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Forum Update on Monday, May 27th 2025

Qprocess show stdoutput only on ending of excecution.

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  • S saran

    @JNBarchan ok.

    JonBJ Offline
    JonBJ Offline
    JonB
    wrote on last edited by JonB
    #6

    @saran
    There seem to be two possibilities for your issue. I'm not sure which:

    • I may well be misunderstanding your code (I have never done QProcess stuff), but are you sure you have your read/write stdin/stdout the right way round between your parent & child process? You want your main program to be reading its stdin from your subprocess which is writing to its stdout, from what you describe. My impression looking at your code is that you are connecting your program's stdout to the child process's "read channel", which is the opposite way round. Before you/I waste any time on this, am I right or wrong?

    • If it's not that, the usual culprit is buffering of output in the child process, so that when it writes stuff your parent application does not yet get to actually read it till it gets flushed/process exits.

    S 1 Reply Last reply
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    • JonBJ JonB

      @saran
      There seem to be two possibilities for your issue. I'm not sure which:

      • I may well be misunderstanding your code (I have never done QProcess stuff), but are you sure you have your read/write stdin/stdout the right way round between your parent & child process? You want your main program to be reading its stdin from your subprocess which is writing to its stdout, from what you describe. My impression looking at your code is that you are connecting your program's stdout to the child process's "read channel", which is the opposite way round. Before you/I waste any time on this, am I right or wrong?

      • If it's not that, the usual culprit is buffering of output in the child process, so that when it writes stuff your parent application does not yet get to actually read it till it gets flushed/process exits.

      S Offline
      S Offline
      saran
      wrote on last edited by
      #7

      @JNBarchan

      • The read channel is ok, when the process finish, I get the output.
      • I probed QIODevice::Unbuffered option on process->start but still not working.
      JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • S saran

        @JNBarchan

        • The read channel is ok, when the process finish, I get the output.
        • I probed QIODevice::Unbuffered option on process->start but still not working.
        JonBJ Offline
        JonBJ Offline
        JonB
        wrote on last edited by JonB
        #8

        @saran
        Thanks for clarifying.
        Is your code your own, or is it taken from an example somewhere?
        Are you saying you never receive SIGNAL(readyReadStandardOutput()) nor SIGNAL(readyRead()), but only SIGNAL(finished)?

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        • JonBJ JonB

          @saran
          Thanks for clarifying.
          Is your code your own, or is it taken from an example somewhere?
          Are you saying you never receive SIGNAL(readyReadStandardOutput()) nor SIGNAL(readyRead()), but only SIGNAL(finished)?

          S Offline
          S Offline
          saran
          wrote on last edited by
          #9

          @JNBarchan
          Is my own code, based on examples.
          I recieve both, SIGNAL(readyReadStandardOutput) and them SIGNAL(finished).
          The software output when you open it on a cmd.exe is something like this:
          0_1507751363909_58924232-3d17-4c01-b9cf-ef6b5b21e6a8-image.png

          JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • S saran

            @JNBarchan
            Is my own code, based on examples.
            I recieve both, SIGNAL(readyReadStandardOutput) and them SIGNAL(finished).
            The software output when you open it on a cmd.exe is something like this:
            0_1507751363909_58924232-3d17-4c01-b9cf-ef6b5b21e6a8-image.png

            JonBJ Offline
            JonBJ Offline
            JonB
            wrote on last edited by
            #10

            @saran
            Your question states:

            when I excecute on Qprocess I have a signal only on end off execution

            Now you say:

            I recieve both, SIGNAL(readyReadStandardOutput) and them SIGNAL(finished).

            Am I being dense, but I'm getting more confused?

            Your code shows 3 signal handlers. Can you state nice & clearly which ones you do and do not get, and when?

