Tasks plugin for Take Command / TCC / TCC/LE
Version 1.0.31 2025-09-18
Charles Dye
Purpose:
This plugin reimplements the ENUMPROCESSES,
SERVICES, and TASKLIST
commands. These are syntax-compatible to their TCC equivalents, but include new options
and new features including more info, sorting, and highlighting.
I also provide five new functions, @ELEVATED,
@PIDCHILDREN,
@PIDEXENAME, @PIDSVCNAMES,
and @PIDWOW64. These expose internal functions
which might be useful to the user.
Installation:
To use this plugin, copy Tasks.dll and
Tasks.chm to some known location on your hard
drive. (If you are still using the 32-bit version of Take Command, take
Tasks-x86.dll instead of
Tasks.dll.) Load the .DLL file with a
PLUGIN /L command, for example:
plugin /l c:\bin\tcmd\test\tasks.dll
If you copy these files to a subdirectory named PlugIns within your Take Command program directory, the plugin will be loaded automatically when TCC starts.
Plugin Features:
| New Commands: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
ENUMPROCESSES | SERVICES | TASKLIST | ||
| New Functions: | ||||
@ELEVATED | @PIDCHILDREN | @PIDEXENAME | @PIDSVCNAMES | @PIDWOW64 |
Syntax Note:
The syntax definitions in the following text use these conventions for clarity:
BOLD CODE | indicates text which must be typed exactly as shown. |
CODE | indicates optional text, which may be typed as shown or omitted. |
| Bold italic | names a required argument; a value must be supplied. |
| Regular italic | names an optional argument. |
| ellipsis… | after an argument means that more than one may be given. |
Examples are shown in a gray box:
rem This is an example:
enumprocesses %_ppid
Some command options take an argument. These are shown with a colon between the
option and its argument: /A:arg
If you like, you may substitute an equals sign for the colon: /A=arg
This is handy if the arg is a filename, and you want to use tab completion to
enter the filename.
Or you can omit the colon: /Aarg
New Commands:
ENUMPROCESSES — List
processes started by the specified process.
Syntax:
ENUMPROCESSES /D /O:keys /P /T /W /X pid…
/D | no highlight |
/O:keys | sort processes |
/P | page output |
/T | tree graphics |
/W | show window titles and service names |
/X | give process IDs in hexadecimal |
| pid… | may be decimal, or hexadecimal with a leading 0x |
You may supply more than one pid, separated by spaces. If no pid is given, the current instance of TCC is assumed.
/O: can sort by several criteria. The available sort
keys are:
N | sort by process name |
-N | reverse sort by process name |
P | sort by process ID |
-P | reverse sort by process ID |
These can be combined, e.g. /O:NP to sort by process name first,
then by process ID. If you type /O by itself, ENUMPROCESSES
will sort by process ID, the same as /O:P. Note that TCC’s
ENUMPROCESSES command does not support /O.
• Note: TCC’s native ENUMPROCESSES
only accepts a single pid, which must be in decimal.
All options /D, /O:, /P, /T,
/W, and /X, are new and incompatible with TCC.
SERVICES — List, start, or
stop services.
Syntax:
SERVICES /I /P /R /S /Tn name…
| Compatible options: | |
/I | show process IDs |
/P | page output |
/R | start services |
/S | stop services |
/Tn | only services of type n (bitmapped): |
| 1: kernel drivers | |
| 2: filesystem drivers | |
| 16: services which run in their own process | |
| 32: services that share a process | |
| name | may contain wildcards; required with /R or /S |
| New options — incompatible with TCC: | |
/D | no highlight |
/F | show filenames if found |
/I:pid | show only processes with the specified process ID |
/L | show line numbers |
/O:keys | sort services |
/V | show service type values |
/X | show process IDs in hex |
This command is intended to be syntax-compatible with its TCC equivalent. However, its operation and output may differ.
Using any of the new options will break compatibility with TCC.
