Calling another program and providing a variable

[GSMike]

We have this utility that allows you to take control of another user's machine. I want to automate that process to eliminate steps.
How do I call that program?
As is, I have to open a command window, change drives, change directories and then type in the executable name with the name of the target machine provided as a variable. This is the code I tried to automate, but it hangs on the "Shell...." line. Surprise, I knew it would. Any suggestions?

Sub Remote()
Dim machine As String
ChDir "C:\VNC"
machine = InputBox("What is the machine name?")
Shell "vnc " & machine
End Sub

Thank you!

 

[jimmythegeek]

Once you've collected the string for the application you want to open, you can use the StartDoc Function (below) which uses the Shell Execute Method.

Once you have collected a string for the application you want to open, you simply use the following:

Call StartDoc(Path String)

Call StartDoc("C:\My Documents\Spreadsheets\Test.xls&quot OR
Call StartDoc("C:\My Documents\Text Files\Test.txt&quot OR
for a network drive (unc path)
Call StartDoc("\\stcnov01\Data\users\jim\My Documents\spreadsheets\phonelist.xls&quot

Copy the following into a blank module and save it: Then you can use the StartDoc function to open other applications.

====================
Public Declare Function ShellExecute Lib "shell32.dll" Alias "ShellExecuteA" ( _
ByVal hwnd As Long, _
ByVal lpszOp As String, _
ByVal lpszFile As String, _
ByVal lpszParams As String, _
ByVal lpszDir As String, _
ByVal FsShowCmd As Long) As Long

Public Declare Function GetDesktopWindow Lib "user32" () As Long

Public Const SW_SHOWNORMAL = 1
Public Const SE_ERR_FNF = 2&
Public Const SE_ERR_PNF = 3&
Public Const SE_ERR_ACCESSDENIED = 5&
Public Const SE_ERR_OOM = 8&
Public Const SE_ERR_DLLNOTFOUND = 32&
Public Const SE_ERR_SHARE = 26&
Public Const SE_ERR_ASSOCINCOMPLETE = 27&
Public Const SE_ERR_DDETIMEOUT = 28&
Public Const SE_ERR_DDEFAIL = 29&
Public Const SE_ERR_DDEBUSY = 30&
Public Const SE_ERR_NOASSOC = 31&
Public Const ERROR_BAD_FORMAT = 11&

Public Function StartDoc(DocName As String) As Long
' Example: Call StartDoc("C:\error.log&quot
Dim Scr_hDC As Long
Dim msg As String
Scr_hDC = GetDesktopWindow()
StartDoc = ShellExecute(Scr_hDC, "Open", DocName, "", "C:\", SW_SHOWNORMAL)

If StartDoc <= 32 Then
'There was an error
Select Case StartDoc
Case SE_ERR_FNF
msg = &quot;File not found&quot;
Case SE_ERR_PNF
msg = &quot;Path not found&quot;
Case SE_ERR_ACCESSDENIED
msg = &quot;Access denied&quot;
Case SE_ERR_OOM
msg = &quot;Out of memory&quot;
Case SE_ERR_DLLNOTFOUND
msg = &quot;DLL not found&quot;
Case SE_ERR_SHARE
msg = &quot;A sharing violation occurred&quot;
Case SE_ERR_ASSOCINCOMPLETE
msg = &quot;Incomplete or invalid file association&quot;
Case SE_ERR_DDETIMEOUT
msg = &quot;DDE Time out&quot;
Case SE_ERR_DDEFAIL
msg = &quot;DDE transaction failed&quot;
Case SE_ERR_DDEBUSY
msg = &quot;DDE busy&quot;
Case SE_ERR_NOASSOC
msg = &quot;No association for file extension&quot;
Case ERROR_BAD_FORMAT
msg = &quot;Invalid EXE file or error in EXE image&quot;
Case Else
msg = &quot;Unknown error&quot;
End Select
If msg <> &quot;Unknown error&quot; Then MsgBox msg
End If
End Function
==================== Jim Lunde
compugeeks@hotmail.com
Custom Application Development