            1 Reply Last reply
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            • S saran

              I 'm using QProcess to launch a external application. (st-link_cli.exe)
              if I excecute the application on cmd.exe, I can see the progress of the software but when I excecute on Qprocess I have a signal only on end off execution and I can't show the progress of the app.
              There is another signal that can I use?

                      process = new QProcess(this);
                      QStringList argumentos;
                      process->setWorkingDirectory(QDir::home().absolutePath());
                      QString file = "ST-LINK_CLI.exe";
                      qWarning(file.toStdString().c_str());
                      argumentos << "-P" << filehex  << "-Q" << "-V" <<  "after_programming";
                      process->setReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
                      process->setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
                      process->setCurrentReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
                      connect(process, SIGNAL(readyReadStandardOutput()), this, SLOT(readOutput()));
                      connect(process, SIGNAL(readyRead()), this, SLOT(readOutput()));
                      connect(process, SIGNAL(finished(int,QProcess::ExitStatus)),this,SLOT(stlinkFinish()));
                      process->start(file,argumentos);
              
              jsulmJ Offline
              jsulmJ Offline
              jsulm
              Lifetime Qt Champion
              wrote on last edited by
              #11

              @saran said in Qprocess show stdoutput only on ending of excecution.:

              process->start(file,argumentos);

              Can you show what you're doing after this line?

              Also why do you have this

              process->setReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
              process->setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
              process->setCurrentReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
              

              ?

              What are you doing in readOutput()?

              One more question: to which channel does this executable write (stdout or stderr)?

              https://forum.qt.io/topic/113070/qt-code-of-conduct

              JonBJ S 2 Replies Last reply
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              • jsulmJ jsulm

                @saran said in Qprocess show stdoutput only on ending of excecution.:

                process->start(file,argumentos);

                Can you show what you're doing after this line?

                Also why do you have this

                process->setReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
                process->setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
                process->setCurrentReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
                

                ?

                What are you doing in readOutput()?

                One more question: to which channel does this executable write (stdout or stderr)?

                JonBJ Offline
                JonBJ Offline
                JonB
                wrote on last edited by
                #12

                @jsulm said in Qprocess show stdoutput only on ending of excecution.:

                One more question: to which channel does this executable write (stdout or stderr)?

                Because he is using setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels) the executable will effectively only write to stdout, not stderr. http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qprocess.html:

                [QProcess::MergedChannels] QProcess merges the output of the running process into the standard output channel (stdout). The standard error channel (stderr) will not receive any data. The standard output and standard error data of the running process are interleaved.

                1 Reply Last reply
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                • jsulmJ jsulm

                  @saran said in Qprocess show stdoutput only on ending of excecution.:

                  process->start(file,argumentos);

                  Can you show what you're doing after this line?

                  Also why do you have this

                  process->setReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
                  process->setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
                  process->setCurrentReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
                  

                  ?

                  What are you doing in readOutput()?

                  One more question: to which channel does this executable write (stdout or stderr)?

                  S Offline
                  S Offline
                  saran
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #13

                  @jsulm
                  process->start is the last line.
                  I have

                  process->setReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
                  process->setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
                  process->setCurrentReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
                  

                  Just to make sure the process writes to stdout but anyway, without those lines the behavior is the same.

                  On readOutput I have:

                  void softsWindow::readOutput(){
                      qWarning(QString::number(process->bytesAvailable()).toStdString().c_str());
                      while(process->canReadLine()){
                          QByteArray linea = process->readLine();
                          ui->textBrowser->append(linea);        
                      }
                  } 
                  

                  As you can see, the function directs the text of the stdout to a QTextBrowser
                  With the qWarning(QString::number(process->bytesAvailable()).toStdString().c_str()); line, I can see that the function receives all the data at once. the line print a "677" on application output, at same time the QTextBrowser print all the output.

                  JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                  1
                  • S saran

                    @jsulm
                    process->start is the last line.
                    I have

                    process->setReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
                    process->setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
                    process->setCurrentReadChannel(QProcess::StandardOutput);
                    

                    Just to make sure the process writes to stdout but anyway, without those lines the behavior is the same.

