c++ can't pass an argument with CreateProcess

i have to pass a string into my process, but for some reason i can't

i've tried to pass a path and an argument in function, i've tried to put a \0 after the argument, i've tried to pass an argument or space + an argument but it doesn't passes. could you please help me?

#include <stdio.h>
#include <tchar.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;
void _tmain(int argc, TCHAR* argv[])
{
    cout << "we are here!\n";
    STARTUPINFO si;
    PROCESS_INFORMATION pi;


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

    string first = "C:\\Users\\User\\source\\repos\\1\\x64\\Debug\\1.exe";  //Initializing a name of our file
    wstring temp = wstring(first.begin(), first.end());  // Initializing an object of wstring
    LPCWSTR file_name = temp.c_str();  // Applying c_str() method on temp

    string s1 = " 1.exe 1\0";
    LPWSTR cl1 = (LPWSTR)s1.c_str();

    // Start the child process. 
    if (!CreateProcess(file_name,   // No module name (use command line)
        cl1,        // Command line
        NULL,           // Process handle not inheritable
        NULL,           // Thread handle not inheritable
        FALSE,          // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
        CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE,              // Creating console for our application
        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;
    }

    // Wait until child process exits.
    WaitForSingleObject(pi.hProcess, INFINITE);
    // Close process and thread handles. 
    CloseHandle(pi.hProcess);
    CloseHandle(pi.hThread);
       

    cout << "we are done!\n";
}

thanks for your help in advance

Are you compiling in Unicode or Multibyte (MBCS)?

Assuming you are compiling in Unicode you can avoid the use of string objects and use wstring objects instead.

To initialize a wstring you have to prefix the double quoted string with an L, i.e.

wstring first(L"C:\\Users\\User\\source\\repos\\1\\x64\\Debug\\1.exe");

So, you can avoid the use of temp variable.

Note: Is more efficient to initialize a (w)string using the constructor instead of the assignment operator.

Also, the cast in

string s1 = " 1.exe 1\0";
LPWSTR cl1 = (LPWSTR)s1.c_str();

is nos valid, as s1.c_str() return type is const char* (or LPCSTR).

Instead, you can declare

wstring s1(L" 1.exe 1\0");
LPCWSTR cl1 = s1.c_str();

In fact, you don't need to assign the result of c_str() to another variable. You can call to c_str() when you are calling to CreateProcess. The code could be something as:

//Initializing a name of our file
wstring first(L"C:\\Users\\User\\source\\repos\\1\\x64\\Debug\\1.exe");  
wstring s1(L" 1.exe 1\0");

// Start the child process. 
if (!CreateProcess(first.c_str(),   // No module name (use command line)
    const_cast<LPWSTR>(s1.c_str()),        // Command line
    NULL,           // Process handle not inheritable
    NULL,           // Thread handle not inheritable
    FALSE,          // Set handle inheritance to FALSE
    CREATE_NEW_CONSOLE,              // Creating console for our application
    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;
}

If you are compiling with MBCS you should change wstring by string and remove the L prefix when initializing strings. The rest of the code could remain the same.