Making Windows TShell Interactive for Executable Input Streams

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Making Windows TShell Interactive for Executable Input Streams

Siva Vardhan Reddy Kopparthi Annarapu 20

How can I modify the execd test.exe command used to run a test executable on a Windows DUT so that it supports interactive input during execution? Currently, execd runs the executable non-interactively, meaning I can't provide input while it's running. My specific use case involves reading user input using fgets(input, OPTION_SIZE, stdin) within the executable. Is there a way to enable or simulate interactive input in this scenario?

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Answer 1

Anonymous

Thanks for reaching out !

The execd command runs non-interactively, so fgets(stdin) won’t work. To enable input, try using TAEF's RunAs to run the test in user context, or simulate input using a batch script like (echo 8 & echo 1 & echo 0) | test.exe.

Let me know if you need help setting that up.

Siva Vardhan Reddy Kopparthi Annarapu 20 Reputation points

2025-09-30T07:32:26.0366667+00:00

Thanks for helping me out.

I understand that the only available option to run any application on a Windows DUT is by using Windows TShell and execd from the host machine. The solution you suggested seems more applicable to running test.exe on the host machine itself—though I might be mistaken. Could you kindly elaborate on your suggestion to clarify how it aligns with my use case?
Anonymous

2025-09-30T13:35:57.23+00:00
Understand the Limitation

execd runs executables non-interactively on the DUT.

Functions like fgets(stdin) won’t receive live input Create a Batch File to Simulate Input

On the host machine, create a file named run_test.bat with this content: @echo off (echo 8 & echo 1 & echo 0) | test.exe This simulates entering 8, 1, and 0 as user input. Transfer Files to the DUT

Use TShell commands from the host putd test.exe putd run_test.bat Run the Batch File on the DUT

Execute the batch file using TShell execd run_test.bat Verify Output

Check the output to confirm that test.exe received the simulated input correctly.

Customize Input as Needed

Modify the echo lines in the batch file to match the expected input for your test case.
Siva Vardhan Reddy Kopparthi Annarapu 20 Reputation points

2025-10-01T12:24:34.76+00:00

As far as I understood, it will send 8, 1, 0 immediately to test.exe whenever fgets(stdin) executes. The options for test.exe here are mostly time based.

To elaborate further, test.exe is an executable which creates monitoring thread when given 's' as input. This thread profiles examples running on windows DUT. test.exe will wait for user input 'e' to be given so that it'll stop the monitoring thread and save the profiling logs to a file.

How to handle this type of scenarios?
Anonymous

2025-10-03T05:17:05.65+00:00

Thanks for the clarification. Since test.exe needs real-time user input like 's' to start and 'e' to stop monitoring, piping or redirecting input won’t work well.

To handle this, you’ll need to run test.exe in an interactive console on the DUT. Here are two options:

Use PsExec with interactive mode

Run the executable like this:

psexec -i \\DUT_IP test.exe

This opens an interactive session where you can type input directly.

Use a wrapper script to launch in a new console

Create a .bat file with

start /wait cmd /c test.exe

Then run the .bat file via execd. This opens a console window for interaction.
Anonymous

2025-10-06T04:03:11+00:00

"Hope you're doing well. We're following up on the ticket. Please let us know whether the issue persists or has been resolved. If the issue has been resolved, kindly mark the response as answered"
Siva Vardhan Reddy Kopparthi Annarapu 20 Reputation points

2025-10-09T07:24:03.9166667+00:00

For some reason, creating bat file and run doesn't work interactively.

But I am happy since the first one worked. For this, we need to enable network sharing on DUT and download psexec additionally which seems okay.

Thank you very much for helping me out..!!
Anonymous

2025-10-10T03:17:16.59+00:00

Hi

Thanks

if the answer is working please accepted the answer

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Making Windows TShell Interactive for Executable Input Streams

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