                    On readOutput I have:

                    void softsWindow::readOutput(){
                        qWarning(QString::number(process->bytesAvailable()).toStdString().c_str());
                        while(process->canReadLine()){
                            QByteArray linea = process->readLine();
                            ui->textBrowser->append(linea);        
                        }
                    } 
                    

                    As you can see, the function directs the text of the stdout to a QTextBrowser
                    With the qWarning(QString::number(process->bytesAvailable()).toStdString().c_str()); line, I can see that the function receives all the data at once. the line print a "677" on application output, at same time the QTextBrowser print all the output.

                    JonBJ Offline
                    JonBJ Offline
                    JonB
                    wrote on last edited by JonB
                    #14

                    @saran
                    Do two things:

                    1. Replace while(process->canReadLine()) and the process->readLine(); by QProcess::readAllStandardOutput(). It avoids looping and relying on when process->canReadLine() returns true. (It also means we can try "unbufferred", which canReadLine() says it cannot handle; you might want to retry QIODevice::Unbuffered to see if that now makes any difference.) I would think about doing it like that anyway, unless you have reason to want to only grab whole lines at a time for output.

                    2. Replace the command you're executing by one which produces voluminous output, e.g. dir /s c:\. What arrives when? Does the subprocess actually get stuck because the parent has failed to read its output as it goes along, which is what will happen if the signal only ever arrives at the end? We need to know whether behaviour is linked to
                      how st-link_cli.exe produces its output versus anything else.

                    BTW, if when you last ran it returned just "677" as you say, that does not correspond at all to the output you show in your screenshot. Please try to keep things consistent since we are measuring when output arrives.

                    S 1 Reply Last reply
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                    • JonBJ JonB

                      @saran
                      Do two things:

                      1. Replace while(process->canReadLine()) and the process->readLine(); by QProcess::readAllStandardOutput(). It avoids looping and relying on when process->canReadLine() returns true. (It also means we can try "unbufferred", which canReadLine() says it cannot handle; you might want to retry QIODevice::Unbuffered to see if that now makes any difference.) I would think about doing it like that anyway, unless you have reason to want to only grab whole lines at a time for output.

                      2. Replace the command you're executing by one which produces voluminous output, e.g. dir /s c:\. What arrives when? Does the subprocess actually get stuck because the parent has failed to read its output as it goes along, which is what will happen if the signal only ever arrives at the end? We need to know whether behaviour is linked to
                        how st-link_cli.exe produces its output versus anything else.

                      BTW, if when you last ran it returned just "677" as you say, that does not correspond at all to the output you show in your screenshot. Please try to keep things consistent since we are measuring when output arrives.

                      S Offline
                      S Offline
                      saran
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #15

                      @JNBarchan
                      When I said that I get "677", I was talking about the qWarning(QString::number(process->bytesAvailable()).toStdString().c_str()); line, this is consistent, when readOutput function is executed, all stdout bytes are availables for read, so process->bytesAvailable() is 677, that is the characters count.
                      The screenshot shows the output when I run st-link_cli.exe on cmd.exe, as astated above.

                      JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • S saran

                        @JNBarchan
                        When I said that I get "677", I was talking about the qWarning(QString::number(process->bytesAvailable()).toStdString().c_str()); line, this is consistent, when readOutput function is executed, all stdout bytes are availables for read, so process->bytesAvailable() is 677, that is the characters count.
                        The screenshot shows the output when I run st-link_cli.exe on cmd.exe, as astated above.

                        JonBJ Offline
                        JonBJ Offline
                        JonB
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #16

                        @saran
                        OIC, that's because it has 677 bytes initially, then it manages to keep satisfying the canReadLine with more data which has arrived since, I guess. WE could have done with another qWarning(QString::number(process->bytesAvailable()).toStdString().c_str()); inside the loop.

