After opening an application from shell is there a way to tell if that application closes : microsoft, visual basic, visual basic

May 17, 2008 09:22am pdt

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04.24.2008 at 09:59AM PDT, ID: 23351026

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8.5

After opening an application from shell is there a way to tell if that application closes

Zones: Microsoft Visual Basic.Net, VB Script

Tags: microsoft, visual basic, visual basic

Hi

I load an app from shell using the following

a = Shell(filename_veridata, vbNormalFocus)

Is there a way to tell if this has closed to then execute another command?

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Question Stats

Zone: Programming

Question Asked By: eneate

Solution Provided By: RobSampson

Participating Experts: 2

Solution Grade: A

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04.24.2008 at 10:17AM PDT, ID: 21433079

Rank: Guru

gangwisch:

here is a snippet that I found the only problem is that your program is halted until the program exits so I would use some threading:

                       
                                Public Sub ShellandWait(ByVal ProcessPath As String)
        Dim objProcess As System.Diagnostics.Process
        Try
            objProcess = New System.Diagnostics.Process()
            objProcess.StartInfo.FileName = ProcessPath
            objProcess.StartInfo.WindowStyle = ProcessWindowStyle.Normal
            objProcess.Start()
 
            'Wait until the process passes back an exit code 
            objProcess.WaitForExit()
 
            'Free resources associated with this process
            objProcess.Close()
        Catch
            MessageBox.Show("Could not start process " & ProcessPath, "Error")
        End Try
    End Sub

Open in New Window

04.24.2008 at 10:36AM PDT, ID: 21433265

Rank: Guru

gangwisch:

if you would not like to hault program execution there is an event underneath the process namespace
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.diagnostics.process.onexited.aspx
the method is called onexited
so after
objProcess = New System.Diagnostics.Process()
place in:
addhandler objprocess.OnExited addressof myMethod
sub mymethod

end sub

04.24.2008 at 10:38AM PDT, ID: 21433276

eneate:

Thanks, what do I define objectprocess as?

04.25.2008 at 05:32PM PDT, ID: 21444006

Rank: Genius

RobSampson:

Hi, if you add a reference to your code to Microsoft Scripting Runtime (via Tools --> References), you can use this code:

Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
objShell.Run filename_veridata, vbNormalFocus, True

It is the True there that makes the code wait for the program to finish before continuing.

Regards,

Rob.

04.25.2008 at 06:00PM PDT, ID: 21444075

eneate:

That looks cool, Thanks Rob

what do I enter for wscript, is this the path name?? I've tried as is bot nothing happens?

04.25.2008 at 07:30PM PDT, ID: 21444265

Rank: Genius

RobSampson:

It should work as
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

what does filename_veridata translate to?

It needs to be a command, for example, something like
filename_veridata = "cmd /c mybatchprocess.bat"
objShell.Run filename_veridata, 1, True

As long as you've added the reference to Microsoft Scripting Runtime, that should work.

Regards,

Rob.

04.26.2008 at 01:58AM PDT, ID: 21444951

eneate:

Hi

filename_veridata is the full path of the exe for exmaple c:\program files\veri.exe

How would I modify this to make it a command line?

Scripting runtime is added, I already use it for other apps in the program.

04.28.2008 at 12:16AM PDT, ID: 21452046

Rank: Genius

RobSampson:

OK, would that be *only* the program's executable, or the executable, plus a parameter? For example, is filename_veridata defined as:
filename_veridata = "C:\Program Files\Veri.exe"

or
filename_veridata = """C:\Program Files\Veri.exe"" ""myparameter"""

In any case, the program should be able to be executed from the command line, so just use:

filename_veridata = """C:\Program Files\Veri.exe"" ""myparameter"""
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
strCommand = "cmd /c " & filename_veridata
objShell.Run strCommand, 1, True

Regards,

Rob.

05.01.2008 at 06:39AM PDT, ID: 21478404

eneate:

Hi

sorry for the late response I've been away with work for a few days.

The filename isn't passed as ""c:\gram files\veri.exe"" as it is passed as a varoiable and the path is read from the system registry. it would be the path name without the parameter.