/O: can sort by several criteria. The available sort
keys are:
D | sort by display name |
-D | reverse sort by display name |
N | sort by service name |
-N | reverse sort by service name |
P | sort by process ID |
-P | reverse sort by process ID |
S | sort by status |
-S | reverse sort by status |
These can be combined, e.g. /O:PN to sort by process ID first,
then by service name. If you type /O by itself, SERVICES
will sort by service names, the same as /O:N. Note that TCC’s
SERVICES command does not support /O.
TASKLIST — List running
processes.
Syntax:
TASKLIST /C /D /H /I /L /M /N /O /P /R /T /U /V /X /Z name…
| Compatible features: | |
/C | show priority classes |
/D | dump names of modules loaded by each process |
/H | list threads for each process |
/I | show code integrity levels (Vista and later only) |
/L | show startup command lines |
/M | show memory usage |
/N | show window class names |
/O | sort processes by PID |
/P | page output |
/R | show a process tree |
/T | show kernel-mode and user-mode times |
/U | display owner username for each process |
/U:wildspec | only list processes whose owner names match wildspec |
/X | display process and thread IDs in hexadecimal |
/Z | include parent PIDs |
| name | a program name, window title, or =PID |
| New features — incompatible with TCC: | |
/E | show extra info |
/F | show the filename for each process |
/MM | show memory usage in an abbreviated format |
/N:opts | disable features |
/O:keys | sort processes |
/R:n | process tree, limited to depth n (0 = no limit) |
/V | show virtual desktops |
/X:wildspec | exclude program names matching wildspec |
options may follow the name; in TCC’s native TASKLIST they must precede it | |
| you may give more than one name | |
. may be used to list the current process (shorthand for =%_PID) | |
This command is syntax-compatible with its TCC equivalent, but is not guaranteed to display the same information. The format will also differ slightly. Using any of the options listed under “New features” will break compatibility with TCC.
/E displays extra information about
each process. Elevated processes (‘Run as administrator’) will be
marked with an up arrow: ↑ 32-bit programs will be marked with
a guillemet: »
C | disable highlight |
D | do not match name against display names (window titles, service names) |
F | no footer (summary line) |
S | do not collect service names |
T | do not match this console’s window title |
W | do not collect window titles |
X | do not hide extensions |
You can combine multiple suboptions. The colon is optional. This option is not compatible with TCC.
/O: can sort by several criteria.
The available sort keys are:
N | sort by process name |
-N | reverse sort by process name |
P | sort by process ID |
-P | reverse sort by process ID |
T | sort by window title or service name |
-T | reverse sort by window title or service name |
Z | sort by parent process ID |
-Z | reverse sort by parent process ID |
These can be combined, e.g. /O:ZP to sort by parent
process ID first, then by process ID. Note that TCC’s TASKLIST
command does not support this syntax. If you type /O by itself,
TASKLIST will sort by process ID, the same as /O:P.
/V attempts to show the name of
the virtual desktop on which each program’s window appears. Some
caveats for this feature:
- Virtual desktops first appeared in Windows 10. Older versions of Windows do not support this feature.
- Virtual desktops manage windows, not programs. A program may
have zero, one, or several windows. The window that
TASKLISTselects to represent a program might not be the one you would pick. - No desktop will be listed for hidden windows. (Windows API limitation?)
- If you use
/NWto prevent the collection of window info,/Vwill be disabled as well.
New Functions:
@ELEVATED — Tests whether
a process is elevated.
Syntax:
%@ELEVATED[pid]
| pid | the process ID of the process to check |
The pid may be entered in decimal, or hexadecimal with
a leading 0x. If pid is not specified,
the current instance of TCC is assumed. @ELEVATED returns one of:
| 1 | if the specified process is elevated |
| 0 | if the specified process is not elevated |
| -1 | on any error |
echo %@elevated[0x25A0]
@PIDCHILDREN — Returns a
list of child processes of a given process.
Syntax:
%@PIDCHILDREN[pid,flags]
| pid | the process ID of the process to check |
| flags | bitmapped: |
1: return process IDs as hexadecimal | |
128: do not sort returned PIDs |
The pid may be entered in decimal, or hexadecimal with
a leading 0x. If pid is not specified,
the current instance of TCC is assumed.
