
    return 0;
}

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Monitor Target Process

#include <libmem/libmem.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <unistd.h>

int main()
{
    lm_process_t target;
    const char *target_name = "my_app";
    
    printf("Waiting for %s to start...\n", target_name);
    
    // Poll until process is found
    while (!LM_FindProcess(target_name, &target)) {
        sleep(1);
    }
    
    printf("Process started!\n");
    printf("  PID: %d\n", target.pid);
    printf("  Path: %s\n", target.path);
    printf("  Start time: %llu ms\n", target.start_time);
    
    // Keep reference to check if process is still alive
    while (LM_IsProcessAlive(&target)) {
        printf("Process is still running...\n");
        sleep(5);
    }
    
    printf("Process has terminated\n");
    return 0;
}

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Cross-Platform Process Finding

#include <libmem/libmem.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    lm_process_t process;
    
#ifdef _WIN32
    const char *process_name = "notepad.exe";
#else
    const char *process_name = "firefox";
#endif
    
    if (LM_FindProcess(process_name, &process)) {
        printf("Found %s\n", process_name);
        printf("  Architecture: ");
        
        switch (process.arch) {
            case LM_ARCH_X86:
                printf("x86 (32-bit)\n");
                break;
            case LM_ARCH_X64:
                printf("x64 (64-bit)\n");
                break;
            default:
                printf("Other (%u)\n", process.arch);
                break;
        }
    }
    
    return 0;
}

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Name Matching Behavior

  • Exact name: "game.exe" matches only processes named game.exe
  • Relative path: "/bin/sh" matches any process whose path ends with /bin/sh
  • Case sensitivity: Depends on the operating system (case-sensitive on Linux, case-insensitive on Windows)
  • First match: If multiple processes have the same name, the first one found is returned

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Notes

  • This function internally uses LM_EnumProcesses to search for the process
  • If multiple processes have the same name, only the first match is returned
  • The process must be running at the time of the call
  • On some systems, you may need elevated privileges to find all processes
  • Use LM_IsProcessAlive to verify the process is still running after finding it
  • For more control over the search, use LM_EnumProcesses with a custom callback

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Common Use Cases

  1. Process injection: Find target process before injecting a DLL
  2. Process monitoring: Check if a specific application is running
  3. Game hacking: Locate game process for memory manipulation
  4. Anti-cheat bypass: Detect if anti-cheat processes are running
  5. Automation: Wait for a specific process to start before performing actions

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See Also

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