Launching a windows 3rd party app without Shell 1

[ddelk]

I want to execute a third party application using VB but without using Shell. Is this possible?

 

[johnwm]

Yes. Any particular reason you don't like Shell? What are you needing to achieve that you need to specifically avoid Shell?

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[VBrit]

look at the API ShellExecute... much cleaner than shell...

Also do you want to embed the application you run 'within' your application? This is also possible but a bit more work.

 

[ddelk]

I see post after post regarding asynchronous issues with Shell. It seems to me there ought to be a way to skin this cat without using 3-4 more modules. All we are trying to do is run another app synchronously. Is Bill so far out that he can't figure a way to do that easily?

 

[VBrit]

It's really easy if you want to run asynchronously..

You need to get the Process returned from shellexecute, then get the windowproc and see when the task has finished.. I suggest wrapping this in a class that raises an event at that point in time...

Its really easy if you want the code let me know.

 

[ddelk]

I took your advice and looked up ShellExecute. The code is pretty straightforward. But still, you need 3-4 processes. Thanks for the advice. I'll come back to you if I get stuck.

 

[johnwm]

WaitforSingleObject is probably what you're looking for. Try this:

http://www.mentalis.org/apilist/WaitForSingleObject.shtml

There are some examples shown for usage

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If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first

'If we're supposed to work in Hex, why have we only got A fingers?'

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[strongm]

>Is Bill so far out that he can't figure a way to do that easily?

[blue]Option Explicit
Private Const WshNormalNoFocus As Long = 4
Private Const WshNormalFocus As Long = 1

Private Sub Command1_Click()
        CreateObject("wscript.shell").Run "notepad", WshNormalNoFocus, True
End Sub
[/blue]