Only direct children are returned. Grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc. will not be included. Process IDs returned by this function will be separated with spaces.
echo %@pidchildren[12272]
@PIDEXENAME — Returns the
filename used to start a process.
Syntax:
%@PIDEXENAME[pid]
| pid | the process ID of the process to check |
The pid is required. It may be entered in decimal,
or hexadecimal with a leading 0x.
echo %@pidexename[0x25A0]
@PIDSVCNAMES — Returns the names
of services with the given process ID.
Syntax:
%@PIDSVCNAMES[pid]
| pid | the process ID to check |
The pid is required. It may be entered in decimal,
or hexadecimal with a leading 0x.
If no process with the given PID is found, @PIDSVCNAMES returns an empty
string. If multiple services share the same PID, they will be separated by a semicolon
and space.
echo %@pidsvcnames[%@pid[lsass.exe]]
@PIDWOW64 — Checks whether
a process is running under WOW64.
Syntax:
%@PIDWOW64[pid]
| pid | the process ID to check |
The pid may be entered in decimal, or hexdecimal
with a leading 0x. @PIDWOW64 returns 1
if process pid is a WOW64 process, or 0
otherwise.
echo %@pidwow64[1492]
Paging Options:
The commands in this plugin have a /P option to page
output. This option supports two suboptions:
/P:time,lines
| time | time in seconds, or (with a trailing M) milliseconds |
| lines | number of lines to display before pausing |
Both time and lines are optional. The colon is not required, but you must use the comma if you want to specify lines.
rem Scroll every ten seconds:
type /p:10 myfile.txt
rem Display ten lines at a time:
type /p:,10 myfile.txt
rem Display twenty lines at a time, and
rem scroll every 2.5 seconds:
type /p:2500m,20
At the “Press a key to continue” prompt, most keys will advance by another screenful (or lines). But a few keys behave differently:
| A or C | turns off paging, and scrolls continuously |
| Esc or Ctrl-C | aborts the current command |
| / | scrolls half a screen, or half of lines |
| 1 to 9 | scrolls that many lines, e.g. 3 scrolls three lines |
Highlight Variable:
The commands in this plugin feature highlighted output. You can customize
this feature by setting an environment variable Highlight:
rem Disable highlight:
set highlight=none
rem Set the highlight foreground:
set highlight=bright cyan
rem Set both foreground and background:
set highlight=bri whi on blu
rem Numbers are also supported:
set highlight=46
If the Highlight environment variable is not defined, the plugin will
check the registry for a value named Highlight of type REG_SZ.
The plugin will search, in this order:
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JPPlugins\Tasks | (affects this plugin only) |
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\JPPlugins | (affects several of my plugins) |
Many commands also have a /D or /NC option to
disable highlighting.
Startup Message:
This plugin displays an informational line when it initializes. The
message will be suppressed in transient or pipe shells. You can disable it
for all shells by defining an environment variable named NOLOADMSG,
for example:
set /e /u noloadmsg=1
Changes:
| Version: | Date: | Changes: |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0.31.0 | 2025-09-18 | Added @PIDCHILDREN. |
| 1.0.30.0 | 2025-09-17 | TASKLIST: Added
/R:n to limit recursion to the specified depth (0 = no limit). TASKLIST: Added /X:wildspec to exclude
by wildspec (compares against executable names only, not window titles or service names). Added support for the NO_COLOR environment variable. If NO_COLOR is defined and
HIGHLIGHT is not, disable highlighting. |
| 1.0.29.1 | 2025-06-26 | Replaced _wcsupr_s() with CharUpperW() throughout. Added a check for a NO_COLOR environment variable. If NO_COLOR is defined and