                        Never mind about that. Suggest you try my 2 recommendations and report back :)

                        S 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • JonBJ JonB

                          @saran
                          OIC, that's because it has 677 bytes initially, then it manages to keep satisfying the canReadLine with more data which has arrived since, I guess. WE could have done with another qWarning(QString::number(process->bytesAvailable()).toStdString().c_str()); inside the loop.

                          Never mind about that. Suggest you try my 2 recommendations and report back :)

                          S Offline
                          S Offline
                          saran
                          wrote on last edited by saran
                          #17

                          @JNBarchan

                          1. The same with the replaces. The problem is in the SIGNAL, that is not generating the trigger on each new line.

                          2. I tried the following and the code works as I expected:

                              QString file = "ping";
                              QStringList argumentos << "192.168.0.1";
                              process->start(file,argumentos);
                          

                          Result: 5 SIGNAL(readyReadStandardOutput()), on each one, the readOutoput function printed correctly the output on the QTextBrowser.

                          So the problem is the st-link_cli.exe output.

                          JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
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                          • S saran

                            @JNBarchan

                            1. The same with the replaces. The problem is in the SIGNAL, that is not generating the trigger on each new line.

                            2. I tried the following and the code works as I expected:

                                QString file = "ping";
                                QStringList argumentos << "192.168.0.1";
                                process->start(file,argumentos);
                            

                            Result: 5 SIGNAL(readyReadStandardOutput()), on each one, the readOutoput function printed correctly the output on the QTextBrowser.

                            So the problem is the st-link_cli.exe output.

                            JonBJ Offline
                            JonBJ Offline
                            JonB
                            wrote on last edited by JonB
                            #18

                            @saran
                            Yes, like it's being buffered there so you don't get it, that's the usual problem I suspected at start. Try the QIODevice::Unbuffered now assuming you've changed to use QProcess::readAllStandardOutput() instead of process->readLine(); ?

                            S 1 Reply Last reply
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                            • JonBJ JonB

                              @saran
                              Yes, like it's being buffered there so you don't get it, that's the usual problem I suspected at start. Try the QIODevice::Unbuffered now assuming you've changed to use QProcess::readAllStandardOutput() instead of process->readLine(); ?

                              S Offline
                              S Offline
                              saran
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #19

                              @JNBarchan
                              There is no SIGNAL(readyReadStandardOutput() nor SIGNAL(readyRead() when I put QIODevice::Unbuffered .

                              JonBJ 1 Reply Last reply
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                              • S saran

                                @JNBarchan
                                There is no SIGNAL(readyReadStandardOutput() nor SIGNAL(readyRead() when I put QIODevice::Unbuffered .

                                JonBJ Offline
                                JonBJ Offline
                                JonB
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #20

                                @saran
                                Hmm, that sounds odd to me, why would that be?

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                                • J Offline
                                  J Offline
                                  jdascenzio
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #21

                                  I have the same trouble. It's seems to happen when the end of line send by a process is only \n instead of \r\n for windows.....

                                  G 1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • J jdascenzio

                                    I have the same trouble. It's seems to happen when the end of line send by a process is only \n instead of \r\n for windows.....

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                                    G Offline
                                    greenpitaya
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #22

                                    Also facing the same issues, ping works fine realtime, but the readyRead signal isnt getting triggered when theres a 'print' command on my custom executable. As everyone else, it gets triggered only after the process is completed.

                                    @saran were you able to debug this problem eventually?

                                    @jdascenzio does using \r \n solve this problem? It did not for me

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                                    • J Offline
                                      J Offline
                                      jarl93rsa
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #23

                                      Yes I realise this topic is old, but replying to it anyway as it's one of the first things that appear in google when you search this issue.

                                      For anyone who hasn't resolved this there's a chance your application is buffering its stdout, and it's not a problem on the qt side.

                                      I had this same issue, my logging functions writing to stdout in the application I was trying to get output from wouldn't show until the process had finished. It was resolved by flushing stdout.

                                      In my case my c program log function would write to printf(), and at the end of those functions I needed to put fflush(stdout).

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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