DOS from within VB6

[jamesknicholson]

How can I run the ipconfig command in dos and get the values into my VB textboxes?

 

[TomKane]

You could use the shell command. You could > the ipconfig stuff to a file ipconfig > text.txt and then you could read the contents of text.txt and put the stuff into your textboxes. You could search google for pushkeys as that is a utility that allows you to send and receive data between applications

 

[Hypetia]

You cannot use I/O redirection (with > and < etc) with Shell statement. These features only work within DOS environment. It means that [tt]Shell &quot;ipconfig.exe > ip.txt&quot;[/tt] will not work.

You also asked this question in thread222-535407. Go there for an alternate solution.

 

[tsh73]

Hypetia,
Shell &quot;ipconfig >c:\listAA.txt&quot;
don't work, as you said.

But
Shell &quot;command.com /c ipconfig >c:\listAA.txt&quot;
works under 98.

 

[Alt255]

If my memory serves me correctly, Tek-Tips user strongm addressed this problem a few months ago. Unfortunately, I can't find the thread.

...something about collecting the application output after running it in a console... Sorry... getting old and feeble....

​

Suffice it to say that adding disk drives and a disk operating system to a personal microcomputer is guaranteed to increase its power dramatically.
CP/M and the Personal Computer

 

[strongm]

I think that the particular solution of mine that you are thinking about Alt255 maybe a little bit of overkill, as it was a technique for allowing a VB application to work like a console application.

However for those interested, here's the original thread including a code walkthrough: thread222-255803

There was also a complementary thread which showed how to start up any VB6 application as a console application (which meant it could then interact with the commandline it was launched from). However, I don't seem to be able to find that thread at the moment.

 

[Hypetia]

tsh73, thanks for the info. I'll try that.

Alt255, a quick keyword search on AllocConsole gave me seven threads closely related to console programming.
Three of them, belonging to this very forum, are listed below.

Console applications. thread222-3303
Output to StdOut. thread222-295057
Shelling to Command Prompt to run a DOS command? thread222-6502

 

[strongm]

Yep, there are lots of basic AllocConsole solutions posted. For all the functionality they provide, most can be more-or-less replaced with:

Private Sub Form_Load()
Text1.Move 0, 0, Form1.Width, Form1.Height
Text1.BackColor = vbBlack
Text1.ForeColor = vbWhite
End Sub

 

[vanvb]

I had to do this exact thing recently and I just called a batch file with the shell command, and the batch file had the output redirection in it. A bit hokey for a true commercial setting, but not a bad solution if you are only using a program internally.

 

[strongm]

I've found the complementary thread that I mentioned above: Thread222-339817