Running external EXE programs. 1

dingle75 · Nov 10, 1999

Can anybody tell what the commands are for calling an external .EXE file and running it. 
 
Thanks dingle75

5430 · Nov 10, 1999

use the shell function available in VB. Look for Shell in 
the help 
 
Eg : shell notepad.exe

chiph · Nov 11, 1999

Or use the Win32 api function called ShellExecute. It's more complicated, but it also allows you to do things like open web pages, Word documents, etc. just by giving the name of the URL/file. 
 
Chip H.

edderic · Feb 18, 2000

With Tags of commandbuttons : 
 
Option Explicit 
 
#If Win16 Then 
Declare Function GetWindowsDirectory Lib "kernel" (ByVal lpBuffer$, ByVal Size%) As Integer 
#ElseIf Win32 Then 
Declare Function GetWindowsDirectory Lib "kernel32" Alias "GetWindowsDirectoryA" (ByVal lpBuffer As String, ByVal nSize As Long) As Long 
#End If 
 
Private Sub btnCommand_Click(Index As Integer) 
On Error Resume Next 
If Index < 4 Then 
'Tag button 1 = Explorer 
a% = Shell(WinDir() + "\" + btnCommand(Index).Tag + ".exe", 1) 
Else 
End 
End If 
End Sub 
 
Eric De Decker <a href=mailto:vbg.be@vbgroup.nl>vbg.be@vbgroup.nl</a> <a href=

http://members.tripod.lycos.nl/VisualBasicCenter/>

Visual Basic Center</a>

Snaggs · Feb 18, 2000

Along the same lines, if you're looking to shell to a program and wait for the shelled program to finish before returning to VB, here's a class that will do that for you. 
 
Option Explicit 
 
Private Type STARTUPINFO 
cb As Long 
lpReserved As String 
lpDesktop As String 
lpTitle As String 
dwX As Long 
dwY As Long 
dwXSize As Long 
dwYSize As Long 
dwXCountChars As Long 
dwYCountChars As Long 
dwFillAttribute As Long 
dwFlags As Long 
wShowWindow As Integer 
cbReserved2 As Integer 
lpReserved2 As Long 
hStdInput As Long 
hStdOutput As Long 
hStdError As Long 
End Type 
 
Private Type PROCESS_INFORMATION 
hProcess As Long 
hThread As Long 
dwProcessID As Long 
dwThreadID As Long 
End Type 
 
Private Declare Function WaitForSingleObject Lib _ 
"kernel32" (ByVal hHandle As Long, ByVal dwMilliseconds _ 
As Long) As Long 
 
Private Declare Function CreateProcessA Lib "kernel32" _ 
(ByVal lpApplicationName As Long, ByVal lpCommandLine As _ 
String, ByVal lpProcessAttributes As Long, ByVal _ 
lpThreadAttributes As Long, ByVal bInheritHandles As Long, _ 
ByVal dwCreationFlags As Long, ByVal lpEnvironment As Long, _ 
ByVal lpCurrentDirectory As Long, lpStartupInfo As _ 
STARTUPINFO, lpProcessInformation As PROCESS_INFORMATION) _ 
As Long 
 
Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" (ByVal hObject _ 
As Long) As Long 
 
Private Const NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS = &H20& 
Private Const INFINITE = -1& 
 
Public Function ExecCmd(strCommandLine) As Long 
 
'Returns: Nonzero on success, zero on failure. 
 
Dim tProcess As PROCESS_INFORMATION 
Dim tStartup As STARTUPINFO 
Dim lReturn As Long 
 
On Error GoTo ExecCmdErr 
 
' Initialize the STARTUPINFO structure: 
tStartup.cb = Len(tStartup) 
 
' Start the shelled application: 
lReturn = CreateProcessA(0&, strCommandLine, 0&, 0&, 1&, NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, 0&, 0&, tStartup, tProcess) 
 
' Wait for the shelled application to finish: 
lReturn = WaitForSingleObject(tProcess.hProcess, INFINITE) 
lReturn = CloseHandle(tProcess.hProcess) 
 
ExecCmd = lReturn 
 
Exit Function 
 
ExecCmdErr: 
'Return an error. 
ExecCmd = 0 
End Function 
Steve Meier <a href=mailto:sdmeier@jcn1.com>sdmeier@jcn1.com</a> <a href= > </a>

dan · Jul 9, 2000

I tried this routing which works fine for notepad.  However when using it with wordpad, control would not return to the calling program when exiting the program.  (I do not want control to return until the wordpad file is closed)  Any suggestions? Dim hprog, hProc, RetVal As Long 'Used for Notepad routine Private Declare Function OpenProcess Lib "kernel32" _    (ByVal dwDesiredAccess As Long, ByVal bInheritHandle As Long, _    ByVal dwProcessId As Long) As Long Private Declare Function WaitForSingleObject Lib "kernel32" _    (ByVal hHandle As Long, ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long) As Long Private Declare Function CloseHandle Lib "kernel32" _    (ByVal hObject As Long) As Long              ' This routing works fine Public Sub call notepad()    Const PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS = 0    hprog = Shell("NotePad.Exe c:\bas\vb\ballot.txt", vbMaximizedFocus) 'returns taskID    'Get process handle    hProc = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, False, hprog)    'wait until the process terminates    If hProc <> 0 Then       RetVal = WaitForSingleObject(hProc, INFINITE)       CloseHandle hProc    End If End Sub              ' This routing doesn't work right Public Sub call wordpad()   Const PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS = 0    hprog = Shell("c:\program files\accessories\WordPad.Exe c:\bas\vb\ballot.txt", vbMaximizedFocus) 'returns taskID    'Get process handle    hProc = OpenProcess(PROCESS_ALL_ACCESS, False, hprog)    'wait until the process terminates    If hProc <> 0 Then       RetVal = WaitForSingleObject(hProc, INFINITE)       CloseHandle hProc    End If End Sub Thanks in advance, Dan

Snaggs · Jul 10, 2000

Dan, Look at the 5th post in this thread, it should do what you want.  Just copy and paste it into VB. Steve <a href=mailto:tribesaddict@swbell.net>tribesaddict@swbell.net</a> <a href= > </a>

Karl Blessing · Jul 10, 2000

I belive one of those happens to be a cut/paste of my FAQ here. Karl <a href=mailto:kb244@kb244.8m.com>kb244@kb244.8m.com</a> <a href=

http://kb244.8m.com>

</a> Experienced in : C++(both VC++ and Borland),VB1(dos) thru VB6, Delphi 3 pro, HTML, Visual InterDev 6(ASP(WebProgramming/Vbscript)

http://www.brainbench.com/transcript.jsp?pid=629151

HoustonGuy · Jul 10, 2000

Remember - the Shell function is for registered programs. if the program is not registered you may have to call the full path, such as: "C:\windows\notepad.exe" My two cents. (Worth half a penny!) Cody ford <a href=mailto:codyford@yahoo.com>codyford@yahoo.com</a> <a href= > </a> VB, VBS, Seagate Info/Crystal Reports

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Running external EXE programs. 1

dingle75

Programmer

5430

Programmer

chiph

Programmer

edderic

Programmer

Snaggs

Programmer

dan

MIS

Snaggs

Programmer

Karl Blessing

Programmer

HoustonGuy

Programmer

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