I have tried some variations on the above but no success so far.....

05.01.2008 at 04:05PM PDT, ID: 21483467

Rank: Genius

RobSampson:

OK, we'll try a different way.

I understand that the file path is read from the registry, so just ignore my assignment of the variable, and replace it with your version that is read from the registry.

Regards,

Rob.

                       
                                filename_veridata = "c:\windows\NOTEPAD.EXE"
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objExec = objShell.Exec(filename_veridata)
While objExec.Status = 0
	WScript.Sleep 100
Wend
MsgBox filename_veridata & " has now ended with exit code " & objExec.Status

Open in New Window

05.03.2008 at 12:35AM PDT, ID: 21491623

eneate:

Hi
Ok that opens the app great, but doesn't seem to know when it finishes. As this app runs with other software I hide all the open forms just before this software loads, I then need them to re show after it has cloased. I created a function as boolean with your code, and the forms were hidden and the apps runs fune, but after it exits nothing happens. I used

'hide all active windows

For i = Forms.count - 1 To 0 Step -1

Forms(i).hide
Next

If open_idem = True Then 'this is the shell call to load the app

'hide all active windows

For i = Forms.count - 1 To 0 Step -1

Forms(i).Show
Next

End If

Thanks

05.04.2008 at 09:01PM PDT, ID: 21498082

Rank: Genius

RobSampson:

Hi, I'm thinking you'll need to try something like the code below.

Make sure your project (Office VBA or VB6) has a reference to Microsoft Scripting Runtime.

Regards,

Rob.

                       
                          
                             
                             
                                For i = Forms.count - 1 To 0 Step -1
	Forms(i).hide
Next
'MsgBox "Forms hidden."
 
If open_idem = True Then  'this is the shell call to load the app
	'show all active windows
	For i = Forms.count - 1 To 0 Step -1
		Forms(i).Show
	Next
	'MsgBox "Forms visible."
End If
   
Function open_idem
	filename_veridata = "c:\windows\NOTEPAD.EXE"
	Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
	Set objExec = objShell.Exec(filename_veridata)
	While objExec.Status = 0
		WScript.Sleep 100
	Wend
	'MsgBox filename_veridata & " has now ended with exit code " & objExec.Status
	open_idem = True
End Function

                             
                          

                    

Open in New Window

05.05.2008 at 11:50AM PDT, ID: 21502104

eneate:

Hi
Thanks for replying, I now get object now found error for the line

WScript.Sleep 100

I have referenced to microsft scripting runtime, but there must be a reference or declaration missing somewhere??

05.05.2008 at 04:26PM PDT, ID: 21503792

Rank: Genius

RobSampson:

Are you using VBA in Office programs?

Instead of the WScript.Sleep statements, try
Application.Wait(Now + TimeValue("00:00:01"))

Regards,

Rob.

05.05.2008 at 04:30PM PDT, ID: 21503808

eneate:

No I'm not using any office programs just vb 6 not linked to office at all.
Thanks

05.05.2008 at 04:37PM PDT, ID: 21503831

Rank: Genius

RobSampson:

OK, I've added the Sleep API method here.

Regards,

Rob.

                       
                          
                             
                             
                                Private Declare Sub Sleep Lib "kernel32" (ByVal dwMilliseconds As Long)
 
For i = Forms.count - 1 To 0 Step -1
	Forms(i).hide
Next
'MsgBox "Forms hidden."
 
If open_idem = True Then  'this is the shell call to load the app
	'show all active windows
	For i = Forms.count - 1 To 0 Step -1
		Forms(i).Show
	Next
	'MsgBox "Forms visible."
End If
   
Function open_idem
	filename_veridata = "c:\windows\NOTEPAD.EXE"
	Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
	Set objExec = objShell.Exec(filename_veridata)
	While objExec.Status = 0
	    Sleep 100
	Wend
	'MsgBox filename_veridata & " has now ended with exit code " & objExec.Status
	open_idem = True
End Function

                             
                          

                    

Open in New Window

Accepted Solution

RobSampson

05.06.2008 at 03:42PM PDT, ID: 21511640

No problem. Thanks for the grade.

Regards,

Rob.

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