Highlight is not, highlighting is disabled, the same as if /D had been specified. |
| 1.0.29.0 | 2025-04-02 | @ELEVATED, @PIDWOW64:
Allow process name in place of process ID. @PIDWOW64: Removed the check for Win64; this function should
also be available to 32-bit apps. |
| 1.0.28.2 | 2025-03-26 | Updated conlist.cpp. |
| 1.0.28.1 | 2024-11-24 | TASKLIST /V
tweak: if a window appears on all vdesks, display <ALL>. |
| 1.0.28.0 | 2024-11-15 | TASKLIST:
Support multiple names and/or process IDs. TASKLIST: Added wildcard matching against service names. (Theoretically this was already there, but
in reality it wasn’t.) TASKLIST: Added /NT to prevent matching the current console’s window title. |
| 1.0.27.2 | 2024-11-13 | Minor tweak to window selection. |
| 1.0.27.1 | 2024-10-02 | ParseInt() now supports octal with a leading 0o. |
| 1.0.27 | 2024-09-11 | TASKLIST: added
/V to (try to) show the Windows 10 virtual desktop where the program’s window appears. |
| 1.0.26 | 2024-09-04 | TASKLIST: added
/NX to display extensions. Added @PIDWOW64. |
| 1.0.25.3 | 2024-04-02 | (code changes not relevant to this plugin) |
| 1.0.25.2 | 2024-03-13 | (code changes not relevant to this plugin) |
| 1.0.24.1 | 2024-01-04 | Updated to conlist v1.1 to better support Ctrl-C and Ctrl-Break. |
| 1.0.24.0 | 2023-10-20 | ENUMPROCESSES:
added /W; allow . as a synonym for %_PID. All functions which
expect a PID now accept . as a synonym for %_PID. |
| 1.0.23.2 | 2023-10-13 | Tweaked ShowCmdHelp() to include VER_PATCH. |
| 1.0.23.1 | 2023-10-12 | Updated the plugin’s web address. |
| 1.0.23.0 | 2023-10-06 | ENUMPROCESSES
improvements: added /O:. If a process name was specified, does not contain a period, and was
not found, append “.exe” and try again. Added a couple of missing options to
ENUMPROCESSES’s help text. |
| 1.0.22.0 | 2023-10-05 | Added @PIDSVCNAMES. |
| 1.0.21.0 | 2023-10-05 | If more than one /HL: is given, the wildspecs
will be concatenated. |
| 1.0.20.0 | 2023-10-04 | Bug fix: if a process's alleged parent was started
after the process, then your daddy ain't your daddy (but your daddy don't know). Formatting fix: TASKLIST /Z now shows "no parent" as a blank, not a zero. |
| 1.0.19.1 | 2023-09-15 | Tightened up whitespace in TASKLIST to more
closely resemble TCC’s. |
| 1.0.19.0 | 2023-09-15 | TASKLIST /R with no process name or pid
specified now behaves more like TCC’s, though not exactly the same. It displays a process tree for every
process found which does not have an extant parent. |
| 1.0.18.3 | 2023-09-01 | Added support for SECURITY_MANDATORY_PROTECTED_PROCESS_RID (theoretical, at this point; I have no processes running at this level.) |
| 1.0.18.2 | 2023-09-01 | TASKLIST /E now marks WOW64 processes with
a right guillemet instead of an arrowhead (less distracting). Minor tweaks to help text: options were out of
(alphabetical) order in /O? text for TASKLIST. |
| 1.0.18.0 | 2023-08-29 | TASKLIST: allow PID without a leading equals
sign, only if it is an actual, current PID. |
| 1.0.17.0 | 2023-04-12 | Added /HL: option to TASKLIST
and SERVICES. Now supports matching multiple wildspecs (|-separated) in many places. |
| 1.0.16.0 | 2023-03-01 | Added optional ‘full’ help text;
#define TASKS_FULL_HELP to enable. This expanded text includes more options, those not common to
TCC’s native commands. |
| 1.0.15.0 | 2023-02-28 | Changes to support post-TCC/LE versions of TCC. |
Status and Licensing:
This plugin is © Copyright 2025, Charles Dye. Unaltered copies of the binary and documentation files may be freely distributed without restriction. I make no guarantee and give no warranty for its operation. If you find a problem, you can report it in the JP Software support forum.
Download:
You can download the current version of the plugin from https://charlesdye.net/dl/tasks.zip.